1 Diversity + Inclusion: The Least Expensive Formula to Multiply Profits Presented by Sheryl L. Axelrod ’90, Esq. Brandeis Alumni and Friends Sponsored

1

Diversity + Inclusion:The Least Expensive Formula to Multiply Profits

Presented by

Sheryl L. Axelrod ’90, Esq.

Brandeis Alumni and FriendsSponsored by the Hiatt Career Center

2

Fairness

Equal pay is so deeply engrained in our DNA, even our ancestors, primates, understand it and demand it1

1 This video is presented with the express permission of Ted Talk and Dr. Frans de Waal.

3

AgendaPart I: Introduction Why women and minorities are so disenfranchised in the

workplace – delving into unconscious bias and confirmation bias;Part II: The Scope of the Damage The disenfranchisement of women and minorities across our

government, corporations, and courts;Part III: The Profitability of Diversity: Our Incredible Opportunity

Turning a page and examining what would happen if we more equally included and paid women and minorities: the synergistic positive impact of diversity, and how equality multiplies organizations’ success;

Part IV: Tips to Increase Inclusion in your Business, and Inclusiveness in your Interactions

Steps everyone can use to be more inclusive, from those in charge of companies and/or hiring, pay, and promotions, to those in entry level positions, including my own “PEP” (Place, Echo, and Promote) toolkit.

4

Why Women And Minorities Are So Disenfranchised in the Workplace

Unconscious Bias and Confirmation Bias Unconscious bias: Preconceived ideas /

stereotypes Confirmation bias: Confirming your

preconceived ideas They come from the disenfranchisement of

women and minorities

5

Why Women And Minorities Are So Disenfranchised in the Workplace: Examples of Unconscious Gender Bias and Confirmation Gender Bias

We prefer not just men, but tall, white men Another example: The lab manager

hypothetical: a study revealing unconscious bias The scientists evaluating these applications rated

the male student: more competent, more likely to be hired, deserving of a better salary, and worth spending more time mentoring.

Female scientists were as likely as male scientists to evaluate the students this way.

6

Why Women And Minorities Are So Disenfranchised in the Workplace: Examples of Unconscious Gender Bias and Confirmation Gender Bias Orchestra Auditions

Using a screen during preliminary auditions increased the likelihood a female musician would advance to the next round by 11 percentage points. During the final round, “blind” auditions increased the likelihood of female musicians being selected by 30%.

The transition to blind auditions from 1970 to the 1990s can explain 30% of the increase in the number of women new hires and possibly 25% of the increase in the number of women in the orchestras.

Venture Capital About 38 percent of U.S. businesses are owned by women,

yet just 2 percent of the money invested by venture capital firms goes to women-owned firms. Similarly, Women CEOs receive only 4% of total venture capital invested every year in the U.S.

Confirmation Bias “Written in Black and White”

7

The Scope of the Damage: The Disenfranchisement of Women and Minorities: Across our Government

United States Presidents• 0 out of 43 Presidents who are women• 1 President of Color – If we were equal, we

would have had over 21 women Presidents

8


United States Presidents (contd.)• Hispanic and Latino Americans amount to

17.1% of the population, making up the largest minority. African Americans are the largest racial minority, amounting to 13.2% of the population. Even if we say AAs make up 10% and Latinos 3%, then we should have had at least 4 AA Presidents and 1 Latino President.


President Obama’s Cabinet – • Poor for women:

• 3 out of 16 Cabinet Positions are held by women

• Pretty good for people of color:• Eric Holder (AA) = Attorney General, • Susan Rice (AA) = U.S. Ambassador to the UN =

cabinet• Lisa Jackson (AA) = Administrator of the EPA• Ken Salazar (Hispanic) = Secretary of the Interior

+ Hilda Solis (Hispanic) = Secretary of Labor (There were three, but Democratic New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson withdrew his name from the appointment of Secretary of Commerce).


Our Congress by gender


Our Congress by race

The Scope of the Damage: The Disenfranchisement of Women and Minorities: Across our Companies

Across our companies• CEOs of the Fortune 500 Companies -- 50

women CEOs• Fortune reported in February 2014 that just

over 4% of Fortune 500 CEOs at that time were minorities, a classification including African-Americans, Asians, and Latin-Americans.

• Among the Fortune 500 companies, there are just 6 African American CEOs and 10 Hispanic CEOs.

• 4.8% women = 24 women CEOs in the Fortune 500 -- as of June 2014.

The Scope of the Damage: The Disenfranchisement of Women and Minorities: Across our Companies

General Counsel of Fortune 500 Companies

• 105 women GCs• In 2014, the Fortune 500 included 48

diverse GCs, which represented 10% of the 496 (little less than 500) general counsel included on the list. Of the diverse general counsel identified, 27 (5%) were African American, 12 (2%) were Asian, and 9 (2%) were Hispanic.

The Scope of the Damage: The Disenfranchisement of Women and Minorities: Across our Courts

Supreme Court• 3 Supreme Court Justices are women

(Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Sonia Sotomayor, and Elena Kagan), 1 AA (Clarence Thomas) and 1 Latina (Sotomayor), no Asians or other diversity known.

15

The Profitability of Diversity: Our Incredible Opportunity

Having Women and Minorities at the Top PaysMore women and minorities in

leadership equates with far greater financial success

Diversity actually creates a synergistic positive impact

16


Diversity is not just good for business, it benefits the entire country.

Countries that more equally pay women are more globally competitive.

**The Graph on the next slide is presented with express permission from the World Economic Forum.

17

The Profitability of Diversity: How Equality Multiplies Organizations’ Success

Diverse Companies perform better.

Diverse thinkers are markedly better at solving problems.

These mean that diversity positively impacts non-profit organizations as well

19


If women and minorities were to achieve pay parity in the United States, the profits of American companies would skyrocket and our country’s global economic competitiveness would increase. We would also by the point of reaching pay parity have improved our educational system, lessened corruption, and become happier as a society.

20

Tips to increase inclusion in your business, and inclusiveness in your interactions Test your unconscious bias using an Implicit Association

Test. Great testing is available for free at Harvard’s Project Implicit.

• We all have unconscious bias.• While we all have it, virtually no one wants

to have it because each of us wants to treat everyone fairly and equally. We don't want to treat women and minorities worse than we treat white men.

• Knowing we have unconscious bias makes us aware of the need to check our behavior and continually ask ourselves: would we say or react to white men the same way we are speaking to or acting towards the woman or minority before us.

21

Tips to increase inclusion in your business, and inclusiveness in your interactions

Institute measures to minimize unconscious biasAudit hiring, promotions,

assignments, networking opportunities, and pay

22

Tips to increase inclusion in your business, and inclusiveness in your interactions Delay making key decisions about people until we

have the time to challenge them. We should ask ourselves: is the person we’re considering truly the best fit for the job?

Avoid making key decisions when we’re tired, stressed, or emotionally drained. In such moments, we are least able to check for possible unconscious bias.

Try justifying our decisions—to others or to ourselves in a mirror. We’re more biased when we know our decisions probably won’t get challenged, so try challenging them.

23


Do not beat yourself up over the fact you have biases.

Get to know people who are different, have different backgrounds, and bring different perspectives.

24

Tips to increase inclusion in your business, and inclusiveness in your interactions PLACE, ECHO, and PROMOTE women and

minorities (“PEP”) Place: When you see an opportunity for a

fellow woman or minority -- whether it's a publication to which they should write, a speaking engagement that would suit them, a person or group they should meet -- recommend them for the opportunities. PLACE them.

25


Echo: In group settings, ECHO good suggestions you hear women and minorities make. Say the woman and/or minority’s idea was great. Specifically mention that person’s name and repeat her or his idea to ensure it was heard, it gets well received, and that she or he gets the credit for it.

26


Promote: Speak highly of other skilled women and minorities' capabilities, personalities, and professional qualities, telling people how terrifically well you regard them. PROMOTE them.

27


Support women and minority-owned businesses

28

Conclusion & Thank You

Thank you to all the participants for your attendance and attentiveness.

Thank you to Brandeis and the Hiatt Career Center for having me as a speaker.

29

BioSheryl L. Axelrod is an attorney, law firm owner, internationally published author, public speaker, and diversity thought leader.

She provides strategic, results-driven advice and representation to companies concerning their commercial, employment, bodily injury, and appellate litigation matters. While only 5% of lawyers are recognized by their peers as Super Lawyers, Ms. Axelrod was rated one of the Top 50 Women Super Lawyers in Pennsylvania for the past three years in a row. One of her trials, a David versus Goliath commercial litigation victory for her client-defendant, was published in "Pennsylvania Jury Verdict Review & Analysis" which catalogs the most

significant state verdicts.

Ms. Axelrod is a Fellow in Litigation Counsel of America (LCA), a peer-selected honorary society of top trial lawyers. Vigorously vetted for skills, expertise, and service, less than one-half of one percent of American lawyers are accepted as Fellows into LCA's by-invitation-only membership.

She has been interviewed by radio hosts including Susan Rocco on the "Women to Watch" ™ radio program, interviewed in Law360's "Female Powerbroker" series, and recognized as a "Woman Worth Watching" by Profiles in Diversity Journal.

Ms. Axelrod is the Immediate Past President of the Temple Law Alumni Association (TLAA), the fourth female to hold the post in TLAA's nearly hundred year history. During the term of her presidency, she founded TLAA's Women's Initiative and Diversity Committee, the committees' awards, and the committees' major annual panel discussion and networking events.

She has written extensively on diversity and inclusion for the American Bar Association, the Minority Corporate Counsel Association, and the National Association of Women Lawyers, among other publishers.

30

Questions?

Ask me:Sheryl L. Axelrod, Esquirewww.theaxelrodfirm.comDirect Dial: 215.461.1768Fax: 215.238.1779Email: [email protected]

Next Steps

Complete satisfaction survey

Watch recorded webinars http://alumni.brandeis.edu/careers/events/

webinars.html 3432325921281

Join Brandeis University Career Connections group on LinkedIn

Brandeis undergraduate students and alumni: Call 781-736-3618 to schedule free career advising

appointment (in-person, phone, Skype)

31

Contact the Hiatt Career Center

Moderator: Alexandra Stephens Associate Director, Alumni Career Programs &

Engagement Email: [email protected] Phone: 781-736-3623 Website: http://alumni.brandeis.edu/careers Twitter: @HiattatBrandeis Facebook: www.facebook.com/HiattCareerCenter LinkedIn: “Brandeis University Career

Connections”

32

33

Citations Slide 2: Moral Behavior in Animals, Ted Talk by Dr. Frans de Waal can be found in its

entirety online at: http://www.ted.com/talks/frans_de_waal_do_animals_have_morals?language=en.

Slide 5: Malcolm Gladwell, Blink and “Smoking Gun on Sexism?” by Scott Jaschik in Inside Higher Ed discussing a study on gender bias entitled, “Science faculty’s subtle gender biases favor male students,” by Corinne A. Moss-Racusina, John F. Dovidiob, Victoria L. Brescollc, Mark J. Grahama, and Jo Handelsmana

Slide 6 on orchestra auditions: MLA: Goldin, Claudia and Cecilia Rouse, "Orchestrating Impartiality: The Impact of" Blind" Auditions on Female Musicians." The American Economic Review 90.4 (2000): 715-741, on venture capital: Survey by the National Foundation for Women Business Owners and Wells Fargo & Co., on confirmation bias: “Written in Black and White: Exploring Confirmation Bias in Racialized Perceptions of Writing Skills” by Lead Researcher Dr. Arin Reeves (2014)

Slides 10 and 11: Graphs from The Washington Post at: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2015/01/05/the-new-congress-is-80-percent-white-80-percent-male-and-92-percent-christian/

Slide 18: “Banking on Diversity: Diversity and Inclusion as Profit Drivers-The Business Case for Diversity” by Sheryl L. Axelrod and “Does Diversity Pay?: Race, Gender, and the Business Case for Diversity” by Cedric Herring in the American Sociological Review, 2009.

Slide 19: “Female Corporate Directors Pay Dividends for Corporations and their Countries” by John Okray

Slides 21-23: “Six Steps to Minimizing Gender and Minority Bias” by Sheryl L. Axelrod, The American Bar Association (May 26, 2014) at: http://www.americanbar.org/publications/gpsolo_ereport/2014/may_2014/six_steps_to_minimizing_gender_and_minority_bias.html

Slides 24-26: The “PEP” (Place, Echo, and Promote) toolkit developed by Sheryl L. Axelrod Slide 27: "Countering diversity fatigue: The audacity of hope backed up by data -- seeing

the paradigm shifting", Cover story, by Sheryl L. Axelrod Women Lawyers Journal, Vol. 99, No. 4, January 2015 at: http://www.slideshare.net/slideshow/embed_code/43795816 (starting on p. 10).

Documents

1 Diversity + Inclusion: The Least Expensive Formula to Multiply Profits Presented by Sheryl L. Axelrod ’90, Esq. Brandeis Alumni and Friends Sponsored