April 26, 2024
10:30–11:45 am, Grainger Hall, Wisconsin School of Business, Room 2510
Join us on April 26th for a talk featuring Chris Rider hosted by the Institute for Diversity Science and the Wisconsin School of Busines. Rider is the Thomas C. Kinnear Professor and Associate Professor of Entrepreneurial Studies at the University of Michigan Ross School of Business.
Description
This talk elaborates on the “Equity Challenge” of organizational leadership: how to achieve a widely valued objective (i.e., equity) that is rooted in individual notions of fairness that vary widely across people and within people over time. For example, many people believe that equity means uniform treatment while many others believe that equity means treating people differently to ensure equal opportunity. In light of such different views, how can organizations become more equitable or evaluate their progress towards that goal?
The “Equity Analytics” framework is designed to help leaders meet this challenge. Informed by social science theory, employment law, and data science, this framework frames discussions about what is equitable and how a focal organization might generate inequity. Specifically, all organizations allocate opportunities to people (e.g., jobs, projects, resources) and value their contributions (e.g., performance evaluations, credit scores). In doing so, disparities can result when organizations treat people differently (i.e., “differential treatment”) or when they treat people equivalently (i.e., “disparate impact”).
Two objectives are achieved by situating observed disparities in a 2×2 matrix defined by the intersection of these two organizational processes (i.e.., allocations and valuations) and two forms of treatment (i.e., differential and disparate). First, organizational members can find common ground in one (or some) of the four cells even if their definitions of equity differ. Second, identifying specific disparity-generating processes informs the matching of effective solutions to specific problems. During the session, we will apply the framework in multiple empirical contexts to demonstrate its general utility in meeting the “Equity Challenge” of organizational leadership.
Suggested Reading
Reagans, Ray E. and Christopher I. Rider. “Using Equity Analytics to Meet Leadership’s ‘Equity Challenge’.” Working paper, University of Michigan. [To be posted closer to date of talk.]