Women 'working below their competence level'

Most women are working below their level of competence, according to a leading expert in lifelong learning.

Most women are working below their level of competence, according to a leading expert in lifelong learning.

Dr Tom Schuller, Director of Longview, a think tank promoting longitudinal and life course research, will give a talk at the Institute of Education in which he will argue that "Women embody an increasing share of human capital in the UK and elsewhere, but this is not reflected in their careers and earnings". He calls this 'The Paula Principle' and says this is the mirror image of the Peter Principle whereby "every employee rises to his level of incompetence".

Dr Schuller is a Visiting Professor at Birkbeck and the Institute of Education, and former Head of the OECD's Centre for Educational Research and Innovation. He is writing a book on The Paula Principle.  He says: "I knew that girls and women do better than boys and men educationally.   I then discovered that women go on adding to their competences more than men do, taking part more in adult education geneerally but also in training at work.  I have two daughters, who are not academic superstars but who have done well, and certainly better than most of their male contemporaries.  But will they (meaning women generally, as well as my daughters) see this reflected in their careers?"   

Dr Schuller is an expert in lifelong learning and says his interest in the Paula Principle is linked to this. His most recent post was as director of the independent Inquiry into the Future for LifelongLearning, sponsored by the UK’s National Institute of Adult and Continuing Education.  He co-authored the Inquiry’s main report, Learning Through Life.

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