What We’re Reading Now – April 2017

Justin Trudeau Perfectly Sums Up Why We Need More Women In Power by Madeline Farber, Fortune, April 7, 2017

At the Women in the World Summit in New York, Justin Trudeau addressed the importance of promoting women to positions of power, and the role that men need to play to make it happen.

Women’s March Draws ‘Duty-Bound’ From Wall Street by Kate Kelly, The New York Times, January 19, 2017

High ranking women in finance, law and other male dominated corporate professions chose to take part in the Women’s March, many protesting for the first time.

Women Are Less Likely to Apply for Executive Roles If They’ve Been Rejected Before by Raina Brands and Isabel Fernandez-Mateo, Harvard Business Review, February 7, 2017

Raina Brands and Isabel Fernadez-Mateo discuss their study of 10,000 executive women in the UK. They found that while both genders were less likely to apply for a job if they had been rejected from a similar job in the past, the effects were 1.5 times as strong for women.

How Pence’s Dudely Dinners Hurt Women by Olga Khazan, The Atlantic, March 30, 2017

“The vice president—and other powerful men—regularly avoid one-on-one meetings with women in the name of protecting their families. In the end, what suffers is women’s progress.”

Poll Finds 3 Women Of Color As New Face Of Feminism by Karen Grigsby Bates, NPR, March 6, 2017

“A new poll asks Americans to name the most famous feminists. Three of the top four are African-American — Michelle Obama, Oprah and Beyoncé. NPR looks into what it means to have three women of color as the new face of feminism.”

Fundraising as the Female Founder of a Startup by Cat Zakrzewski, The Wall Street Journal, February 20, 2017

UrbanSitter Founder and CEO Lynn Perkins sat down with The Wall Street Journal to discuss her experience fundraising as a female founder of a Silicon Valley startup.

First They Marched, Now More Than 13,000 Women Are Planning to Run for Office by Claire Landsbaum, New York Magazine, February 9, 2017

On the heels of the historic Women’s March an unprecedented number of women are getting ready to run for office.

Familiar With Life’s Hurdles, Big Law Partner Seeks Partnership Track Reform by Roy Strom, The American Lawyer, February 16, 2017

Joanna Horsnail, a Mayer Brown partner in Chicago, is using her own life experience, which includes being the mother of a special needs child, as a guiding principle as she helps create a more flexible and inclusive partner track.

How Female Officers Forced The Navy To Back Down On Uniform Changes by Andrea N. Goldstein, Task and Purpose, January 21, 2017

“Congress has ordered the Navy to halt unpopular, costly and pointless changes to women’s uniforms, thanks to the overwhelming effort of a large group of female officers.”

Research: How Subtle Class Cues Can Backfire on Your Resume by Lauren Rivera and András Tilcsik, Harvard Business Review, December 21, 2016

According to a recent study, law firms were four times more likely to interview higher class male applicants than all other applicants. However, higher class female applicants received significantly fewer interviews. In a survey conducted as part of the study, attorneys stated that they believed higher class women were unlikely to remain committed to working a demanding job. The study used class indicators such as membership on a sailing team or in a mentoring group for first generation college students to hint at social class.

Missing Pieces Report: The 2016 Board Diversity Census of Women and Minorities on Fortune 500 Boards by Deloitte and The Alliance for Board Diversity, February 6, 2017

“Despite modest gains, women and minorities see little change in representation on Fortune 500 boards.”