Conference Teaser Summary
In case you missed our conference teaser last Friday, we have summarized a few of the talks for you.
The objectives of the teaser were to:
* Provide a sneak peek of our upcoming conference taking place January 18th and 19th, 2019
* Start a conversation based on different perspectives of workplace equality and empowerment
* Feature different views from different sources of knowledge – through personal experience and research
Talk 1: Kirsten Hall – Women in Business – Entirely Unremarkable
This featured talk may have shocked some of the audience. Kirsten Hall has participated in women groups for several years and has gained value from her experiences. However, she’s put forth a perspective that people should be measured by objectives and skills, rather than gender. She explains how she feels that female-specific groups do a disservice to women in business and chooses not to participate.
It's difficult to comprehend this bold declaration. Kirsten points out that her participation in the groups has led her to be praised for simply being a woman in business, instead of for her attributes and traits. Her personal removal from women in business groups is a step she's taking towards ensuring she is seen for her capabilities and contributions, not just her gender.
It's an interesting stance that Kirsten takes on and it's important to understand where her POV stems from, as well as her intention.
Talk 5: Rocio Lorenzo – How Diversity Makes Teams More Innovative
On a different topic / perspective, Rocio Lorenzo has uncovered a direct relationship between diversity and innovation. She conducted a study designed to research companies and to ask two questions:
1. How innovative are you?
To measure innovation the study looked at how many shares of revenues from new products or services in the last three years.
2. How diverse are you?
To measure diversity, they looked at six different factors such as country of origin, age, and gender.
The results were:
Highly diverse companies are more innovative. Correlation is not causation, but diverse leadership and innovation are interrelated. These two factors drive each other.
Rocio's findings have intrigued CEOs and upper management across Germany. Data shows that gender diversity has an impact in innovation, however, it is not enough to simply have one woman on a board of directors – at least 20% women representation in upper leadership is needed to have an impact on innovation.
Rocio’s goal is to change the face of leadership not to simply comply with standards and being politically correct, but rather to exemplify how embracing diversity benefits everyone within an organization.
The Rowe Women in Business Association's fourth annual conference is taking place January 18-19, 2019. The event will be featuring numerous guest speakers, panelists, and a case competition to help participants develop analytical and technical skills. Registration is now live on the Rowe WIBA Facebook page. Should you have any questions regarding the conference, please don't hesitate to reach out to Olivia Fitzpatrick at olivia.fitzpatrick@dal.ca, Emily Yach at emily.yach@dal.ca, or Rosalyn Huynh at rosalyn.huynh@dal.ca.
About the writer: Rosalyn Huynh is a fourth-year Commerce student at Dalhousie University, majoring in Accounting and minoring in Psychology. She is the President of the Rowe Women in Business Association where she leads a team of eight executive members, a marketing team, and 61 general members. Rosalyn will be joining PwC in Halifax as an Assurance Associate beginning September 2019.
