To make sure you don’t miss future episodes of Women at Work, subscribe on iTunes, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts!
In Apolitical’s list of 100 Most Influential People in Gender Policy, you find Jacinda Ardern, former PM of NZ, and you also find today’s guest Dr. Leonora Risse.
Leonora is an economist who specialises in gender equality.
Her focus is women in the workforce, gender pay gaps, why there aren’t more women in leadership, societal norms that see women doing the majority of care work, gender biases and resistance to equality initiatives.
And she VERY much believes that we need to fix the system, NOT the women.
With a PhD focused on paid maternity leave in Australia, she is co-founder of the Women in Economics Network in Australia, a Research Fellow with the Women and Public Policy Program at Harvard University, and a Research Fellow with the Women’s Leadership Institute Australia.
She’s one of the most passionate advocates for gender equality I’ve had the privilege to chat with. I hope you enjoy this episode with Dr Leonora Risse!
In this episode we discuss:
- Why ‘leaning in’ isn’t the answer, and how increased confidence increases career prospects for men, but not for women.
- Gender norms and how we’re expected to behave at work as women (and how we’re penalised if we behave ‘like men’).
- The loss of confidence some women have after parental leave, and taking on the story that we’ve lost our skills.
- Building evidence that care work builds our capabilities that can be directly transferrable to the workplace.
- How a focus on women removes responsibility from workplaces and governments to drive structural change.
- But we need structural solutions to these problems.
- The male breadwinner model, despite women’s employment being at a record high.
- How much policy shapes our decisions (it’s not just “your choice”, we’re driven by the economic structures).
- The rise in working from home, and how it supports women staying in the workforce.
- Providing benefits that actually meet the needs of your people translates into increased loyalty and commitment.
- The growing issue of burnout.
- Breaking down barriers for men as the biggest step to take from here.
- Leonora’s own journey from naively thinking ‘leaning in’ would work, to driving systemic change.
About Dr Leonora Risse
Dr Leonora Risse is an economist who specialises in gender equality.
She is an Associate Professor in Economics at the University of Canberra, a Research Fellow with the Women’s Leadership Institute Australia, and an Expert Panel Member on gender pay equity with the Fair Work Commission. She formerly held roles with the Australian Government Productivity Commission and the Women and Public Policy Program at Harvard University. She is a co-founder and former National Chair of the Women in Economics Network (WEN) in Australia.
In her research, Dr Risse focuses on gender gaps in the workplace, including the gender pay gap and women’s under-representation in leadership. She engages regularly with governments and organisations on translating research into policy and how to apply a ‘gender lens’ to policy design.
Dr Risse engages regularly with the media to empower everyday audiences with a greater understanding of economic issues. In 2021 she was named as one of Apolitical’s 100 Most Influential People in Gender Policy.