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Fostering an informed, active network of Kellogg men who support and advocate for gender equity at Kellogg and beyond.
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"A Day Without Women"
On the heels of International Women's Day, today, we stand with Mexico in support of "A Day Without Women", a 24-hour strike by the country's female population, fueled by the surge of "femicides" in the past year. Its purpose is to protest gender-based violence, inequality and the culture of machismo, by showing what it would feel like if women went missing.
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She got game.
US Women's Soccer
When it comes to international sports, the US Women's national soccer team (USWNT) is one of the most dominant in the world.
They are consistently ranked #1 in the world, have taken home gold medals in the 3 of the last four 4 Olympic games, and have won 4 of 8 World Cups including the last two and the 1999 tournament that gave us this iconic moment and inspired the growth of youth soccer in the US.
By comparison, their male counterparts haven't won an Olympic medal since 1904, failed to qualify for the 2018 World Cup, and didn't advance past the knockout stage in the 2014 World Cup.
Yet, despite superior performance, higher viewership numbers, and greater revenues generated, the women's team gets paid significantly less by the US Soccer Federation than the men's team: $4,950 per game compared to $13,166 and $200k for winning the World Cup compared to $1.1 million (if the men could win).
All of this led to 28 members of the USWNT filing a lawsuit against US Soccer alleging gender discrimination over unequal pay. Star Megan Rapinoe stated:
"We very much believe it is our responsibility, not only for our team and for future U.S. players, but for players around the world ÔÇö and frankly women all around the world ÔÇö to feel like they have an ally in standing up for themselves, and fighting for what they believe in, and fighting for what they deserve and for what they feel like they have earned."
To build on Rapinoe's point, equality for women in sports is critical because it shows girls that their hard work, dedication, and achievement of excellence is worth just as much as it is for boys - that they can also grow up to be professional athletes, perform on the biggest stages, and be rewarded equally.
Regardless of how the USWNT lawsuit ends however, there will still exists a massive disparity in prize money because FIFA, the international soccer organization that controls the World Cup, refuses to equalize pay, speaking to the fact that we need more worldwide support for gender equity.
Progress In Other Leagues
While the USWNT battles out their case in the courts, other sports organizations have proven that achieving equal pay can be done. In 2007, Wimbledon became the fourth and final Grand Slam to offer equal prize money to women and men, and in 2018, the World Surf League did the same.
The WNBA has also made headway compared to its counterpart, the NBA, after seeing Breanna Stewart, the league's Most Valuable Player, suffer a severe achilles injury while playing abroad during the off season to compensate for a low domestic salary.
In a move that would make our Negotiations professors proud, the two sides collaborated to not only increase compensation by 53%, but also expand the overall pie of the business by creating WNBA Changemakers. This collective of businesses (led by AT&T, Deloitte, and Nike) will commit sponsorship dollars and support the longer term advancement of women in sports by giving players a bigger platform to grow their personal brands and the resources to support their post-playing careers.
The NBA itself is also working to make strides in equality. After 9 year old Riley Morrison hand-wrote a letter to star Steph Curry asking why she could only find his signature Under Armour shoes in boys sizes, Curry worked with the company to ensure that the company provided either female or unisex sizes.
The league now also has women assistant coaches on a third of its teams and 6 female referees. Commissioner Adam Silver recently stated:
"Going forward, it should be roughly 50-50 of new officials entering the league. Same for coaches, by the way. We have a program, too. There's no reason why women shouldn't be coaching men's basketball."
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TL;DR:
The pay gap for women extends to sports where disparities in salaries and prize money for tournaments can be extraordinary.
While some sports organizations have closed the gap (tennis, surfing), others still have progress to be made, highlighted by the US Women's National soccer team's pay discrimination lawsuit with the US Soccer Federation.
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We Want to Hear From YOU!
The WBA Manbassador team aims to educate and equip Kellogg men to become better allies by understanding the challenges that women face and taking tangible actions to help.
To help with awareness, we want Kellogg women to share what they've experienced - the good and the bad. Hearing it from fellow students makes it more real than reading articles or statistics (although we include those too).
Kellogg women, please take a moment to take the survey here - one lucky winner will be randomly selected to receive a $100 Amazon gift card!
Survey closes on Wednesday, April 8. Thank you for your help!
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A real story from a fellow Kellogg classmate...
Brad Freed (JD/MBA ÔÇÿ20 & Manbassador) interned with the WNBA last summer and shares his takeaways from working on aspects of the Collective Bargaining Agreement:
Signing this new CBA was the first of many steps taken on the path to equality. The league and players' overarching goalÔÇötheir collective aspirational goalÔÇöis of course, pay parody. Equal pay for equal contribution. Without such an aspiration, any league or entity would certainly fall short of its potential. But the WNBA is not na├»ve. Its players are not na├»ve.
On the path to pay parody are a couple of key stopsÔÇönecessary stopsÔÇöstops that this new CBA is specifically navigating the league toward. The first is shedding a couple of scary numbers. By age 14, girls drop out of sports at an alarming 50% higher rate than boys. By age 17, more than half of all girls have stopped playing sports altogether. A common theme for these young girls: not seeing a possible future career in sportsÔÇöa reality that doesn't exist for their male counterparts.
So, what does this new CBA do to alleviate some of this stress? It gives these young girls more role models to aspire to become. It puts the Sue Bird's, the Elena Delle Donne's, the Candace Parker's, the Nneka Ogwumike's, the Brittney Griner's, and the dozens of other incredible WNBA players more in the spotlight. It's more than an increase in national television gamesÔÇöwhich the CBA does accomplish. It's enhanced marketing opportunities for individual players and teams alike. It's unique off-season career developmentÔÇöfrom assistant coaching in the NBA to starting businesses that span across every industry. And of course, it's notably higher salaries and better endorsements.
The league is standing with its ChangemakersÔÇöthe sweep of selective corporate sponsors standing on the right side of history, helping make this CBA's goals possible. These Changemakers are providing substantial capital resources and creative new opportunities for players to grow off the court.
Together, the league, the Changemakers, and ultimately the incredible athletes themselves are working together to make sure the next 14-year-old girl debating dropping off her high school basketball teamÔÇöbecause the hard work needed to become a professional basketball player is not fairly rewardedÔÇödoesn't even consider dropping. Instead, that very girl pushes even harder to be the best player she can, with the only impediment in her way now being the girl guarding her on the other side of the court.
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What would a Manbassador do?
Watch women's sports, whether it's at the amateur or professional level!
For professional leagues especially, viewership drives sponsorship dollars which are the main revenue driver for many leagues that pay for player salaries. By watching women's sports, you provide data for leagues to convince sponsors and networks to increase their financial support.
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#gender_equity
Can't get enough of the Manbassadors newsletter and events? Join the newly launched #gender_equity slack channel for endless content and engagement on issues related to gender equity. Spread the word and join the conversation!
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