Gender pay gap raises uneasy questions for progressive good

TO UNDERSTAND gender bias, consider this real-life example.

A busy mother of two - let's call her Heidi - had a career that required her to travel, meaning that she could not meet her child's then-teacher in person. When asked if she could speak over the phone instead, the teacher dismissed the request, saying that Heidi should be more invested in the child by being physically present.

The next meeting date was near. Heidi asked this time if the father - say, Howard - who was travelling, could ring the teacher instead. This time, the teacher readily agreed, and rang the number given by Howard.

Heidi then picked up the call, as she had wanted to do from the start.

This high-flying finance executive based in Singapore offered this anecdote to this reporter to show the biased view of the responsibilities of men and women in the household. (The name changes are inspired by an oft-cited Harvard Business School study which showed that just one change in a hypothetical entrepreneur's name from Heidi to Howard made the …