The Reading Power Play Unless statistics lie, he was more brave than me: more blond than you."                                           e. e. cummings poet Just the Stats, Ma'am... by Jo Cooper

Figures don't lie. But the way they are gathered, the way they are manipulated, and the wya they are presented can be another tale entirely.      Test your ability to read beyond the headline and between the lines. Use the chart on this page to answer the following questions. See the bottom of the page for answers.

1. Do women who become financial managers have the same earning power as men in the field? 2. Are women in these occupations likely to earn more than men in these occupations? 3. Are women in these occupations likely to earn more than men in all occupations? 4. If these are the besst paying jobs for women, are they also the best paying jobs for men? 5. The job outlook in these 10 fields is the most promising for women: true or false? 6. What is the basis for ranking the occupations from one through 10, with lawyers at the top, financial managers at the bottom? 7. In which occupation do women's salaries most closely approximate men's salaries? 8. Will a woman who enters one of these occupations earn more than she would earn in another field?

 
   
 
  COMMENT
By Ralph Cooper, 12-28-07      This article was published in the March 1988 issue of the CAREER WORLD magazine. I include it here to emphasize the very wide scope of her interests in different subjects. She was paid $50 for this one.  
 

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