Why Gender Parity Is Good For Business | Bias, Business And The American Way | Meet the Inaugural Class Of Forbes Fellows

Plus: Here’s The Missing Ingredient That Will Make You A Better Ally

Wednesday, March 23, marked Equal Pay Day, the date that signifies how many days into the new year the average woman must work to earn the same wage as the average man doing the same job. Here is why we are still having equal pay conversations in 2021, and why gender parity is good for business. 

Amidst calls for gender equity, one group is often left out of the conversation—Black women in prisons. While the need for prison reform is often framed in terms of Black men’s experiences, Black women, who make up 13% of the country’s female population, represent 30% of the women’s prison population and 44% of all women in jail. Highlighting this problem, the #FreeHer Campaign calls for 100 women to be granted clemency during President Joe Biden’s first 100 days in office.

As the Asian American community continues to reel from last week’s deadly attacks, business and community leaders and policymakers have called for systemic change. But their calls cannot and should not rest solely on the Asian American community. Read about how you can become a better ally, check out this list of Anti-Asian Violence Resources, and learn about the history of  bias in business and “the American way.” 

More than a year ago, Forbes Chief Content Officer Randall Lane sat down with Robert Smith, the richest Black person in America, to discuss mentorship at scale. Their conversation inspired the Forbes fellowship, an initiative through which we’re tapping talent from our nation’s HBCUs to create new opportunities and greater newsroom diversity. On Tuesday, we introduced the inaugural class of Forbes Fellows and Academy students—meet them here! 

Quiz Yourself

By how many years have efforts to close the wage gap been set back due to the Covid-19 health crisis?

A) 50 years

B) 30 years

C) 20 years

D) 10 years

(Answer located at the bottom of this newsletter.)

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Quiz Answer: (B) According to the U.S. Department of Labor, the women’s labor force participation rate was 55.8% in February 2021—the same as it was in April 1987.