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SPOTLIGHT: WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP: PERSPECTIVES, CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES (FOR MEN TOO!) WEDNESDAY, MAY 10 • 9:00 A.M.–10:30 A.M. Who runs the (animal welfare) world? Beyoncé fans know the answer—girls! But what does that mean for our field? In this special session, four dynamic leaders will talk it out in a panel discussion on gender issues in the workplace overall and in the animal welfare field in particular. Join Laura Maloney and Betsy McFarland, principals of Adisa, a consulting firm; Amy Mills, CEO of Emancipet; and Anne Reed, president and CEO of the Wisconsin Humane Society, for an interactive session on how the prevalence of female staff affects the field and how women can hone their leadership skills. We chatted with Maloney and McFarland for this short, edited Q&A—get a preview here, then join us for the workshop! THE ANIMAL WELFARE WORLD IS PREDOMINATELY FEMALE. WHY DO YOU THINK THAT IS? HOW DOES THAT IMPACT OUR WORK? Betsy McFarland: The animal protection field has been predominately female since its inception. Having been in this movement for 20 years now, I always remember the jokes that our movement was started by the “little old ladies in tennis shoes,” the well-to-do women who were involved with charitable causes while their husbands worked. While society has evolved since women joined the professional workforce in a significant way, it’s not surprising to still see women dominating the movement just as they do other “nurturing” fields like nursing, education, child care and more. In a 2007 article in Anthrozoös (“Gender Differences in Human- Animal Interactions: A Review”), Harold Herzog articulated the differences this way: “More men than women support animal research, hunt animals for recreation and engage in animal cruelty. In contrast, women nearly always outnumber men at animal rights demonstrations, and they are more likely to hoard large numbers of cats or dogs in their homes.” And while women made up the bulk of the movement, Herzog noted that men have predominately been in the leadership roles until recent years. Clearly things are changing, just as they are in other fields, as women continue to push traditional boundaries, but we still have a ways to go. 20 �� animalsheltering.org/expo The audience at a 2011 Animal Care Expo workshop reflects the large role women play in the sheltering and rescue field. WHY IS TALKING ABOUT GENDER ISSUES AT WORK STILL NECESSARY FOR OUR FIELD? BM: Gender issues continue to be a hot topic nationally and were clearly in the spotlight during the recent election! Women still earn less than men—in 2015, female full-time workers made only 80 cents for every dollar earned by men, a gender wage gap of 20 percent. And women only hold about 14 percent of leadership roles in the workplace. This really needs to change. ARE THERE DIFFERENCES IN THE WAY WOMEN AND MEN COMMUNICATE AND MANAGE? Laura Maloney: Behavioral psychologist Daniel Goleman has done considerable research on the issue of emotional intelligence (EQ). He notes that women tend to have an edge over men when it comes to self-awareness, managing emotions, empathy and social skills, but men do better than women at managing distressing emotions. Psychologist Ruth Malloy of HayGroup Boston says there are no gender differences in EQ ability among the top 10 percent of business performers. Personally, I’ve experienced effective and ineffective male and female leaders.


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To see the actual publication please follow the link above