Featured Stories, Elevate Women In STEAM+, Page 2

‘Bamboo ceiling’ Asian Americans face in the workplace is disconcertingly sturdy

by Jennifer Lee

The Supreme Court decision striking down race-based affirmative action in university admissions, based on the charge that Harvard discriminates against Asian Americans, actually obscures the more insidious and widespread forms of bias that many Asian Americans face.

Asian Americans are not underrepresented in university classrooms. Where they are underrepresented is in the boardroom and the C-suite. Among the Fortune 500, only 2.4% of CEOs are Asian, two-thirds of whom are South Asian. Many Asian Americans — and especially East Asians (with origins in China, Korea and Japan) — find themselves hitting a “bamboo ceiling.” It’s here, in the workplace, where affirmative action has an important role to play in the lives and livelihoods of Asian Americans — one that the Supreme Court has put in jeopardy. ···

The Miami Marlins’ Kim Ng is the first female GM to lead an MLB team to the playoffs

by Becky Sullivan

In many ways, the Miami Marlins locker room Saturday night after the team clinched a playoff spot was a familiar scene: the usual sprays of beer and champagne, the usual smiles and hugs and cheers.

But the locker room playoff party had one thing Major League Baseball has never seen before: The general manager graciously receiving those pours of booze from ecstatic players was a woman.

Kim Ng, 54, became the first woman to get the top executive job at an MLB team when longtime Yankee great Derek Jeter helped hire her to the Marlins in 2020. ···

The Pregnancy Penalty: Dismantling Stigmas In The Workplace

by Shelley Zalis

Pregnancy can be one of the most transformative experiences in a woman's life. But for many, a positive test also heightens anxiety about one's career, and how others will react to the news. During my first pregnancy I gained weight early on, and remember one of my bosses saying it looked like I had one too many client lunches. I hadn't told anyone. I then felt compelled to share the news sooner than planned. ···

How to empower female entrepreneurs who are changing the game in tech

by Katie Jansen

Despite a vacillating economy, the startup landscape is showing promising signs of a resurgence. Startup accelerator Y Combinator’s applications rose by 20% in 2022, with the number of applications at the start of this year increasing fivefold. Buzzworthy technologies—from generative artificial intelligence (AI) and data clean rooms to free ad-supported streaming television (FAST)—are sparking newfound inspiration and innovation across industries.

Amidst this surge within the startup economy, however, an adverse trend persists: Women remain underrepresented, especially in tech. ···

A Celebration Of Disabled Changemakers And Their Impact

by Keely Cat-Wells

Tiffany Yu, a former Goldman Sachs Banker and a Director at Revolt, a company co-founded by P. Diddy, has since found her powerful passion in disability rights advocacy and community building, leading to the creation of Diversability “an award-winning social enterprise to rebrand disability through the power of community”. Today, Diversability has more than 5,700 members, and expanded their digital network to over 70,000.

Born from her experience as a disability advocate in college, she considers herself a community builder first, disability advocate second, and entrepreneur third. Yu’s journey in the corporate world was punctuated by active involvement in disability employee resource groups. It was there that her entrepreneurial spirit was ignited, leading to the rebirth of Diversability. ···

Colorado ‘rainbow baby’ named Gerber Baby winner for 2023

by Amaris Encinas

This year’s Gerber Baby is a military kid from Colorado with a captivating look and even more adventurous spirit.

Maddie Mendoza also won the 13th annual Gerber Baby photo search because of an adorable throwback photo of her mom as a baby and her parent’s story of love and resilience. For the first time ever, parents were encouraged to submit photos of themselves as babies and their own baby.

"With Gerber's continued support of March of Dimes' maternal and infant health programs, together, we can make a lasting impact on maternal and infant health, ensuring that every baby has the best start in life. ···

No longer suffering in silence: Asian Americans denied tech leadership roles go to court

by Jessica Guynn

After stints at Disney, Google and Twitter, Vaishnavi Jayakumar joined Facebook and Instagram owner Meta in January 2020.

Her job on the youth policy team was to protect children and teens from bullying, harassment and other forms of abuse. But Jayakumar – an Asian American originally from Singapore – says she couldn’t shield herself from racial bias on the job.

Black Harvard And Princeton Students Graduate At Higher Rates Than Classmates Overall, Equally At Yale

by Shaun Harper

The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled race-conscious college admissions policies and practices unconstitutional. Affirmative Action opponents have long argued that admitting presumably unqualified applicants of color to highly-selective institutions sets those students up for failure because they can't do the work. If completing a bachelor's degree is a reasonable measure of whether someone has what it takes to succeed in the Ivy League or at another highly-selective university, then federal data from the three institutions where admission slots are among the most coveted in the world confirm that Black students are indeed more than capable and deserving of the opportunities they earned. ···

POV: The head of DEI should not report to HR

by Amira Barger

From Princeton to Netflix to Meta, we have seen massive turnover among Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) leaders. A survey from Korn Ferry found that the average tenure of a Chief Diversity Officer (CDO) is under 24 months—one of the shortest average tenures among all executives. An estimated 60% of CDOs left positions between 2018 and 2021, often noting a lack of institutional support as the cause as well as a lack of resources, a lack of authority, a lack of specificity, and a lack of belief. Industry insights are clear, the scope of the problem is broad, and individuals are not to blame. ···