Gender equality is recognized internationally as a human right, and identified as key to economic, social and democratic development in the 21st century by, among others, the World Economic Forum.
Core CSR issues cannot be tackled effectively without increased attention to gender, as evidenced by the feminisation of poverty (Habermas, 1998); the importance of gender analysis in addressing environmental degradation (Marshall, 2007); and long-standing recognition of gender equality as a key to development (Millennium Development Goals). Yet despite acknowledgement by companies and CSR standards, the status of gender equality within CSR and other systems of responsible business research and practice appears modest. The purpose of this Symposium is to bring insights together from research and practice which examine and challenge this modest status.
Exploring gender issues through a responsible business lens requires us to examine not only corporate governance and workplace issues, which have been addressed by some researchers, policy-makers and companies. It also requires attention to the wider gender impacts of business including in the marketplace, the community, the ecological environment, and through corporate value chains.
With 25 papers accepted, the symposium will bring together researchers to address these agendas in order to explore how we conceptualize and research responsible business with regard to gender issues. The symposium will also provide an opportunity to learn from corporations, NGOs and policy-makers about leading responsible business practice, in order to inform a more coherent research agenda in this field. There will also be practitioner and academic panels which will address the broader question of gender and responsible business.
Keynote speakers:
Nadia Younes, Group Advisor, Diversity & Inclusion, Rio Tinto
Kate Grosser, La Trobe University
Academic Panel:
Jeremy Moon, Director of the ICCSR (Chair)
R. Edward Freeman, Darden School of Business, University of Virginia
Stephanie Barrientos, Brooks World Poverty Institute, The University of Manchester
Diane Elson, Department of Sociology, University of Essex
David Knights, School of Business & Economics, Swansea University
Practitioner Panel:
Amanda Jordan, Co-Founding Director, Corporate Citizenship (Chair)
Fleur Bothwick, Director of Diversity & Inclusive Leadership, Ernst & Young
Carmen Niethammer, Private Sector Development & Gender Expert, International Finance Corporation
Andrea Shemberg, Advisor, Global Business Initiative on Human Rights
Jane Tate, International Co-ordinator, Homeworkers Worldwide
Please register on-line - for further details and link to registration visit our website.