WISELI
University of Wisconsin-Madison Inclusion in Science & Engineering Leadership Institute

Joan C. Williams

Credentials: October 1-2, 2009

Joan C. Williams, 1066 Foundation Chair and Distinguished Professor of Law at the University of California-Hastings, is an expert on work/family issues, and the author of Unbending Gender: Why Family and Work Conflict and What To Do About It (Oxford University Press, 2000), which won the 2000 Gustavus Myers Outstanding Book Award. She is the Founding Director of WorkLife Law (WLL), and Co-Director of the Project on Attorney Retention. Williams has played a leading role in documenting workplace bias against mothers. Her “Beyond the Maternal Wall: Relief for Family Caregivers Who Are Discriminated Against on the Job,” 26 Harvard Women’s Law Review 77 (2003, co-authored with Nancy Segal), was prominently cited in Back v. Hastings on Hudson Union Free School District, 2004 U.S. App. Lexis 6684 (2d Cir. April 7, 2004). She has also played a central role in organizing social scientists to document bias against mothers in the workplace, notably in a special issue of the Journal of Social Issues (2004), which she co-edited with Monica Biernat and Faye Crosby. Her current work focuses on how work/family conflict affects families across the social spectrum. For more information, visit WorkLife Law and Project for Attorney Retention.

October 1, 2009

  • Benefit dinner

October 2, 2009

Public Forum

  • Keynote Address by Joan C. Williams:  “The Flexibility Stigma: How to make flexibility policies truly usable”
  • Panel Discussion with panelists:
      • Biddy MartinCarolyn “Biddy” Martin, Chancellor, University of Wisconsin-Madison
      • Roberta Gassman     Roberta Gassman, Secretary, Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development
      • Laurie Benson  Laurie Benson, co-Founder and former CEO, Inacom Information Systems
        Owner, LB Unlimited
      • Duncan Highsmith    Duncan Highsmith, former President and CEO, Highsmith Inc.
    • Closing remarks by Martha Taylor, Vice President of Development, University of Wisconsin Foundation

Women Faculty Mentoring Program Luncheon

  • Joan Williams lecture:  “The Four Patterns of Gender Bias: Proactive strategies for diffusing them”

Workshop for Administrative Leaders

  • Joan Williams lecture:  “It’s Cheaper to Keep Her: How losing women costs money”