gender equality | Kaur Films https://kaurfilms.com Imagine. Create. Inspire. Mon, 11 Sep 2017 05:59:47 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=7.1.4 Ending The Gender War For Women In STEM https://kaurfilms.com/ending-the-gender-war-for-women-in-stem/ Thu, 24 Aug 2017 12:24:27 +0000 http://kaurfilms.com/?p=789 A fantastic effort to bridge the gender divide As a film maker , researching inequity and disparity for stories of strength and resilience is what I […]

The post Ending The Gender War For Women In STEM first appeared on Kaur Films.]]> A fantastic effort to bridge the gender divide

As a film maker , researching inequity and disparity for stories of strength and resilience is what I do even when not making films. The last few weeks, I have been pondering over the impact of art on society. It started with the film, Hidden Figures, which did a fantastic job of telling the story of 3 acclaimed black women who changed history. The film had more of an impact than real life – so much so that inspired by the film, the US State Department created an educational exchange for women in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics).

Living in the Silicon Valley, I find the San Francisco bay area a strange mosaic. The world’s most innovative, bright and prolific people concentrate amongst our ranks, yet we fail to find the narrative of progressive parity. In a recent survey conducted by the New York Times, the gender lines are so drawn that men and women have still not figured out how to socialize with each other. Gender roles are predefined in a manner that women increasingly operate in a world where they must go to extreme extents to make their voices heard.

Do we have female substitutes for a Bill Gates or Steve Jobs? An important question to ask is: As technology takes over every aspect of human lives, how do we create role models for a new generation of girls and young women?

For so many decades, women have not experienced the same career opportunities presented to men. Women, especially in STEM, are often sidelined because they are erroneously believed to be incapable of solving hard problems. Many such incorrect assumptions abound, are routinely made and propagated even amongst the most progressive of corporate environments.

Companies are engrossed in creating frameworks that limit their legal liabilities. They are far less focused on creating organic understanding of normal working relationships between men and women or promoting a natural, healthy interaction between the two sexes. It is extremely difficult to evaluate the health of our workplace culture because objectionable conversations rarely occur in the open.

Not so anymore. The last few months have shown that women no longer want to have these experiences swept under the proverbial rug. At the intersection of this revolt and a push back lies a work culture that still needs to be repaired. I have long searched for a solution for this adversity but private, closed door conversations, HR interventions and lawsuits are really just reactions to the symptoms – not a sustainable solution.

Thankfully, all hope is not lost! Some organizations are starting to rise up to make sure that women aren’t left to fill up the back row seats anymore. Just a few days ago, as I pondered over my dilemma, I came across a refreshing new perspective that is the brainchild of a San Francisco based non profit, Menina Kaj Femme.

The Non profit hosts its annual Global Women in STEM Conference and Awards in partnership with Mobile World Congress on Sept 11-12 in San Francisco. The conference is supported by more than 100 thought leaders, both men and women, politicians and industry mavens who want to be engaged in the conversation and encourage equal opportunity for women in fields as diverse as government, Smart Cities, Transportation, Climate Change, Cybersecurity, the future of AI, AR, VR, Robotics etc etc. To encourage more women entrepreneurs, VCs and fellow entrepreneurs will be on hand to help them walk through the challenges.

Tom Steyer, the San Francisco based leader who leads the war on climate change will talk about renewable energy. Laurie Yoler, the founding board member of Tesla will share her thoughts on the future of transportation while Vinod Khosla, a preeminent venture capitalist will lead an open Q & A for the audience. Lauren Schmidt, representing DuiX (Dept of Defense Innovation Fund) , will lay out DOD’s investment priorities. Kate O’Keeffe representing Cisco’s hyperinnnovation lab CHILL will offer her perspective on bringing together diverse corporations and interests to generating ideas that will lead to breakthrough services, businesses and products.

Catering to the needs of a diverse, global audience and women in STEM, many other leaders will present their views including Ann Winblad who is a pioneer in VC investing, Tory Burch, the famous designer who also runs a foundation for women entrepreneurs, Anarkali Honaryar, the first woman parliamentarian from Afghanistan, Dru Ramey, the beacon of human rights in America etc.

The 2 days at WiSTEM this year will be exactly the conversation we want to have. A conversation about not being anchored in the past but building a cohesive future where men and women are both vested in the same outcome – economic growth and capacity building.

Where men and women are not segregated by arbitrarily defined capability but deeply entrenched in each others success, the lessons from Women in STEM Conference may show the path to end the gender war for women in STEM. The start of a new beginning. I am excited – see you there.

The post Ending The Gender War For Women In STEM first appeared on Kaur Films.]]> The Art of Diversity https://kaurfilms.com/the-art-of-diversity/ Mon, 11 Sep 2017 05:57:48 +0000 http://kaurfilms.com/?p=861 Imagine a world where everything is the same – one kind of plants, trees, animals, only one color, identical homes, all the streets with same names, […]

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Imagine a world where everything is the same – one kind of plants, trees, animals, only one color, identical homes, all the streets with same names, homes with same numbers. Imagine a world where you only have one kind of pots and pans and you eat the same food for every meal, every day, we do the exact same tasks every day – day in and day out and are surrounded by people who all look the same.

Does that make you feel uncomfortable or remind you of Groundhog Day? If it does, you are not alone.

“We inhabit a universe that is characterized by diversity”. Desmond Tutu.

Diversity is real. It is all around us. It is in everything we see, we do, we hear, we eat, we sing. No two humans are the same. There are bound to be differences of skin color, gender, beliefs , culture etc. Even twins or triplets who may appear to be cut from the same cloth, have different genetic makeup and behavior.

Centuries ago, when information did not flow easily across geographies, humans were vary of the unknown. We had a strong tendency to cling to things and people that were close to what we looked like or believed in. We shunned people who looked “different”. However, the irony is that people want to live new experiences all the time. People want to talk to different individuals and not just the person in the mirror. This has been true for as long as humans have lived – it was for want of new trading partners that The Silk Route was created and it was the quest for exploring a new country that Columbus sailed to America.

Mark Twain (b. 1835), the famous author summed it up nicely:

“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one’s lifetime.”

SARABJIT SINGH, WATERCOLOR, THE ART OF DIVERSITY

 

Corporates are not blind to these insights. In 2016, a Thomson Reuters survey revealed that a diverse workforce created more innovative products and have customers that are much more contended and happy. Gender plays a huge role as well. Between 2005 – 2011, Credit Suisse Research Institute interviewed 2360 companies globally. It is clear from the evidence that companies that had one or more women on the board delivered higher returns on equity, better growth and at a much lower risk profile.

In today’s world, if your products are used by a diverse set of people, it makes sense to have a diverse set of people design them in the first place. Diversity and inclusion does not just mean hiring people from all backgrounds. It truly means building and promoting a culture where diverse thoughts, approaches, styles, ideas and experience is encouraged and appreciated which then leads to innovation.

Historically, diversity has brought us the best pieces of music, films and arts. The diverse and often groundbreaking points of view of directors, writers and actors have brought some fantastic films that have made an impact on our thought and culture. The original Star Trek Series is exemplary for it’s time and included characters from different cultures. The current Ms. Marvel series is another fine example of embracing diversity in keeping with our current socio-economic climate. Also, the reality series The Chair is a fine example of how two directors bring their own sensibilities to the same script, creating vastly different films in the process.

In my approach to film making and story telling, I have tried to embrace diversity and hopefully live up to what Maya Angelou said, “In diversity there is beauty and there is strength.”

Through my second documentary “Drawn Together: Comics, Diversity and Stereotypes”, I have tried to address diversity from the vantage point cartoons, comics, editorial cartoons and cosplay. This offers a unique yet impactful way of storytelling in a way that brings a smile to the audience, yet, makes them think.

 

Racism and stereotyping is not associated with one set of people. People of all age groups, ethnicities, genders, cultures face it and have devised their own ways of dealing with it. The film features the work of and commentary by three comic book artists: Keith Knight, an African-American, has been dealing with this subject since birth because of the color of the skin, provides politically astute commentary. Vishavjit Singh, a Sikh who dresses as Captain America, has been negatively stereotyped purely because of how he looks. Eileen Alden a woman who is the creator of action based comics provides her perspective on gender biases in an industry long dominated by men.

As a film, Drawn Together boldly encourages viewers to unlearn stereotyping, look beyond the obvious, and confront media prejudice. Though the film’s basis is comics and cartoons, it is essentially a film about challenging stereotypes, wherever we see a conscious or an unconscious bias. My goal is to reach out to as many people as possible across the world and talk about the pitfalls of such biases that show up as racism and discrimination.

We have come a long way from the 15th century, but we need to go further. Let’s not encourage public attitudes about who may or may not be of high value in our society based on stereotypes and biased information. We need to reboot our attitude by becoming a more accepting society and break the artificial walls we have created all around ourselves.

Break Stereotypes. Embrace Diversity.

“Drawn Together- Comics, Diversity and stereotypes” is fiscally sponsored by the San Francisco Film Society and all contributions to the film are tax-deductible.

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