As my colleague Yonina wrote recently, Ellen Pao’s trial is well underway here in San Francisco. Ms. Pao, a former junior partner at the high-profile venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers (KCPB), is now suing KCPB for $16 million in damages as a result of the gender discrimination she alleges went unchecked at […]

Columbia University recently garnered national attention amid allegations that the University permitted a serial rapist to remain on campus and graduate.  The case is horrendous for many reasons, not least of which is the University’s response.  I want to set aside the very legitimate questions raised regarding the response as it affects the University’s undergraduate […]

There is an old adage that says we all smile in the same language. Although that’s a warm and fuzzy thought, a recent study from Northeastern University makes me hope that the intentions and attitudes behind toothy grins cannot be so easily generalized. My colleague Maya has already written about how smiling is freighted with […]

The issue of same-sex marriage is once again before the United States Supreme Court. Last time the Court addressed this topic, the Court rightly invalidated Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act, which restricted the federal definition of marriage to a marriage between a man and a woman. This time around, the Court will […]

When applying for a job as a police officer, you might expect to have to meet certain educational, physical, and mental health requirements.  But what if I told you that in Indonesia, you can be rejected for a civil service job because you are not a virgin?  Or because you are married?  And what if […]

At Shattering the Ceiling we cover many of the hurdles that women face in the workplace. In addition to on-the-job issues, women can face discrimination in how they are treated following a workplace injury. According to recent news reports, Californian women who apply for workers’ compensation following an injury on the job receive lower compensation […]

As most everyone knows by now, Patricia Arquette issued a very blunt call for equal pay and gender equality during her recent Oscar acceptance speech.  After thanking her family, friends, colleagues, and others who have helped her along the way, Arquette stated that she wanted to say thank you “To every woman who gave birth […]

In the midst of the Ellen Pao trial, much chatter has erupted on gender politics in the tech industry. Ellen Pao, a former junior partner at the venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins, is suing her former employer for gender discrimination. Among Ms. Pao’s claims is an allegation that Kliener failed to promote her to top […]

We have written, on this blog, about the persistent gap in pay between men and women in America today.  We have written about the injustice of men being paid more for doing the same work, about implicit gender-based bias, about unjustifiable double standards—it is by no means easy (or fair) to have to navigate the […]

At around the same time at which Google recently released its widely-panned diversity figures, the Chinese e-commerce behemoth Alibaba ramped up preparations for its highly anticipated IPO, and in doing so, provided investors details into the inner workings of the company. Alibaba revealed that a surprising 9 out of its 27 partners are female. This […]