THE WOMEN'S NETWORK
The following is a collection of my work written for the Boston University chapter of The Women's Network, a network for collegiate and recently graduated women to unite the next generation of leaders.
FEMALE REPRESENTATION IN THE ELECTRONIC DANCE COMMUNITY
March, 2022
Since its origin as a music genre born from the generations of struggle that have plagued the African American community of Detroit following World War II, electronic dance music has pioneered inclusivity for POC and LGBTQ+ communities. Detroit techno, while uniting the dark and heavy atmosphere of the city at the time, would go on to build the foundation for a music scene that would grow to global-levels. Yet in 2021, the music genre that arose out of a call for unification faced grave inequalities, specifically in its female representation. In fact, the 2021 International Music Summit Business Report highlighted that female DJs only account for four percent of demand globally. Although women have always had roles in the community, they have not been taken as seriously as the majority of white men who have dominated the industry.
EMBRACING GENDER STYLES IN COMMUNICATION: WHAT GOES UNSAID
June 2023
A recent study by Amy Diehl, Amber L. Stephenson, and Leanne M. Dzubinski of the Harvard Business Review found that gender balance does not equate to gender equality. In other words – having more women in the workplace does not mean they will not be subject to persisting gender bias. Diehl, Stephenson, and Dzubinski surveyed women in female-dominated industries to explore the biases they still experience – with a major one being “constrained communication.” Several other studies in the past decade have also explored gender differences in communication, implying that such differences are one of the main professional challenges that women face – and they often reflect female stereotypes outside of the workplace. However, the gender bias in communication differences reveals a responsibility among everyone in the workplace, including men and women, to understand each other. By embracing each other’s communication styles, teamwork and productivity in the workplace will benefit.