AAUW Dialog

The panel conceived of in the dead of winter had finally convened in hot, muggy Saint Louis at the AAUW national convention on Sunday morning. The theme — gender discrimination in the workplace. I can already hear the groans from you, dear reader, who thought that topic was a dead horse. After all, haven’t woman conquered the board rooms, the operating rooms and the court rooms? Not really and not so fast.

First, the audience. Not typical. Every woman there had earned a college degree, most of them when women just didn’t need an education or it wasn’t fashionable or even possible for women to go to college. Every woman there had committed part of her life, the giving part of her life, to making sure woman and girls everywhere had the opportunity to become educated. Every woman there believed that a higher education affords women to emerge from second class citizenship from which they had suffered for too long.

Next, the panelists. Also not typical. We spoke only twice by phone, but under the guiding hand and vision of AAUW program director, Kate Farrar, we ate dinner together the previous evening and by morning had coalesced into quite an impressive group, I must say. Who would have thought that a lawyer, a doctor, a business woman, and a political science professor cum author could bring together the multiple themes that emerge from this topic and weave them together so fluently?

Then, the venue. Again, not typical. Imagine four large hotel banquet halls as one, two massive movie screens, two podiums miked on stage, 6 floor mikes for questions, and more than 1000 chairs, most all of them filled with women. The energy in that room was very powerful.

Finally, the content. And, yes, this was not typical, too. So much of importance was revealed that it is utterly impossible to adequately report it all. But let me try to share a few highlights.

Lorie Jackson, hailing from Missouri, moderated. Her obvious talents as speaker and human resources professional put everyone at ease. She informed us that gender discrimination in the workplace is still alive and well. It comes in a variety of new flavors and intersects with racial and socioeconomic differences that make it even harder to ferret out.

Our lawyer, Irma Herrera, has dedicated herself to public interest advocacy and is presently the executive director of Equal Rights Advocates. Petite though she is, her presence filled the room. Her commitment and excitement were palpable as she recounted the obstacles overcome by the 6 teams of lawyers working on the Walmart gender discrimination lawsuit, the largest class action lawsuit in history with almost 2 million plaintiffs. Her group was front and center, and very involved.

She challenged the notion of an “opt-out revolution” (with Ruth stating that less than 1% of women wanted to or could take that path). Irma reframed their struggles and described them as “pushed out” by an inflexible work environment modeled on the male-female societal roles negotiated 60 years ago. The need for a major paradigm shift is sought in “who is the ideal worker and how is ideal work really performed?”, a subject treated in Joan Williams’ book: Unbending Gender — Why Family and Work Conflict and What to Do About It.

Going from the macro to the micro, the litigant’s very personal was presented by me, a surgeon who had navigated the legal labyrinth claiming gender based discrimination and equal pay act violations against the University at Buffalo and Kaleida Health. My themes were that even with education, training, rising through the ranks, an almost impossible job in a surgical field, I faced what I claimed were overt acts of discrimination. I recounted my story but lingered over my realization that gender discrimination in the healthcare industry is not limited to women physicians, but also affects women as patients and as caregivers. The far reaching consequences are beyond the issues of social justice and have a real impact on the public health. Wasted human resources translate into economic waste we can’t afford. Gender discrimination in healthcare is everyone’s problem.

Ruth O’Brien, an academic and author has studied the social justice issues in American politics and law. Her focus on women and gender discrimination is brilliantly set forth in her latest book, Telling Stories out of Court: Narratives about Women and Workplace Discrimination. Using a new approach, fictional stories that bring out the emotional aspects of the rather dry and often difficult to comprehend legal precepts, she was both innovative and inspiring. The limitations of expected gender roles, salary equity, overt acts of discrimination and retaliation, and sexual harassment are recounted as an emotionally gripping part of the fabric that shrouds the ugly truth about gender discrimination in the workplace today. She autographed my copy of her book, bought months before I knew we would meet! On a personal note, she committed to join the AAUW from the podium, something her mother wanted her to do since the day she graduated from college.

The audience was generous in the praise and insightful in their questions. It was difficult to end and the after-panel hallway talk went on for quite a while. Many women came to me with their stories of gender discrimination in healthcare — as physicians, nurses, patients, and caregivers. I asked them to share, gave them my card and words of encouragement. I was truly humbled by their response, as were the other panelists.

This topic would have held interest for many hours more. But the final business meeting was ready to move the agenda to another facet of this incredibly focused and dedicated group of women who make up the AAUW. God bless!

This post was written by Dr. Linda Brodsky, Pediatric Otolaryngologist and advocate for gender and pay equity.  Dr. Brodsky also blogs at The Brodsky Blog.