Leadership Excellence & Gender Symposium with Thought-Leaders @Purdue
Jamie Gloor
After a 3 day symposium filled with talks, discussions, break-out groups, and socials with an intimate group of 50 or so scholars and practitioners, I am reinvigorated with purpose, creativity (and criticism) of the persistent and pervasive gender inequality (as well as the research we conduct to improve the state of the science and practice).
A few thoughts and reflections:
- Thanks for the organization by the Purdue team and to my colleagues for their engaged participation! It takes a village. And resources. Bravo & danke!
- I am increasingly skeptical of the causal claims people make (or should make in order to inform practice and policy) in the areas of gender and diversity (Thanks, John, for recruiting me into your endogeneity army!). We need this sort of evidence to stir the pot and stimulate the snail's pace of progress towards gender parity!
- Since we as humans are so biased and inefficient in our decisions and in the management and selection of our talent, I also find it difficult to understand why nudges aren't being used to their full potential (e.g., see Dr. Iris Bohnet's (Harvard) "What Works: Gender Equality by Design.").
- Isn't gender equality in unpaid labor just as important as gender equality and inclusion in paid labor? After all, paternity leave is just as important for women's careers as it is for men's involvement in their child(ren)'s lives and development. Let's not limit equality to half the population or one domain of life and lose sight of the bigger picture.
- Thanks to Professor Kevin Leicht, who reminded me of the ever-increasing social and economic inequality between classes. Let's not get wrapped up in making the privileged more privileged. After all, "A nation's greatness is measured by how it treats its weakest members." - Mahatma Ghandi