The Cleveland Plain Dealer in the US has 16 columnists one of whom is female.  Why should we hear from more women?  The Op Ed Project suggests some reasonsL

“…if I were in the finance world, I might say that we have a portfolio called Public Knowledge, and we are surveying the landscape, looking for undiscovered assets for that portfolio  –   all the brains out there that we aren’t hearing from.   Women’s ideas are one of those undiscovered, or undercapitalized assets.   But there are other voices – under-represented or unheard voices and brains of all kinds – that we could and should invest in as well.

We – our leaders and the public – are not getting the information and ideas we need to make the best decisions.  Our world conversation is currently an echo chamber that reproduces the same narrow range of  (85% male) voices over and over. Even worse among academics: a May 2008 Rutgers University study found that 97% of op-eds by scholars in the Wall Street Journal are written by men. What is the cost to society when so many of our best minds and best ideas are left out?  What could we accomplish if together we invested in our missing brain power?

Speak up.  Write for us.  We welcome suggestions and new ideas.