CGD Podcast: Elevating Women and People of Color to IFI Leadership with Amie Batson and Francisco Ferreira

As of now, only one woman born and raised in a low- or middle-income country has ever headed an international financial institution (IFI). Of 234 senior management positions at a sample of IFIs, the proportion of women ranges from zero (two IFIs) to just under half (one IFI). We know there are many qualified women, particularly women of color, working in the development space; so what's stopping them from rising to leadership levels?

This podcast explores that question both at the early-career stage, where male allyship can play a critical role, and in the mid-career stage, when women who are ready to transition to leadership start to feel increased pressure to step aside. 

My first guest is Francisco Ferreira, the Amartya Sen Professor of Inequality Studies and Director of the International Inequalities Institute at the London School of Economics—and also my former manager at the World Bank. My second guest is Amie Batson, President of WomenLift Health, an organization dedicated to expanding the power and influence of talented women leaders in global health.

Together, we discuss what effective mentorship and allyship can look like, the importance and impact of diversity in leadership, and the actions that organizations can take to better support the women and people of color who work there.

Resources 

• The No Club: Putting a Stop to Women’s Dead-End Work
• Breaking Free of Stereotype Threat with Claude Steele, TED
• Discrimination, Social Identity, and Durable Inequalities, American Economic Association
• Why Do People Stay Poor?, National Bureau of Economic Research
• The Enduring Grip of the Gender Pay Gap, Pew Research Center
• Distributive and Reciprocal Fairness: What Can We Learn from the Heterogeneity of Social Preferences?, Journal of Economic Psychology
• Perceptions on Burnout and the Medical School Learning Environment of Medical Students Who Are Underrepresented in Medicine, JAMA Network Open
• Understanding the Child Penalty, American Economic Association
• Stereotype Threat, National Institutes of Health