Busted: Recent Episodes
The Institute for Gender and the Economy
Does achieving gender equality only benefit women? Are gender quotas thwarting meritocracy? Are women more risk averse than men? If you think you know the answers to these questions, then think again! Busted is an audio podcast series that busts prominent myths surrounding gender and the economy by teaming up with leading experts in the field. We uncover the origins of each myth and give you the tools to bust each myth yourself!
Busted is a GATE audio series production from the Institute for Gender and the Economy.
Episode 11: Special Episode–Dr. Tina Opie on Shared Sisterhood
Overview: How can we make meaningful progress on equity and inclusion? Now that we’ve busted many different myths about gender and the economy, you might be wondering about more concrete steps you can take to change inequality in your workplace and daily life. On this special episode, Dr. Tina Opie shares three practices for dismantling systemic inequities from her book Shared Sisterhood: How to Take Collective Action for Racial and Gender Equity at Work, co-authored with Dr. Beth A. Livingston. This special episode was written and produced by the team at our sister podcast, Rotman Visiting Experts.
Featured Guest: Dr. Tina Opie, Associate Professor of Management at Babson College; Founder of Opie Consulting Group
Visiting Experts Host: Brett Hendrie
Visiting Experts Producer: Megan Haynes
Visiting Experts Recording: Dan Mazzotta
Visiting Experts Editor: Damian Kearns
Busted Producers and Hosts: Carmina Ravanera and Dr. Sonia Kang
Busted Editor: Ian Gormely
Overview: There’s a perception that gender-based violence (GBV) only happens in the home, and that means it’s a private matter, just for families or partners to deal with. This is a misconception that can keep survivors from reporting violence and finding support. Gender-based violence is a human rights violation that encompasses many types of actions including harassment, assault, manipulation, and abuse. It can happen anywhere, including in workplaces, schools, and public spaces, and has significant consequences for all of society. In this episode, we hear from experts from different organizations working against gender-based violence to understand why it is not a private issue but something that everyone should be working to address.
This episode is based on an event we held in December 2022 for the 16 Days of Action Against Gender- Based Violence. See a recap of the event here: https://www.gendereconomy.org/we-can-break-free-what- it-takes-to-challenge-gender-based-violence/
If you liked this episode, you may be interested in other GATE events. Check out our upcoming listing here: https://www.gendereconomy.org/events/
Featured Guests:
Pam Hrick, Executive Director and General Counsel, Women’s Legal Education and Action Fund; Harmy Mendoza, Executive Director, Women Abuse Council of Toront; Paulette Senior, CEO and President, Canadian Women’s Foundation
Producers and Hosts: Carmina Ravanera and Dr. Sonia Kang
Editor: Ian Gormely
Since the pandemic, remote work has become much more commonplace, especially for knowledge workers. While it has many advantages for workers, remote work isn’t going to mitigate inequality unless organizations implement it purposefully and with the intention to prioritize well-being and equity for workers. This episode delves into the effects of remote work on workplace inequality and makes suggestions for better workplaces for all. This special episode was written and produced by Rotman Executive Summary and features GATE’s director, Sarah Kaplan, and Senior Research Associate Carmina Ravanera.
Featured Guests:
Dr. Sarah Kaplan, Director, Institute for Gender and the Economy, and Distinguished Professor of Gender & the Economy, Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto
Carmina Ravanera, Senior Research Associate, Institute for Gender and the Economy, Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto
Rotman Executive Summary Producers: Megan Haynes and Jessie Park
Rotman Executive Summary Editor/Sound Designer: Avery Moore Kloss
Rotman Executive Summary Recording: Dan Mazzotta
Busted Producers and Hosts: Carmina Ravanera and Dr. Sonia Kang
Busted Editor: Ian Gormely
If women just negotiated more, maybe they’d close the gender pay gap, right? Think again. While some popular media has characterized women as just needing to step up and ask for more to change inequality, research shows that when they do negotiate, they often face backlash for going against gender norms. In this episode, we discuss how people of different social groups experience different responses when they try to negotiate – and how women negotiate in many different ways beyond just for pay.
Featured Guests:
Dr. Hannah Riley Bowles, Roy E. Larsen Senior Lecturer in Public Policy and Management, Harvard Kennedy School
Dr. Angelica Leigh, Assistant Professor of Management and Organizations, Duke University Fuqua School of Business
Producers and Hosts: Carmina Ravanera and Dr. Sonia Kang
Editor: Ian Gormely
What makes a good leader? When you hear this question, do you think about traits like assertiveness, ambition, and determination?
A lot of people may be surprised to realize that as a society, we often associate good leadership with stereotypically masculine traits. In fact, a range of different traits—including both stereotypically masculine and feminine traits—make effective leaders. This episode delves into the myth that good leadership is masculine leadership and explores how we can facilitate more diverse and representative leaders across our workplaces and our societies.
Featured Guests:
Dr. Felix Danbold, Assistant Professor, University College London School of Management
Dr. Joyce He, Assistant Professor of Management and Organizations, University of California Los Angeles
What is intersectionality, anyway? We’ll demystify it in this episode--and delve into the myth that gender inequality can have a one-size-fits-all solution.
Intersectionality shows us how we need to consider how our different social identities such as race, gender, religion, Indigeneity, immigrant status, disability, and sexual identity all intersect to play a significant role in how we experience the world. So, rather than creating policies, services, and research that homogenize people, we need to make sure we apply intersectionality—or we risk leaving people behind.
Featured Guests:
Dr. Sharla Alegria, Assistant Professor of Sociology at University of Toronto
Dr. Courtney McCluney, Assistant Professor of Organizational Behaviour at Cornell University
Sexual harassment is often portrayed as an issue that only concerns women, where women are victims of harassment because they were “asking for it” through their behaviours or dress. This portrayal puts the onus on women to stop harassment by simply changing their actions. . Yet, sexual harassment is not a “women’s issue” in the sense that victims can be of any gender and perpetrators tend to be men. This perception also ignores the reality that sexual harassment is often about having power and control over someone else. We bust this common myth to show that it is imperative that the social norms that drive harassment and toxic work cultures are addressed instead of blaming the actions of women.
Featured Guests:
Dr. NiCole Buchanan, Michigan State University
Dr. Rachel Ruttan, University of Toronto
Hosted by Alyson Colón and Carmina Ravanera
For more research and resources please visit our website (https://www.gendereconomy.org) or click here .
For transcript + show notes please visit out website (www.gendereconomy.org/Busted) or click here.
This podcast is a GATE Audio production from the University of Toronto’s Institute for Gender and the Economy: www.gendereconomy.org
Popular discourse tends to depict women as less likely than men to take risks. Christine LaGarde, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund, famously implied that women make less risky financial decisions when she stated that the financial crisis of 2008 would not have occurred “if it had been Lehman Sisters rather than Lehman Brothers”. But are women really more risk-averse than men? Research has in fact shown that men and women are more similar in their risk preferences than commonly believed. We bust this myth with leading experts to show that women may act more risk- averse only because of gender norms that place expectations on them to do so.
Featured Guests:
Dr. Thekla Morgenroth, previously of University of Exeter and now at Purdue University
Dr. Julie Nelson, University of Massachusetts Boston
Research Mentioned:
- Booth, A.L. and Nelson, P. (2012). Gender Differences in Risk Behaviour: Does Nurture Matter? The Economic Journal 122(558), F56-F78.
- Botelho, T. and Abraham, M. (2017). Pursuing Quality: How Search Costs and Uncertainty Magnify Gender-based Double Standards in a Multistage Evaluation Process. Administrative Science Quarterly 62(4), 698-730.
- Kaplan, S. and Walley, N. (2016). The Risky Rhetoric of Female Risk Aversion. Stanford Social Innovation Review. https://ssir.org/articles/entry/the_risky_rhetoric_of_female_risk_aversion
- Liu, E.M. and Zuo, S.X. (2019). Measuring the impact of interaction between children of a matrilineal and a patriarchal culture on gender differences in risk aversion. PNAS 116(14), 6713- 6719.
- Morgenroth, T., Fine, C., Ryan, M.K. and Genat, A.E. (2017). Sex, Drugs, and Reckless Driving: Are Measures Biased Toward Identifying Risk-Taking in Men? Social Psychological and Personality Science 9(6), 744-753.
- Nelson, J.A. (2015). Are Women Really More Risk-Averse Than Men? A Reanalysis of the Literature Using Expanded Methods. Journal of Economic Surveys 29(3), 566-585.
For more research and resources (https://www.gendereconomy.org) or click here .
For transcript + show notes please visit out website (www.gendereconomy.org/Busted) or click here.
This podcast is a GATE Audio production from the University of Toronto’s Institute for Gender and the Economy: www.gendereconomy.org
There is a common belief that women are underrepresented in fields dominated by men, such as in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) sectors, because there are just not enough women in the pipeline. Some have argued that women choose not to enter these careers because they simply have different preferences or aspirations. In turn, this implies that companies and firms do not have responsibility for a lack of gender diversity. However, this is a myth. A substantial number of women are qualified to work in fields dominated by men. For instance, in 2015 in Canada, women accounted for 43% of university graduates from STEM programs. Yet, women with STEM degrees are less likely than men with the same degrees to work in science and technology occupations. We bust this myth with leading experts to show that companies and firms need to take more action to make STEM fields more equitable and less gender segregated.
Featured Guests:
Dr. Sharla Alegria, University of Toronto
Dr. Jackie Bouvier Copeland, Former COO of AnitaB.org
Hosted by Alyson Colón and Carmina Ravanera
For more research and resources related to women in STEM please visit our website (https://www.gendereconomy.org/women-in-stem/) or click here .
For transcript + show notes please visit out website (www.gendereconomy.org/Busted) or click here.
This podcast is a GATE Audio production from the University of Toronto’s Institute for Gender and the Economy: www.gendereconomy.org
Conversations around gender equality tend to focus on the significant barriers to resources and opportunities that women face. As a result of this focus, there is a pervasive myth that gender equality will only benefit women. Yet, contrary to this myth, gender equality benefits everyone. All people grapple with gender roles and stereotypes. We bust this myth with leading experts to show how, faster child development, greater peace, and economic prosperity are related to gender equality!
Featured Guests:
Paulette Senior, Canadian Women’s Foundation
Michael Flood, Queensland University of Technology
Jake Stika, Next Gen Men
Hosted by Alyson Colón and Carmina Ravanera
For more research and resources related to gender equality please visit our website (www.gendereconomy.org) or click here.
For transcript + show notes please visit out website (www.gendereconomy.org/Busted) or click here.
This podcast is a GATE Audio production from the University of Toronto’s Institute for Gender and the Economy: www.gendereconomy.org
The issue of whether to implement gender quotas for leadership positions, boards, political parties, and other groups is hotly debated. Some have argued that quotas are necessary to push gender equality forward and create a more level playing field. Others believe that implementing quotas gives an unfair advantage to women who do not deserve these positions: if they did deserve them, they would achieve them on their own merit. In other words, they perceive that gender quotas thwart meritocracy. We bust this myth with leading experts to show how quotas can actually be more beneficial than harmful.
Featured Guests:
Dr. Rainbow Murray, Queen Mary University of London
Dr. Daehyun Kim, University of Toronto
Hosted by Alyson Colón and Carmina Ravanera
For more research and resources related to gender quotas please visit our website (www.gendereconomy.org/quotas) or click here
For transcript + show notes please visit out website (www.gendereconomy.org/Busted) or click here.
This podcast is a GATE Audio production from the University of Toronto’s Institute for Gender and the Economy: www.gendereconomy.org
Does achieving gender equality only benefit women? Are gender quotas thwarting meritocracy? Are women more risk averse than men? If you think you know the answers to these questions, then think again! Busted is an audio podcast series that busts prominent myths surrounding gender and the economy by teaming up with leading experts in the field. We uncover the origins of each myth and give you the tools to bust each myth yourself!