Bluffton alumna, trustee to discuss gender inequality in Nov. 10 forum

“Still 77 Cents on the Dollar: Gender, Communication and Work” will be Dr. Kerry Strayer’s topic for a Bluffton University Forum at 11 a.m. Tuesday, Nov. 10, in Founders Hall.

The presentation by the 1984 Bluffton alumna, now a university trustee and an associate professor of communication at Otterbein University, is free and open to the public.

“Over 50 years have passed since Title VII of the Civil Rights Act passed, protecting individuals from—among other things—employment discrimination on the basis of gender,” Strayer notes. “Many people believe that gender equality is an issue we have already solved,” she adds, but “statistics show that women still 1) make less than men in equivalent jobs, 2) are not equally represented in higher management and 3) face harassment and discrimination in ways which may be more subtle, but still exist.”

Her talk, she says, “will provide a brief overview of improvements in the workplace; some basic differences between the genders on choice of employment fields, interviewing and negotiating; and the benefits of creating a more diverse workplace.”