The “obvious” tension between diversity and quality leapt onto the front page this week through a debate at Smith College. And just in case you’re unsure, the putatively obvious connection is that increasing diversity decreases quality.
The debate at Smith presents a new twist on this issue, and it offers at least two lessons to university leaders everywhere. Click here to read these lessons…
Everything we know about improving gender diversity points to one uniquely important success factor. The pursuit of enhanced gender equality flourishes or flounders with the interest and investment of an organization’s top leadership.
To get CEOs on board, they need to believe in the cause themselves; they need to believe that gender diversity matters. We must provide the best arguments we can so the people at the top will care.
Women matter. Women in leadership matter. Women in leadership make companies better. And it isn’t that hard to get more women into leadership positions.
These statements convey the core message of four reports, all called Women matter, that were produced by McKinsey & co. between 2007 and 2010. These reports have become extremely influential, providing basic research for pushing the discussion about gender balance forward. The research results in Woman matter help us argue that creating the circumstances for women to advance is not just right, it’s also smart.
Facebook’s Chief Operating Officer, Sheryl Sandberg, has become one of the clearest and most articulate voices on corporate gender diversity.Yet her facts, arguments, and eloquence, haven’t reached Sandberg’s closest colleague. It seems that even a woman at the top can’t convince the man she works side-by-side with.
How many women has Mark Zuckerberg put on Facebook’s board?
There are none. Facebook is run by white men. This shows both a lack of confidence in Sandberg and an apparent disinterest in the relevant research. Sheryl Sandberg now has the opportunity to call him on it.
A manifesto has emerged from the European Gender Summit, held in Brussels in November, 2011. The manifesto is the result of a public consultation building on the recommendations of of the genSET project and others. The European Commission invited the scientific community to recommend specific actions that could strengthen the role of women in science and innovation in its new research program, Horizon 2020.
