“Right now 40 percent of women are breadwinners. Twenty-four percent of married women make more than their husbands. However, 67 percent of Americans believe that it is still really important for a man to support a family. Only about 33 percent believe the same of a woman.
“What we are seeing is that, as a society, we’re not really supporting [the idea of a woman as the breadwinner]. As I looked at not just the data, I also went into the science behind this, the psychology behind this, and the behavior behind this. What we found is that while society has really evolved and we have women at the helm of everything — women running companies, women in politics, women running for president — society still has this very traditional view. So there’s this gap where we know what is right, but our primitive tendencies are holding us back as far as what we think the roles of a man and a women in a relationship should be.”
-- Farnoosh Torabi, an award-winning personal finance expert, best-selling author, and television personality, at the Penn State Forum held at the Nittany Lion Inn Oct. 2. Torabi’s latest book, “When She Makes More: 10 Rules for Breadwinning Women,” an Amazon No. 1 best-seller, helps women navigate the social, emotional and financial impacts of earning more money than their husbands. A Schreyer Honors Scholar and Penn State alumna with a degree in finance and international business, Torabi hosts the acclaimed daily podcast “So Money” and is a frequent contributor to Money Magazine, Yahoo! and “The Today Show.”
Launched in 1996, the Penn State Forum Speaker Series is designed to introduce the University community to noted leaders and policy makers in their respective fields. Open to the public, tickets are $21 for each event and include a buffet lunch. For more information about the series and a complete list of future speakers, visit http://sites.psu.edu/forum/. To read previous “Heard on Campus” features, visit http://news.psu.edu/tag/heard-campus.