This session, led by the University of Chicago associate professor of sociology Kristen Schilt, will delve into understanding cultural assumptions to promote social equality.
Event Details
In the U.S., women make up almost 50% of the workforce for the first time in history. While women have made huge gains in workplace participation, however, they continue to be overrepresented in low-wage, service sector positions and underrepresented in the highest levels of business and government. Understanding the intersection of gender and sexuality is crucial for fostering inclusivity and equality.
Join us for a thought-provoking IN-PERSON session, Gender and Sexuality: Understanding Cultural Assumptions to Promote Social Equality, on Thursday, February 20 at 5:00 p.m. Hong Kong Time with Kristen Schilt, Associate Professor of Sociology at The University of Chicago. In her talk, Schilt will draw on her research about the workplace experiences of transgender men and women in the U.S. to illuminate the ways in which deeply-held cultural assumptions about gender continue to impact hiring and promotion decisions and the allocation of workplace responsibilities. She will explore strategies for change that can challenge these stereotypes and bring greater equality for gender and sexual minorities.
Following this, there will be a panel discussion featuring Travis Kong, Professor of Sociology at The University of Hong Kong, moderated by Elaine Lin, Director of WMA. Kong will share his insights on the challenges faced by the older LGBTQ+ community, particularly how their needs are often overlooked in social services and healthcare. By examining both theoretical perspectives and practical strategies, the discussion aims to highlight the challenges and opportunities in fostering a supportive and inclusive society.
This event is part of the Social Impact Leadership Series (SILS), a program offered by The Hong Kong Jockey Club Programme on Social Innovation, which features prominent speakers covering social sector issues.
Event Schedule (Hong Kong Time)
5:00 p.m. Registration and networking drinks
5:30 p.m. Opening remarks
5:35 p.m. Research talk by Kristen Schilt
6:05 p.m. Panel discussion with Travis Kong, moderated by Elaine Lin
6:35 p.m. Audience Q&A wrap-up
7:00 p.m. Networking drinks continue
7:30 p.m. Event concludes
* Please note that no parking is available on campus, but shuttle services will run from the campus to Kennedy Town MTR Station every ten minutes, starting at 7:10 p.m. and continuing until 8:00 p.m.
Speaker Profiles
Kristen Schilt (Speaker)
Associate Professor of Sociology, The University of Chicago
https://sociology.uchicago.edu/directory/Kristen-Schilt
Schilt's research interests center on sociology of gender and sexualities, the sociology of culture, and the sociology of work and occupations. A central focus of her work is finding new ways to make visible the taken-for-granted cultural assumptions about gender and sexuality that serve to naturalize and reproduce social inequality.
Travis Kong (Speaker)
Professor, Department of Sociology, The University of Hong Kong
Kong's research specializes in the sociology of homosexuality, of prostitution and of praxis. He is the sole author of Chinese Male Homosexualities: Memba, Tongzhi and Golden Boy (Routledge, 2011), Oral Histories of Older Gay Men in Hong Kong: Unspoken but Unforgotten (HKU Press, 2019) and Sexuality and the Rise of China: The Post-1990s Gay Generation in Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Mainland China (Duke University Press, 2023). He is co-editor-in-chief of Sexualities: Studies in Culture and Society.
Kong is committed to knowledge exchange and social impact; notably, his scholarly work on older gay men led to the establishment of the charitable organization Grey and Pride (2014-), inspired the multi-award-winning film Suk Suk (2019) and put the concerns and rights of older LGBTQ+ onto the public agenda, for which he won the Prism Award (2014) and LGBT+ Advocacy Award (2020) acknowledging his contributions to the LGBTQ+ community in Hong Kong. Kong is Rainbow Ambassador of Hong Kong Pride 2024.
Elaine Lin (Moderator)
Director, WMA
https://wma.hk/about/
Lin has worked in Hong Kong's arts and culture sector for over a decade. She is currently the Director of WMA, a non-profit art platform dedicated to fostering a more socially aware and connected society in Hong Kong through lens-based arts.
Previously, Lin held roles at Asia Art Archive and M+, where her interests and expertise evolved over time to include non-profit governance, organisational strategy, art project management, collection management, digital humanities, and archiving.
Lin's academic background spans art history, law, and museum collection management. She was the first cultural leader in Hong Kong to receive a scholarship for and complete the Executive Program in Arts and Culture Strategy at the University of Pennsylvania. She is now a Hong Kong Jockey Club Chicago Booth Executive MBA Program Scholar.
Questions
Iris Choi
Senior Assistant Director of Programs, The Hong Kong Jockey Club Programme on Social Innovation & Rustandy Center for Social Sector Innovation