Episode #4: What we're learning from #WFHLife about gender equity in the Tech community with Brad Johnson and David Smith

Episode 4: Show Notes.

When you have a passion to do good and make a difference, there is nothing better than having credible, compassionate, vocal allies in your corner. For women in tech and STEM, Brad Johnson and David Smith are those allies. In their books, Athena Rising and the soon to be released Good Guys, as well as in multiple Harvard Business Review articles, they give us all a guide for putting gender equity on the fast track in the workplace. In this episode, we talk about allyship, especially now that work-from-home has made painful barriers and inequities so obvious. We talk about what it will take to turn a COVID-19 work from home disruption into a game changing, win-win opportunity for everyone, and what companies need to do to make sure that we develop change that lasts. Brad and David share some surprising observations about work-from-home life and actions that men and companies need to take right now to help all of us move forward.

Key Points From This Episode:

• Brad explains his research and why he writes about gender in the workplace with Dave.
• Dave introduces himself and explains the motivations for their upcoming book, Good Guys.
• How the inequities in the workplace are related to the difficulties of working from home.
• Brad explains how their research for Good Guys would have been affected by COVID-19.
• Suggested strategies for companies going forward, including paid sick leave and childcare.
• Brad talks about how to be both an interpersonal ally and a public systemic ally to women.
• Dave talks about where to start to encourage federal and company policy changes. 
• The ‘wimp penalty’, how it has kept men on the sidelines, and how to reverse it.
• Avoiding self-proclamation, actually doing the work to be an ally, and encouraging others.
• Dave notes that one of the motivations for Good Guys is to teach men how to communicate.

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

Brad Johnson Website
David Smith Website
Brad Johnson on LinkedIn
David Smith on LinkedIn
Harvard Business Review
Athena Rising
Good Guys Pre-order
Create Your Leading Edge Challenge
Karen Worstell
MOJO Maker