Carey hosts Women in the Workplace executive panel discussion with McKinsey

The COVID-19 crisis has left corporate America at “a critical crossroads” as to whether it can continue advancing gender diversity within its ranks, according to the recent Women in the Workplace report by management consulting firm McKinsey & Company. Women – particularly mothers, senior-level female managers, and Black women – have faced distinctly difficult challenges during the pandemic and the resulting lockdown.

These and other findings in the report – the largest annual study on the state of women in corporate America – supplied the focus for the Women in the Workplace Executive Panel Discussion held October 5, 2020, in a joint presentation by the Johns Hopkins Carey Business School and McKinsey & Company. About 335 people signed in for the remote event, the latest entry in Carey’s Distinguished Speaker Series.

Carey Dean Alexander Triantis and McKinsey Senior Partner Nora Gardner moderated the discussion that featured a group of distinguished panelists – Karen Peetz (MS ’81), chief administrative officer, Citigroup; Lesley Slaton Brown, vice president and chief diversity officer, HP Inc.; and Kevin Sowers, president, Johns Hopkins Health System.

The panelists provided their insights into the McKinsey report while also describing their experiences with gender-related issues in the workplace.

In his introductory remarks, Triantis said, “One of the core values of Carey Business School is collaborative leadership. As a school, we demonstrate our collaborative leadership through our commitment to diversity, inclusion, and belonging, which we strive to foster in everything we do. We also know that as a society, we still have more work ahead in achieving these cherished ideals in the workplace. Women, particularly women of color, have historically faced many challenges in the workplace. … Many of these longstanding challenges and inequities have been compounded by the current stress and uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic.”