Amy Roeder* reports on the strategies some leading women have used to survive gender bias in the workplace.
Photo: SI Photography
Women continue to face challenges in male-dominated workplaces, from sexual harassment and pay inequity, to feeling excluded by “boys’ club” behaviour.
A recent conference sponsored by the Women in Leadership student group at Harvard University’s T. H. Chan School of Public Health convened accomplished women leaders in academia, health care, and journalism to talk about their experiences with bias in the workplace — and strategies for surviving and thriving.
One of the panel discussions focused on career strategies, including the importance of mentorship.
Karen Emmons, Professor of Social and Behavioural Sciences at Harvard Chan School, advised students to cultivate a “mentoring posse,” because no one person will be able to meet all of your needs — and don’t be afraid to move on when you’ve outgrown the relationship.
For Emmons, who described herself as “the most academic kid in my town,” success came when she learned to feel less self-conscious about being an outsider.
“I started to pay more attention to who I was and what I could contribute,” she said.
Joanne Kenen, Executive Editor for Health Care at Politico, shared advice she gives to her young mentees: Learn how to speak up at work in a way that feels personally authentic, and take advantage of opportunities, even if you don’t think you are ready.
If it doesn’t feel safe to speak up in the face of bias at work, speak to someone who can help, said Wendy McRae-Owens, Dean for Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging at Harvard Chan School.
Trying to make workplaces more inclusive for women can be uncomfortable, she said, but “it’s time to start having conversations that matter.”
In the keynote address, Merranda Logan advised students to find a “North Star” to guide them through difficult times in their careers.
For Logan, it was her father, who suffered lasting health consequences after receiving poor care from the hospital that treated his stroke.
His experience spurred Logan, a nephrologist, to work to understand how processes in the healthcare system fail to keep patients safe.
As an Associate Chief Quality Officer at Massachusetts General Hospital, her efforts include helping provide wellness and social support programs for young physicians — a group highly vulnerable to burnout, which can result in medical errors.
Logan said that she has faced bias throughout her career, because as a soft-spoken African American woman, she doesn’t fit the image that some people have of a leader.
She told the audience that “Success is not an accident.”
There are many talented people, she said.
“Perseverance and hard work are what set you apart.”
* Amy Roeder is Associate Editor and senior writer at Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health.
This article first appeared at www.hsph.harvard.edu
