Until the 1960s there were very real barriers to entry in colleges and graduate institutions, and cultural barriers to entry in many workplaces. But, when these crumbled, women moved in and competed successfully against men. And as women move into previously male-dominated fields, their wages have been steadily rising relative to men's. According to studies by Congressional Budget Office director June O'Neill and others, women earn almost as much as men when accounting for education and experience. Outstanding gains have also been made by women in the small business world, not usually seen as a mecca for affirmative-action enforcement.
Feminists are right.
Women are smart and successful. They belong in the House and in the Senate. But there are more reasonable explanations. First, few recipients of graduate degrees in the 1960s and 1970s, who today would be in their 50s, at the top of their professions, were women. Women received about 4 percent of all MBAs awarded in 1970, and it's these 1970 graduates who are now in their 50s, at the age to form the core group of CEOs.