women

Women tend to outperform men when it comes to collaboration and creativity in small working groups, but force teams to go head to head in highly competitive environments and the benefits of a female approach are soon reversed, suggests new research from Washington University in St. Louis.

Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Sheryl WuDunn will present an Assembly Series address on “Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide,” at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 11, in Graham Chapel on Washington University in St. Louis’ Danforth Campus. A booksigning will follow in the Women’s Building Formal Lounge. Both events are free and open to the public.

A few years ago, when David Browman, PhD, professor of archaeology in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis, read his graduate student’s thesis on the early figures in Americanist archaeology, he immediately asked, “Where are all the women?”

A panel discussion, titled “Conversations on Gender and Blackness in the Age of Trayvon Martin,” will open WUSTL’s African and African-American Studies fall colloquium series at 10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 6, in the Women’s Building Formal Lounge. WUSTL faculty will lead the discussion, which includes a coffee reception at 10 a.m.

“SPIN-IT: A Leadership Program for Women in IT” is accepting student applications through Tuesday, Sept. 3. The program aims to encourage and support female staff members and students who are interested in technology careers.

As Germany prepares to enact quotas that will mandate quotas for female participation on major corporate boards, the United States is feeling the pressure to improve board diversity, says Hillary A. Sale, JD, corporate governance expert and professor of law at Washington University School of Law. After years of little growth, the percentage of women directors on U.S. Boards remains at 12 percent.

The opening session of “SPIN-IT: A Leadership Program for Women in IT” will be held April 24. The event features a guest speaker, Vivian Eveloff, director of the Sue Shear Institute for Women in Public Life at the University of Missouri-St. Louis. The event is open to members of the WUSTL community, but space is limited.

“SPIN-IT: A Leadership Program for Women in IT” is accepting applications. The new program aims to encourage and support women, both staff members and students, pursuing careers in information technology. The deadline for staff members to apply is Friday, March 15; the deadline for student applications is March 22.

“Composing a Life,” a lively, interactive panel discussion for graduate and undergraduate women students, will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 30 in Holmes Lounge. The panel features five women of diverse ages, career choices and interests who will discuss their stories and post-graduation choices.

Gloria Steinem — a pioneering feminist, award-winning journalist and best-selling author — talks with students of the Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Program in Arts & Sciences May 17. Steinem, who was at WUSTL to receive an honorary doctor of humane letters at Commencement, took questions from students, offered advice and discussed her own life experiences.