I’ve been pretty snarky about the WSJ here late, so I thought I’d put up a link to a story I actually liked.

It’s on men and women workers and their differential trajectory into management positions:

Study Asks: Who Has an Easier Way to the Top? – WSJ.com

This article strikes me as a good one because it explains a number of phenomenon that intuitively strike me as quite common: the perception among men that things are pretty equal now versus the actual reality of the numbers which show enormous difference. They also explain these factors using variables not commonly considered, like the types of managerial roles given to women when they do get opportunities for leadership.

The research on perceptions strikes me as very valuable, given that the worst aspect of social privilege is that you don’t generally know you have it. It’s like an invisible web of entitlements to the person who has it, blinding them to equity, justice, and social inclusion claims made by other people who don’t hold the same levels of privilege.

These are a couple of my favorite readings on privilege:

Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack of White Privilege by Peggy MacIntosh

The Male Privilege Checklist by Bruce Deutsch

Some have argued that the male privilege checklist does not apply to men of color. Take them together; they get you thinking.