Korea: a case study

Korea's first female president, Park Geun-hye, takes up office today.  This is a big step forward for the country, and for the wider political scene.   I've never been to Korea, but I've been thinking of using it as a case study for the Paula Principle, for the folllowing reasons. Koreans have made extraordinarily rapid educational progress over the past two decades.   15-20 years ago they were near the foot of the OECD league table on achievement at secondary school;  now they are at or around the top. It is a truly remarkable transformation. Their tertiary system has expanded in consequence, very rapidly, so that there are now large numbers of…
Read More

The Odd Women – and a possible mirror today

I'm just reading George Gissing's The Odd Women, a curious novel centred on women's prospects in the late 19th century.  These were pretty dismal on  the whole.  The novel focusses on three sisters caught in a kind of genteel poverty.  Two of them are past marriageable age, and also have hardly any chance of a decent occupation but must live on the tiny income bequeathed by their father. The third is still pretty and eligible, but works 14-hour days in a draper's, with very little scope for meeting a suitable husband. The title refers to something which I find hard to explain:  the apparent existence then of half a million more women than men…
Read More

Paula as philosopher

Men still outperform women in a small number of subject areas.   It's common knowledge that these include maths and physics (I'm still looking for someone who will explain why this should be so).  But it was a surprise to me to find that philosophy is much closer to these subjects than to the humanities subjects with which it is most commonly grouped. I learnt this from a pamphlet published by the British Philosophical Association and the Society for Women in Philosophy in the UK. At undergraduate level 45% of philosophy students are female. This is much closer to Maths' 40% than it is to History's 58%, let alone English Studies'…
Read More

Makula

This post is a little different.  I want to introduce my cleaner - and friend - Makula. Makula went to school in Uganda, up to O levels at S4 (16 years).  She was unusual in that as a girl in a poor family, with 3 brothers, she would have been expected to leave school at the end of primary school, get married and go to work.  In Uganda school costs money, and she would normally have gone to earn money as early as possible.  But she was visibly a bright student, and her brothers said that they wished to leave school themselves, so the family agreed she should stay on. She…
Read More

The Double X Economy and measuring things

Professor Linda Scott from Oxford University has coined the term the Double X economy to refer to the need to look at global economic issues through different eyes.   Now the competition is strong for catchy concepts which might waft their author to fame and fortune.  But this one has a very down-to-earth application.  I'd urge you to listen to the part in Scott's inaugural lecture where she talks about what it means for girls in many Afircan countries to have to use cloth rags as sanitary towels. Scott is an economist who has plenty to say about the failings of neo-liberal approaches, but also about the irrelevance of some radical critiques.  She reminds…
Read More

Working hours: do Brits work the longest?

It's a fairly common belief that the British are the long hours 'champions' of Europe (the commas are deliberately ironic - see below).  This is usually seen to be partly the result of our opt-out from the European Working Time Directive.   Some of those working very long hours are right at the bottom end of the wage hierarchy, and have to work massive overtime to make a living wage.  At the other end are those who have committed themselves to the corporation body and perhaps soul, working all hours but for very high  rewards. Certainly in my field of adult education when people are asked about what stops them taking part in education or training,…
Read More

Korea: a case study

Korea's first female president, Park Geun-hye, takes up office today.  This is a big step forward for the country, and for the wider political scene.   I've never been to Korea, but I've been thinking of using it as a case study for the Paula Principle, for the folllowing reasons. Koreans have made extraordinarily rapid educational progress over the past two decades.   15-20 years ago they were near the foot of the OECD league table on achievement at secondary school;  now they are at or around the top. It is a truly remarkable transformation. Their tertiary system has expanded in consequence, very rapidly, so that there are now large numbers of…
Read More

The Odd Women – and a possible mirror today

I'm just reading George Gissing's The Odd Women, a curious novel centred on women's prospects in the late 19th century.  These were pretty dismal on  the whole.  The novel focusses on three sisters caught in a kind of genteel poverty.  Two of them are past marriageable age, and also have hardly any chance of a decent occupation but must live on the tiny income bequeathed by their father. The third is still pretty and eligible, but works 14-hour days in a draper's, with very little scope for meeting a suitable husband. The title refers to something which I find hard to explain:  the apparent existence then of half a million more women than men…
Read More

Paula as philosopher

Men still outperform women in a small number of subject areas.   It's common knowledge that these include maths and physics (I'm still looking for someone who will explain why this should be so).  But it was a surprise to me to find that philosophy is much closer to these subjects than to the humanities subjects with which it is most commonly grouped. I learnt this from a pamphlet published by the British Philosophical Association and the Society for Women in Philosophy in the UK. At undergraduate level 45% of philosophy students are female. This is much closer to Maths' 40% than it is to History's 58%, let alone English Studies'…
Read More

Makula

This post is a little different.  I want to introduce my cleaner - and friend - Makula. Makula went to school in Uganda, up to O levels at S4 (16 years).  She was unusual in that as a girl in a poor family, with 3 brothers, she would have been expected to leave school at the end of primary school, get married and go to work.  In Uganda school costs money, and she would normally have gone to earn money as early as possible.  But she was visibly a bright student, and her brothers said that they wished to leave school themselves, so the family agreed she should stay on. She…
Read More

The Double X Economy and measuring things

Professor Linda Scott from Oxford University has coined the term the Double X economy to refer to the need to look at global economic issues through different eyes.   Now the competition is strong for catchy concepts which might waft their author to fame and fortune.  But this one has a very down-to-earth application.  I'd urge you to listen to the part in Scott's inaugural lecture where she talks about what it means for girls in many Afircan countries to have to use cloth rags as sanitary towels. Scott is an economist who has plenty to say about the failings of neo-liberal approaches, but also about the irrelevance of some radical critiques.  She reminds…
Read More

Working hours: do Brits work the longest?

It's a fairly common belief that the British are the long hours 'champions' of Europe (the commas are deliberately ironic - see below).  This is usually seen to be partly the result of our opt-out from the European Working Time Directive.   Some of those working very long hours are right at the bottom end of the wage hierarchy, and have to work massive overtime to make a living wage.  At the other end are those who have committed themselves to the corporation body and perhaps soul, working all hours but for very high  rewards. Certainly in my field of adult education when people are asked about what stops them taking part in education or training,…
Read More

Korea: a case study

Korea's first female president, Park Geun-hye, takes up office today.  This is a big step forward for the country, and for the wider political scene.   I've never been to Korea, but I've been thinking of using it as a case study for the Paula Principle, for the folllowing reasons. Koreans have made extraordinarily rapid educational progress over the past two decades.   15-20 years ago they were near the foot of the OECD league table on achievement at secondary school;  now they are at or around the top. It is a truly remarkable transformation. Their tertiary system has expanded in consequence, very rapidly, so that there are now large numbers of…
Read More

The Odd Women – and a possible mirror today

I'm just reading George Gissing's The Odd Women, a curious novel centred on women's prospects in the late 19th century.  These were pretty dismal on  the whole.  The novel focusses on three sisters caught in a kind of genteel poverty.  Two of them are past marriageable age, and also have hardly any chance of a decent occupation but must live on the tiny income bequeathed by their father. The third is still pretty and eligible, but works 14-hour days in a draper's, with very little scope for meeting a suitable husband. The title refers to something which I find hard to explain:  the apparent existence then of half a million more women than men…
Read More

Paula as philosopher

Men still outperform women in a small number of subject areas.   It's common knowledge that these include maths and physics (I'm still looking for someone who will explain why this should be so).  But it was a surprise to me to find that philosophy is much closer to these subjects than to the humanities subjects with which it is most commonly grouped. I learnt this from a pamphlet published by the British Philosophical Association and the Society for Women in Philosophy in the UK. At undergraduate level 45% of philosophy students are female. This is much closer to Maths' 40% than it is to History's 58%, let alone English Studies'…
Read More

Makula

This post is a little different.  I want to introduce my cleaner - and friend - Makula. Makula went to school in Uganda, up to O levels at S4 (16 years).  She was unusual in that as a girl in a poor family, with 3 brothers, she would have been expected to leave school at the end of primary school, get married and go to work.  In Uganda school costs money, and she would normally have gone to earn money as early as possible.  But she was visibly a bright student, and her brothers said that they wished to leave school themselves, so the family agreed she should stay on. She…
Read More

The Double X Economy and measuring things

Professor Linda Scott from Oxford University has coined the term the Double X economy to refer to the need to look at global economic issues through different eyes.   Now the competition is strong for catchy concepts which might waft their author to fame and fortune.  But this one has a very down-to-earth application.  I'd urge you to listen to the part in Scott's inaugural lecture where she talks about what it means for girls in many Afircan countries to have to use cloth rags as sanitary towels. Scott is an economist who has plenty to say about the failings of neo-liberal approaches, but also about the irrelevance of some radical critiques.  She reminds…
Read More

Working hours: do Brits work the longest?

It's a fairly common belief that the British are the long hours 'champions' of Europe (the commas are deliberately ironic - see below).  This is usually seen to be partly the result of our opt-out from the European Working Time Directive.   Some of those working very long hours are right at the bottom end of the wage hierarchy, and have to work massive overtime to make a living wage.  At the other end are those who have committed themselves to the corporation body and perhaps soul, working all hours but for very high  rewards. Certainly in my field of adult education when people are asked about what stops them taking part in education or training,…
Read More

Korea: a case study

Korea's first female president, Park Geun-hye, takes up office today.  This is a big step forward for the country, and for the wider political scene.   I've never been to Korea, but I've been thinking of using it as a case study for the Paula Principle, for the folllowing reasons. Koreans have made extraordinarily rapid educational progress over the past two decades.   15-20 years ago they were near the foot of the OECD league table on achievement at secondary school;  now they are at or around the top. It is a truly remarkable transformation. Their tertiary system has expanded in consequence, very rapidly, so that there are now large numbers of…
Read More

The Odd Women – and a possible mirror today

I'm just reading George Gissing's The Odd Women, a curious novel centred on women's prospects in the late 19th century.  These were pretty dismal on  the whole.  The novel focusses on three sisters caught in a kind of genteel poverty.  Two of them are past marriageable age, and also have hardly any chance of a decent occupation but must live on the tiny income bequeathed by their father. The third is still pretty and eligible, but works 14-hour days in a draper's, with very little scope for meeting a suitable husband. The title refers to something which I find hard to explain:  the apparent existence then of half a million more women than men…
Read More

Paula as philosopher

Men still outperform women in a small number of subject areas.   It's common knowledge that these include maths and physics (I'm still looking for someone who will explain why this should be so).  But it was a surprise to me to find that philosophy is much closer to these subjects than to the humanities subjects with which it is most commonly grouped. I learnt this from a pamphlet published by the British Philosophical Association and the Society for Women in Philosophy in the UK. At undergraduate level 45% of philosophy students are female. This is much closer to Maths' 40% than it is to History's 58%, let alone English Studies'…
Read More

Makula

This post is a little different.  I want to introduce my cleaner - and friend - Makula. Makula went to school in Uganda, up to O levels at S4 (16 years).  She was unusual in that as a girl in a poor family, with 3 brothers, she would have been expected to leave school at the end of primary school, get married and go to work.  In Uganda school costs money, and she would normally have gone to earn money as early as possible.  But she was visibly a bright student, and her brothers said that they wished to leave school themselves, so the family agreed she should stay on. She…
Read More

The Double X Economy and measuring things

Professor Linda Scott from Oxford University has coined the term the Double X economy to refer to the need to look at global economic issues through different eyes.   Now the competition is strong for catchy concepts which might waft their author to fame and fortune.  But this one has a very down-to-earth application.  I'd urge you to listen to the part in Scott's inaugural lecture where she talks about what it means for girls in many Afircan countries to have to use cloth rags as sanitary towels. Scott is an economist who has plenty to say about the failings of neo-liberal approaches, but also about the irrelevance of some radical critiques.  She reminds…
Read More

Working hours: do Brits work the longest?

It's a fairly common belief that the British are the long hours 'champions' of Europe (the commas are deliberately ironic - see below).  This is usually seen to be partly the result of our opt-out from the European Working Time Directive.   Some of those working very long hours are right at the bottom end of the wage hierarchy, and have to work massive overtime to make a living wage.  At the other end are those who have committed themselves to the corporation body and perhaps soul, working all hours but for very high  rewards. Certainly in my field of adult education when people are asked about what stops them taking part in education or training,…
Read More

Korea: a case study

Korea's first female president, Park Geun-hye, takes up office today.  This is a big step forward for the country, and for the wider political scene.   I've never been to Korea, but I've been thinking of using it as a case study for the Paula Principle, for the folllowing reasons. Koreans have made extraordinarily rapid educational progress over the past two decades.   15-20 years ago they were near the foot of the OECD league table on achievement at secondary school;  now they are at or around the top. It is a truly remarkable transformation. Their tertiary system has expanded in consequence, very rapidly, so that there are now large numbers of…
Read More

The Odd Women – and a possible mirror today

I'm just reading George Gissing's The Odd Women, a curious novel centred on women's prospects in the late 19th century.  These were pretty dismal on  the whole.  The novel focusses on three sisters caught in a kind of genteel poverty.  Two of them are past marriageable age, and also have hardly any chance of a decent occupation but must live on the tiny income bequeathed by their father. The third is still pretty and eligible, but works 14-hour days in a draper's, with very little scope for meeting a suitable husband. The title refers to something which I find hard to explain:  the apparent existence then of half a million more women than men…
Read More

Paula as philosopher

Men still outperform women in a small number of subject areas.   It's common knowledge that these include maths and physics (I'm still looking for someone who will explain why this should be so).  But it was a surprise to me to find that philosophy is much closer to these subjects than to the humanities subjects with which it is most commonly grouped. I learnt this from a pamphlet published by the British Philosophical Association and the Society for Women in Philosophy in the UK. At undergraduate level 45% of philosophy students are female. This is much closer to Maths' 40% than it is to History's 58%, let alone English Studies'…
Read More

Makula

This post is a little different.  I want to introduce my cleaner - and friend - Makula. Makula went to school in Uganda, up to O levels at S4 (16 years).  She was unusual in that as a girl in a poor family, with 3 brothers, she would have been expected to leave school at the end of primary school, get married and go to work.  In Uganda school costs money, and she would normally have gone to earn money as early as possible.  But she was visibly a bright student, and her brothers said that they wished to leave school themselves, so the family agreed she should stay on. She…
Read More

The Double X Economy and measuring things

Professor Linda Scott from Oxford University has coined the term the Double X economy to refer to the need to look at global economic issues through different eyes.   Now the competition is strong for catchy concepts which might waft their author to fame and fortune.  But this one has a very down-to-earth application.  I'd urge you to listen to the part in Scott's inaugural lecture where she talks about what it means for girls in many Afircan countries to have to use cloth rags as sanitary towels. Scott is an economist who has plenty to say about the failings of neo-liberal approaches, but also about the irrelevance of some radical critiques.  She reminds…
Read More

Working hours: do Brits work the longest?

It's a fairly common belief that the British are the long hours 'champions' of Europe (the commas are deliberately ironic - see below).  This is usually seen to be partly the result of our opt-out from the European Working Time Directive.   Some of those working very long hours are right at the bottom end of the wage hierarchy, and have to work massive overtime to make a living wage.  At the other end are those who have committed themselves to the corporation body and perhaps soul, working all hours but for very high  rewards. Certainly in my field of adult education when people are asked about what stops them taking part in education or training,…
Read More

Korea: a case study

Korea's first female president, Park Geun-hye, takes up office today.  This is a big step forward for the country, and for the wider political scene.   I've never been to Korea, but I've been thinking of using it as a case study for the Paula Principle, for the folllowing reasons. Koreans have made extraordinarily rapid educational progress over the past two decades.   15-20 years ago they were near the foot of the OECD league table on achievement at secondary school;  now they are at or around the top. It is a truly remarkable transformation. Their tertiary system has expanded in consequence, very rapidly, so that there are now large numbers of…
Read More

The Odd Women – and a possible mirror today

I'm just reading George Gissing's The Odd Women, a curious novel centred on women's prospects in the late 19th century.  These were pretty dismal on  the whole.  The novel focusses on three sisters caught in a kind of genteel poverty.  Two of them are past marriageable age, and also have hardly any chance of a decent occupation but must live on the tiny income bequeathed by their father. The third is still pretty and eligible, but works 14-hour days in a draper's, with very little scope for meeting a suitable husband. The title refers to something which I find hard to explain:  the apparent existence then of half a million more women than men…
Read More

Paula as philosopher

Men still outperform women in a small number of subject areas.   It's common knowledge that these include maths and physics (I'm still looking for someone who will explain why this should be so).  But it was a surprise to me to find that philosophy is much closer to these subjects than to the humanities subjects with which it is most commonly grouped. I learnt this from a pamphlet published by the British Philosophical Association and the Society for Women in Philosophy in the UK. At undergraduate level 45% of philosophy students are female. This is much closer to Maths' 40% than it is to History's 58%, let alone English Studies'…
Read More

Makula

This post is a little different.  I want to introduce my cleaner - and friend - Makula. Makula went to school in Uganda, up to O levels at S4 (16 years).  She was unusual in that as a girl in a poor family, with 3 brothers, she would have been expected to leave school at the end of primary school, get married and go to work.  In Uganda school costs money, and she would normally have gone to earn money as early as possible.  But she was visibly a bright student, and her brothers said that they wished to leave school themselves, so the family agreed she should stay on. She…
Read More

The Double X Economy and measuring things

Professor Linda Scott from Oxford University has coined the term the Double X economy to refer to the need to look at global economic issues through different eyes.   Now the competition is strong for catchy concepts which might waft their author to fame and fortune.  But this one has a very down-to-earth application.  I'd urge you to listen to the part in Scott's inaugural lecture where she talks about what it means for girls in many Afircan countries to have to use cloth rags as sanitary towels. Scott is an economist who has plenty to say about the failings of neo-liberal approaches, but also about the irrelevance of some radical critiques.  She reminds…
Read More

Working hours: do Brits work the longest?

It's a fairly common belief that the British are the long hours 'champions' of Europe (the commas are deliberately ironic - see below).  This is usually seen to be partly the result of our opt-out from the European Working Time Directive.   Some of those working very long hours are right at the bottom end of the wage hierarchy, and have to work massive overtime to make a living wage.  At the other end are those who have committed themselves to the corporation body and perhaps soul, working all hours but for very high  rewards. Certainly in my field of adult education when people are asked about what stops them taking part in education or training,…
Read More