Amy Diehl, Ph.D.

In 1933, Nazis burned the contents of the Institute for Sexual Science. Women's & gender studies are under attack today. But knowledge is tricky to control. When research is defunded & classes canceled, "people find other ways to share & make new knowledge."

Inside Higher Ed | Higher Education News, Events and Jobs

Can Embattled Women’s and Gender Studies Programs Survive?

Scholars say recent Republican-led attacks on the field are nothing new, but nonetheless alarming.

Research shows that 98% of women have been told to smile at work; 15% says it happens at least weekly. Senior & exec-level women were most often to told to smile, even though the average woman smiles 8x more than the average man.

Why women don't want to be told to smile at work

SAVE Act would require birth cert or passport that matches voters legal name. 69M women may have a legal name that doesn’t match their birth cert. An estimated 21M would be turned away at polls. This act is an attempt to disenfranchise women voters.

The Persistent

This Bill in the Senate Could Disenfranchise Millions of Women Voters

Trump has renewed pressure for the Senate to pass the SAVE Act, which requires proof of citizenship to vote. For the 69 million women who have chan...

Many routine procedures were designed for male anatomy & are uncomfortable or take longer in women. Colonoscopy. Urinary cauterization. Lumbar puncture. Spinal procedures. Airway management. Venous cannulation. Difficulty is often blamed on anxiety, tension, low pain tolerance, or "one of those things.".

The Conversation

Routine medical procedures can feel harder for women – here’s why

When medical procedures are designed around male anatomy, women often pay the price – in pain, difficulty and dismissal.

Study (N=160K mtgs) finds that when AI notetaking is used, women spoke 9% more than men. Perhaps because people are more aware of what they say when it is being captured. But men still used non-inclusive terms (swear words or "you guys") 2x more than women.

The Persistent

When AI is Listening, Women Speak More

A new study shows that when meetings are transcribed by AI, women find it easier to speak.

Study (N=3,000) finds women more likely than men to say they did not know what AI’s impact on society writ large and question its benefits, particularly by expressing doubt that the technology would deliver meaningful economic gains.

Northeastern Global News

Why women are more skeptical of AI than men, according to a new study

Drawing on survey data, the study finds that women consistently perceive AI as riskier, especially when its economic effects are uncertain.

The unemployment rate for Black women rose from 5.4% in Jan 2025 to 7.3% at the end of 2025. "If we saw an unemployment rate for white men at the current rate it is for Black women, we would have already declared a recession." https://www.forbes.com/sites/hollycorbett/2026/01/14/women-made-up-nearly-all-the-job-losses-last-month-heres-why/

AI-generated porn is new tax on women’s presence online and in the public sphere, a tax that women must pay with their dignity. These tools affect women’s civil rights by making the public sphere hostile and intimately degrading to women at a massive scale.

the Guardian

Grok is undressing women and children. Don’t expect the US to take action | Moira Donegan

Elon Musk’s reckless and degrading AI could be built differently. But Americans will have to speak up

Study finds women use gen AI less than men not due to gaps in skill, but bc they view it as harmful to mental health, employment, privacy & the environment. This is not misplaced: AI has significant energy demands and risks of bias and misinformation.

Unite.AI

Research Finds Women Use Generative AI Less, Due to Moral Concerns

A new study led by Oxford University concludes that women are using generative AI far less than men – not because they lack skills, but because t...

Stopping the glass cliff: 5 weeks after being hired, Katherine Maher at NPR was under pressure to quit. Board chair Jennifer Ferro determined to keep her. She was the right leader & getting rid of an exec bc of political pressure would only weaken the organization.

NPR’s C.E.O. Was a Right-Wing Target. Then the Real Trouble Started.

Katherine Maher has taken an unyielding approach to NPR’s biggest battles — which has sometimes put her at odds with her colleagues in public m...