News Archives - Maureen F. Fitzgerald

I Got My First Death Threat

I just got my first death threat. I am terrified. It was in response to an article I wrote this week on Toxic Masculinity and how it harms men and relationships. I got a four-paragraph, graphically violent (think men’s genitals) e-mail death threat. Words like “I want to choke you until you die” type

It took 13 years for discrimination case shame on lawyers

2300 women sue financial sector giant! Read this article in Bloomberg. “Gender discrimination case against Goldman Sachs has finally won class-action status. Three plaintiffs will represent as many as 2,300 current and former employees at the company who believe they have been treated unfairly because of their gender. This Bloomberg piece dives into the backstory of one

Women Journalists win Pulitzer and Create Movement

This is absolutely fantastic. Read this NYT article. Here is an edited synopsis from Fortune: The Pulitzer Prizes—the most prestigious awards in the journalism world—were given out yesterday. The award for Public Service went to the New York Times and the New Yorker for their game-changing reporting on sexual harassment. Indeed the NYT’s Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey and

Four WRONG stereotypes lead to women getting less money

Here is a great article in HBR on why women entrepreneurs tend to get less funding. Four harmful stereotypes were identified (and disproved): Women are cautious; women are reluctant to grow their businesses; women don’t have resources and women’s ventures under-perform. All are false. We need to challenge these assumptions AND ALSO a much deeper biases

Best Solutions to the Gender Gap by PwC!

Must read. I just saw the new report on gender equality published by PwC. Its called Time to Talk: What Has to Change for Women at Work. It suggests three actions: Transparency around pay and promotion; Strategic support for women including sponsoring women; and a new model for work-life balance that includes parenting time, re-entry

I am proud: Canada is a leader in advancing Gender Equality

The Government of Canada under Justin Trudeau has done something amazing for women and our whole society. The report is well worth the read. It says: The knowledge-based economy demands a skilled, adaptable and diversified workforce to support Canada’s competitiveness and prosperity. All Canadians should have the opportunity to make choices about their education based on

Listen to me talk about my books on Roundhouse Radio this Friday

Please listen in at 98.3 on your Radio or on your computer or devise. I am so excited about being interviwed by Don Shafer on his show “Impact” this Friday at 1pm on Roundhouse Radio, Vancouver. I will be talking about my three new books and particularly “Lean Out– How to Dismantle the Corporate

Silicon Valley men getting away with anything is called privilege

This week has been a gender disaster zone in Silicon Valley. Three powerful men quit and several offered applogies for their sexist behaviour. Sadly the IT culture underbelly is not pretty. I think the most important thing to loom at is how power is maintained by a handful of men (not just why they abuse it). Venture Capitalist are the

BC is not measuring up to gender equality

Every year, West Coast LEAF grades BC on how it’s meeting its international obligations on women’s rights. Every year, for the most part, LEAF has found progress lacking. So, how is BC measuring up on women’s equality in 2016? Unfortunately, not a lot has changed. “This year’s Report Card is primarily a story of inaction. While

Gender equality is sliding globally

The world is facing an acute misuse of talent by not acting faster to tackle gender inequality, which could put economic growth at risk and deprive economies of the opportunity to develop, according to the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report 2016, which is published today. The report is an annual benchmarking exercise