Persuasion 108: What Boys and Girls Are Made Of

Snips and snails, and puppy dog tails,
Thatís what little boys are made of.
Sugar and spice and all things nice,
Thatís what little girls are made of

Nothing seems more basic than the difference between men and women. But few things are more fraught with misunderstanding and mistrust than these differences, and they come into fullest view when we try to work together. In this episode of Persuasion, Erin and Hannah are joined by Rachael Starke, a writer and consultant based in Silicon Valley, to discuss how sexism affects the workplace and keeps us from fully flourishing as men and women. They tackle the recent fallout around an internal Google memo that questioned the companyís approach to diversity and eventually resulted in the firing of its author, James Damore. Among other things, the memo cited research about the differences between men and women, suggesting that such group trendsóand not sexism–might explain the underrepresentation of women in tech fields; but what role should such data play in our understanding of the sexes? Conversely, does pursuing quotas actually ensure that men and womenës unique contributions are include and represented in company culture? What might it look like for men and women to capitalize on our differences in order to build better companies, families, churches, and communities?

Listen to Persuasion 108:

Links from the Show:

Why Is Silicon Valley So Awful to Women, The Atlantic

The Google Memo

Ross Douthat’s “Googles War Over the Sexes”, The New York Times

When Women Stopped Coding, NPR

Rachael Starke:
Twitter: @rachaelstarke
Rachael on LinkedIn

Theme music by Maiden Name.