Joanne Lipman On How to Close the Gender Gap

Mary Ellen Holden amp160Why address your book to men Joanne Lipmanamp160 I39ve worked primarily with men throughout my career amp160The book grew out of an article I wrote for the Wall Street Journal headlinedamp160quotWomen at Work A Guide for Menquot amp160Women talking to each other about being marginalized interrupted and overlooked is 50 of a conversation which at best gets us half a solution amp160My feeling is that many amp160perhaps most amp160men would like to be our allies if they only knew how amp160I wrote the book to invite men into the conversation amp160This is not about shamingamp160it39s about inclusion and solutionsHolden amp160What surprised you the mostLipmanamp160 Learning that expectations are set at a very early age for women to be undervalued which translates directly into the pay gap among adults amp160Researchers asked six year olds to complete a simple task and then quotpayquot themselves in Hershey Kisses amp160The boys paid themselves with more Hershey Kisses than the girls amp160This experiment was repeated in middle school and high school with money and the boys consistently paidamp160themselves more than the girls amp160This shows how values and feelings of selfworth are set early onHolden amp160How do quotout groupsquot correlate with women in the workplaceLipmanamp160 The similarities are amazing amp160quotOut groupsquot include underrepresented minorities the disabled the elderlyamp160and introverted men amp160They are often disadvantaged when it comes to hiring especially by white men that39s because we tend to gravitate to people resembling ourselves amp160Like women they are paid less than white men have fewer opportunities for promotionsamp160and are less likely to have their ideas heard and acted upon in meetings in which they are a minorityHolden amp160What is the quotrespect gapquotLipmanamp160 Research shows that when a man and a woman have the exact same title the man gets more respect and more power amp160For example female physicians are often introduced by their first names while male physicians areamp160generally introduced by the honorific quotdoctorquot amp160Much ofamp160this stems from unconscious bias not conscious sexism when we are aware of it we can take actions to counteract it amp160I noticed in the first draft of my book that I fell into that trap myself amp160The first step is awareness that unconscious bias exists in all of us even in women about womenHoldenamp160 I was surprised that you are not a fan of corporate diversity training amp160Why notLipmanamp160 Given my reporter roots I strive to understand facts amp160I learned that a Harvard researcher studied 30 years of diversity training at more than 700 companies and concluded that it was harmful for all women as well as foramp160black menamp160 He surmised that these groups would have progressed further if there had been no training at all amp160The primarily white men who were taking the training felt like they were being punished and that they were being told it was all their fault amp160They resented those implications amp160I juxtaposed these findings against my reallife experience and discovered the sameHolden amp160Looking ahead what is your greatest fear in this MeTooTimesUp world for your Millennial childrenLipmanamp160 The worst possible outcomeamp160would be if there is a backlash and men say they no longer want to hire talk to or mentor women amp160Since men still hold most positions of power this would set back gender equality by years if not decades amp160My hope is that the reverse will happen men will become aware of the issuesamp160women face and we can all work together toward positive culture changeHolden amp160How has writing this book changed the trajectory of your careerLipmanamp160 I love being in a newsroom and creating new ways of connecting with audiences amp160That hasn39t changed amp160I can easily imagine going back to a large news or content organization amp160Butamp160That39s What She Said has surprised even me in that it has become more than a book amp160It39s a mission to effect culture changeClick the social buttons above or below to share this story with your friends and colleaguesThe opinions and points of view expressed in this content are exclusively the views of the author andor subjects and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated writersamp160

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Joanne Lipman On How to Close the Gender Gap

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Mary Ellen Holden

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Joanne Lipman On How to Close the Gender Gap

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Mary Ellen Holden

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