D&I Friday Read No. 325

Gender
Very interesting HBR article about the impact of gender balance in investment teams. Women are usually known to be more risk-averse than men. But new research shows that this is more complex and depends on the situation – and women might be more likely to accept so-called “social risks”.

Diversity
We know that diversity is closely linked to innovation – and this is why manufacturing company Lenovo created its Product Diversity Office. The PDO is a department within Lenovo that supports product development with diversity & inclusion in mind. Read more here.

Women Empowerment
Great story from North Carolina. A non-profit is trying to close the gender gap in construction by offering underemployed women an apprenticeship training program. Watch the video!

Inclusion
The German supermarket chain Edeka (together with the agency Jung von Matt) is known for their creative adverts. This year’s Christmas commercial is heart-warming – featuring an elderly man and his Turkish neighbours.

D&I Friday Read No. 324

Discrimination
Earlier this week, the social media company Pinterest agreed to pay $22.5m to settle a gender discrimination lawsuit brought by a former executive. The company also committed to overhauling its harassment policy, following a five-month investigation into its company culture.

Gender Parity
Paris authorities have just been fined €90k – for hiring too many women in 2018. The law on gender parity (which was abolished in 2019) did not allow the appointment of more than 60% of one sex in senior public service roles. The Paris mayor said she is very happy about this fine, which was imposed for appointing 11 women and 5 men. Read more here.

Racism in the Workplace
Very interesting HBR podcast with Fran Katsoudas, Cisco’s Chief People Officer, on racism in the workplace. After the murder of George Floyd in May 2020, Cisco held a virtual all-hands meeting on race – and some colleagues decided to post racist comments during this meeting.

Unconscious Bias
For a long time, unconscious bias training at the workplace was very popular – but thanks to lots of studies, we know now that it does not change behaviours. At best, the training is entertaining, but findings also showed that it might activate biases, and the recommendation is to debias processes instead. The English government has now decided to phase out such training for their civil servants and is discussing different options instead.

D&I Friday Read No. 323

Diversity Report
When electric vehicle company Tesla released its first-ever diversity report end of last week, the company acknowledged that it has work to do. Women represent only 21% of Tesla’s total workforce and 17% of its leadership, 59% of the workforce are white and only 4% of the leadership are Black or African-American.

Diversity in the Workplace
Very interesting TED Talk with Starbucks COO Rosalind G Brewer on how we can foster diversity and inclusion at work. According to Brewer, companies focus too much on trying to meet numbers instead of actively listening to employees and making the environment more inclusive.

Women in the Workforce
Jane Fraser is Citibank’s incoming CEO and the first woman ever to head up a major U.S. bank. In this interview, she talks about her journey and how she navigated her career -worth reading!

Women Empowerment
I love this story! In the 1970s, a handful of women started a movement called 9to5, addressing the rights of office workers, especially women and minorities. Back then, they were completely underpaid, not treated fairly and seen as a commodity.

D&I Friday Read No. 322

Diversity
US stock market company Nasdaq announced this week that it is currently discussing a board diversity rule. It will require listed companies to have at least two diverse directors (women, LGBTQ+ or minorities) on their boards, and companies not meeting these requirements could be delisted.

LGBTQ+
According to a new report from financial services company Credit Suisse, LGBTQ+ friendly companies consistently outperform in the stock market. Having a pro-active LGBTQ+ approach benefits attraction and retention of talent and draws in additional customers.

Racism
Nike’s latest ad in Japan, addressing bullying and racism, has caused a lot discussions online. The advert shows young soccer players with mixed backgrounds overcoming daily struggles – and was criticized for exaggerating racism in Japan.

World AIDS Day
The 1st of December was World AIDS Day 2020 – and if you haven’t heard of Ruth Coker Burks, please watch this video. In the 1980s, Ruth became an inadvertent AIDS activist, caring for hundreds of patient who were abandoned by their families.