Gutmann tells women leaders 'to be a little deaf' to criticism at the annual OWN IT Summit

College-aged women and allies alike gathered in Claudia Cohen Hall this past Saturday for Penn’s second annual OWN IT Summit, a women’s leadership conference aiming to bridge the gap between female leaders and the millennials who admire them. 

OWN IT UPenn is part of a broader series of satellite summits which first began at Georgetown University in 2014 and has since expanded to 11 universities across the nation. Co-Executive Conference Chair and College junior Vedika Gopal said that although they are modeled after the initial event at Georgetown, they are committed to creating a distinct experience that is relevant to Penn students.

“We wanted to make it our own," Gopal said. "We’ve broadened our speakers so that our breakouts and discussions aren’t pre-professional entirely [because] at Penn especially, we believe it’s important that women have spaces to talk about things that aren’t only about where to get your next job." 

Featuring 39 speakers, women of all paths and backgrounds led discussions on not only the pursuit of career paths and attaining leadership positions, but also the unique, and often discriminatory, experiences modern women face. Throughout the day, both panelists and attendees referenced advice given by Penn President Amy Gutmann during the conference's welcome address. 

In her speech, Gutmann spoke of the occasional “need to be a little deaf,” a piece of advice that had been passed down to her and Penn law students by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg at a recent dinner. 

This was not a call to ignore the voices of others, Gutmann said, but the need to only heed meaningful criticism because “it is essential to have a sense of what truly matters.” 

She emphasized the necessity of determining what is important and moving past what is not. Though women regularly face experiences that are blatantly unfair, especially the gender wage gap experienced after graduation, Gutmann claimed that “if you can see it, you can be it, and better it.”

College senior Kathryn Davis said that for her, Gutmann’s “be a little deaf” comment stood out, because these kinds of obstacles are “relatable to everyone entering the workforce.”

During the closing session of the conference, panelist and CEO of Williams-Sonoma Laura Alber reiterated Gutmann’s sentiments.

Referencing to the biases and unequal standards that women face both within and outside the workplace, Alber again brought attention to managing life’s obstacles. She claimed that perhaps “part of the coping mechanism is to ignore it” and that the best response to such hurdles is to “take action for the things that matter," "and really make the changes you think are necessary to make a difference.”

For many conference attendees, these suggestions provided relevant insights.

Exchange student Scarlett Bian said that she “related a lot to the speakers, because the problems discussed transcended cultural borders.”

According to Gopal, a goal of the OWN IT Summit was to “emphasize this [type of] intersectionality.” 

College sophomore Bella Fierro, who worked on the conference staff, stated this as her reasoning for getting involved in the first place.

Fierro said she struggles with feminism on Penn’s campus, as she often feels that the spaces are exclusionary to her identity as a Latinx woman. 

“There are so many things I think about saying all the time, but most of the time I'm scared to," Fierro said.  

For Fierro, the conference gave her a safe space where she felt free to voice the many thoughts running through her head, as its emphasis on including all women provided her with needed support.

Though the conference has just ended, the board is looking to “push this intersectionality and diversity ever further” for next year’s conference, Gopal said. For 2019, OWN IT looks forward to reaching more students of all backgrounds.