Women's value: beyond the business case for diversity and inclusion

Abstract

This Lancet issue on women in medicine seeks to address some confronting topics: from a “system imbued with gender bias” to the “unequal distribution of power within societies”. These important ideas can at times feel like endangered concepts: in discussions about equality in recent decades, principles of equity and social justice have been increasingly crowded out by market logic and rhetoric. Consider journalist Anand Giridharadas's account of a breakout session at a Clinton Global Initiative conference on harnessing the power of girls and women for sustainable development. As Giridharadas describes it, the discussion emphasised the competitive advantage and business opportunities to be re..