We are all familiar with the #me too movement and the fact that it largely bypassed the financial industry. I shared anarticle back in 2019 noting that Wall Street’s policy of requiring new hires to sign arbitration agreements block women from filing lawsuits. On Wednesday, Wells Fargo announced that they would be the first of the largest US banks to end that practice. Forced arbitration has come “under scrutiny for being one of many tools companies use to keep complaints from coming to light. While firms claim the process saves money, a 2015 study found employees prevail only about a third as often in mandatory arbitration as in federal courts, and get less money in damages. The system can also cover up misconduct from repeat offenders.” Kudos to Wells Fargo for taking this important step. The full article can be found here.
The next article, from Fortune, shared several strategies to make sure your ideas are heard at work. I had never heard the term “bropriating’ before, but apparently men taking credit for women’s ideas is so common that the practice gave birth to a new word! The author notes that the best way to defend yourself is to “speak up and thank him,” says Frankel. “Then say you’d like to add a couple of things that have occurred to you since you first told him about it.” The full article can be found here.
Finally, a recent article notes that while young people are more open-minded about gender roles, the folks between ages 18-34 were no more likely than older couples to divide household chores equitably. While men today do a little more, women spend about an hour a day more on housework and an hour a day more on childcare. When both parties are working, that two hours a day is huge. The article went on to note that when the woman is the primary breadwinner, men do even less housework. These attitudes start in childhood, so women raising sons, take note. The full article can be found here.
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Kind regards
Christine
