Mary Blair-Loy studies workplace values in a unique way—by identifying shared cultural understandings that are typically used to measure individuals’ worth at work. As she states in this fascinating talk, there are important disconnects between these cultural values of merit and individuals’ actual achievements. For example, the lone genius is valued in academia, but research shows that Nobel Laureates actually have larger-than-average teams. In her own data, she finds that assertiveness is valued in men, and assertive faculty receive more respect and higher income, on average. “But, she says, “there are no average differences between more and less assertive faculty in the metrics that academia says matter most—publication rates and grant success.”

Watch this important WFRN Big Ideas Talk on Reconceiving Merit and Devotion To Improve Equity in the Professions for the sake of our organizations, our society, and for ourselves and our families.

About Mary Blair-Loy

Mary Blair-Loy is Professor of Sociology at UC San Diego (PhD, University of Chicago; MDiv, Harvard). She studies gender, work-family, and normative cultural models of a worthwhile life. Her award-winning book Misconceiving Merit (with Erin Cech) uses multiple types of evidence to show that cultural beliefs about merit in STEM professions are widely-embraced yet reinforce gender and race inequality and harm science. Her award-winning book Competing Devotions is recognized as a landmark in work-family research. She is a coauthor of the 2024 National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine report entitled, “Supporting Family Caregivers in STEMM: A Call to Action.”