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The concrete question is whether women in Hawaii have equal access to good jobs and equitable pay. Coralie Chun Matayoshi, executive director of the Hawaii State Bar Association, cites a 1991 Association survey that found women attorneys earn approximately 20 percent less than male counterparts even after controlling for years of experience, seniority, and position—a gap the survey attributed in significant part to discrimination. She also noted that Hawaii ranked last among all states in women’s representation in senior appointed state and local government posts. Cori Lau, president of Hawaii Women Lawyers, argued that historic exclusion from professional networks and the unequal domestic burden women carry for childcare and household work reinforce the wage gap across sectors. Both guests maintained that equal-pay laws and civil-rights protections exist but are difficult to enforce in practice. They discussed the then-pending Harris v. Forklift Systems case to illustrate contested legal standards for hostile work environments and cited recent appointments of women to the Hawaii and United States Supreme Courts as meaningful but incomplete progress. Remedies proposed include employer education, restructured performance criteria, flexible scheduling, and a greater social expectation that men share domestic responsibilities.
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