A.  Read more about Family and Medical Leave policies at the National Partnership for Women and Families web site. For an argument against using unemployment benefits to fund parental leave, go to the Employment Policy Foundation web site. Evaluate the pros and cons of individual states or the federal government offering paid leave opportunities for parents to care for children or family members. In what ways is society advantaged or disadvantaged? What are the costs involved in providing paid leave or not providing paid leave? Be sure to consider the non-monetary costs as well as the economic costs in your evaluation.





B.  Using the information in the text as well as that provided in any of the web sites above, make a case that the pay gap is a form of discrimination rather than an artifact of women’s choices (alternatively, you may make an argument to the contrary).





C.  The Equal Pay Act became law in 1963. Identify and explain three reasons that men and women do not receive equal pay today. Is this issue something that can be corrected by enforcing the law or by creating new laws? If not, what will resolve the inequities?





D.  Trace the Supreme Court's reasoning in developing and supporting the BFOQ exceptions to Title VII protections against employment discrimination. What is a BFOQ and under what circumstances today might a company be able to hire one sex exclusively? In your judgment, is the Supreme Court’s exception warranted?





E.  Evaluate the role that affirmative action has played in advancing women’s equality. Are there affirmative action policies in place at your institution? How have recent Supreme Court limits to affirmative action altered these policies? Will the erosion of support for affirmative action limit women’s progress toward full equality in the labor force?