Upcoming Program: Gender, Negotiation and Mediation

The OBA has started promotion for an upcoming dinner program that promises to be both informative and engaging. 
The program will examine the impact that gender plays in negotiation and, in turn, at the mediation table.  Delee Fromm will speak on the subject and the program will be moderated by ADR Section Executive Chair, Elizabeth Hyde, of Riverdale Mediation.  

Delee is both a lawyer and a psychologist. For a number of years she practised commercial real estate in Toronto. Prior to her career in law she was a neuropsychologist at a psychiatric hospital. Delee is a faculty member of the LL.M. program in ADR at Osgoode Professional Development.  She operates her own consulting firm, Delee Fromm Consulting, through which she has designed and facilitated workshops on leadership, gender dynamics, negotiation and conflict resolution.  The evening will also provide attendees with an opportunity to discuss this topic through facilitated table discussions.

Gender differences and their impact on how we see the world and resolve conflict have been hot topics of discussion for decades.  Carol Gilligan's 1982 book, In a Different Voice, was probably the seminal work that presented the view that there are clear differences, rooted in psychological development, that distinguish how women and men approach human interactions.  Gilligan's analysis and theories were based in part through study of the moral development of children and adult human interaction.  In her work, Gilligan did not directly examine differences between men and women in their approaches to negotiation and conflict resolution.  However, negotiation and conflict resolution are  clearly forms of human interaction and Gilligan's ideas have traction in these processes. 

For example, Deborah Kolb has examined Gilligan’s research in the context of negotiation and has applied her analysis, positing that for men opposition and difference are catalysts to the formation of agreement, whereas women are much more likely to see opposition as an impediment to affiliation and view negotiation in terms of the human relationships involved [see: D. Kolb, Is It Her Place that Makes a Difference? (Kingston: Hewston & White Printing Ltd., 1992); see also, Her Place at the Table in L. Hall, Negotiation: Strategies for Mutual Gain (Newbury Park, CA: Sage , 1993)].

Mark your calendars for April 4, 2013.  This sounds like a program not to be missed. For further information and to register, click here.