Fair Shake

Women and the Fight to Build a Just Economy

By: Naomi Cahn, June Carbone, Nancy Levit

Narrated by: Janina Edwards

A stirring, comprehensive look at the state of women in the workforce—why women’s progress has stalled, how our economy fosters unproductive competition, and how we can fix the system that holds women back.

In an era of supposed great equality, women are still falling behind in the workplace. Even with more women in the workforce than in decades past, wage gaps continue to increase. It is the most educated women who have fallen the furthest behind. Blue-collar women hold the most insecure and badly paid jobs in our economy. And even as we celebrate high-profile representation—women on the board of Fortune 500 companies and our first female vice president—women have limited recourse when they experience harassment and discrimination.

Fair Shake: Women and the Fight to Build a Just Economy explains that the system that governs our economy—a winner-take-all economy—is the root cause of these myriad problems. The WTA economy self-selects for aggressive, cutthroat business tactics, which creates a feedback loop that sidelines women. The authors, three legal scholars, call this feedback loop “the triple bind”: if women don’t compete on the same terms as men, they lose; if women do compete on the same terms as men, they’re punished more harshly for their sharp elbows or actual misdeeds; and when women see that they can’t win on the same terms as men, they take themselves out of the game (if they haven’t been pushed out already). With odds like these stacked against them, it’s no wonder women feel like, no matter how hard they work, they can’t get ahead.

Fair Shake is not a “fix the woman” book; it’s a “fix the system” book. It not only diagnoses the problem of what's wrong with the modern economy, but shows how, with awareness and collective action, we can build a truly just economy for all.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2024 Naomi Cahn, June Carbone, Nancy Levit (P)2024 Simon & Schuster Audio

Unmasking Gender Equality in Business

Fair Shake by three insightful law professors sheds light on overlooked predatory practices in the corporate world, such as those by Sam Walton and a former GE executive. These stories, often taught as success models in MBA programs, demand re-evaluation.

The book resonated with my experiences as a female judge, witnessing double standards in professional accountability. Men often escaped repercussions for significant infractions, while women faced severe consequences for minor issues—a reality I regret not challenging more forcefully.

The book highlights the dramatic increase in CEO to employee pay ratios from 20:1 in the past to 300:1 today. It also presents enlightening statistics on female co-founders in tech startups, showing they have a 25% lower burn rate than all-male startups, despite being viewed as riskier by venture capitalists.

One poignant theme is the role of women as scapegoats. Women are less likely to commit misconduct and incur lower costs when they do, yet they are more likely to be fired, highlighting a pervasive bias.

The authors discuss the empowering effects of the Me Too movement and advocate for collective action to combat the winner-take-all economy. This call to change the profit-from-breaking-the-rules mindset is timely and crucial for fostering a more equitable economic landscape.

Fair Shake is an essential read for understanding the systemic challenges women face in the economy and the transformative potential of collective action. It is both inspiring and thought-provoking.

Thoughtful analysis

Engaging history of the economic culture changes leading to our current winner takes all economy and how women are impacted.