Reflections by Jake Romm, L’ 20
The Women, Law and Leadership Ideas Lab was an incubator for innovative ideas. It was a platform for students to test ideas, to create, and to experiment. Most of all, it was a space for students to ask questions on the under representation of women in leadership and how that hurts the global economy, hampers the diversity of thought, and undermines the public good. The concept for our Lab led by Rangita de Silva de Alwis was to research and develop a wide range of policy initiatives on women’s leadership. The goal will not just be to study and recommend adoption of best practices but to explore and innovate new practices. The students ideated and discussed solutions to address the under representation of women in leadership and the future of work.
What is needed, then, is a re-evaluation of work. We must ask, along with Virginia Woolf, “What is this ‘civilization’ in which we find ourselves? What are these ceremonies and why should we take part in them? What are these professions and why should we make money out of them? Where in short is it leading, the procession of the sons of educated men?” Any strategy for gender equality in the workplace, equality that is not predicated on the reification of masculine constructs or proximity to power or economic output but on actual substantive equality, must begin with those questions.
“Women Leaders in Law & Policy on the Global Stage” is a video series that presents conversations with women who, as experts in law and policy, are dealing with the critical, cutting-edge issues of our time. These situations — armed conflict, forced migration, sustainable development, climate change, and the human rights of children and the disabled — are where the voices of women are most in jeopardy of being silenced.
The women featured in this series have occupied myriad roles on the international stage over the course of their careers—legislator, judge, academic, government minister, political activist, and pragmatic thinker with non-governmental organizations. They have been among the few female leaders and change makers who have occupied seats at the tables where matters of import to women are discussed and decided. Their conversations with us confirm that women’s leadership of the kind they exemplify has never been more important than it is at the present moment for the achievement of equality, development and peace in the world.