#MentorHer, Uber Pay Gap, Benioff and Weiss: Broadsheet

Good morning, Broadsheet readers! Uber drivers have a gender pay gap, the Star Wars universe has yet to get its first female or POC director, and Sheryl Sandberg wants more men to mentor women. Have a wonderful Wednesday.

EVERYONE'S TALKING

• #MentorHer. For those of you concerned about a potential #MeToo backlash, Val's report on the results of a new survey from Sheryl Sandberg-founded nonprofit LeanIn.org will likely set alarm bells ringing.

The research finds that, since the first major media reports of sexual harassment emerged last fall, male managers are three times as likely to say they are uncomfortable mentoring women—and twice as uncomfortable working alone with a woman. The discomfort around meeting with female colleagues outside of work is even more pronounced: Senior men were 3.5 times more likely to hesitate about having a work dinner with a junior female colleague than a male one, and five times more likely say they'd hesitate to take a work trip with a junior woman.

Sandberg is clearly distressed by the findings, writing in a Facebook post that such attitudes "undoubtedly will decrease the opportunities women have at work...Men vastly outnumber women as managers and senior leaders, so when they avoid, ice out, or exclude women, we pay the price."

In an attempt to encourage men to get more, not less, involved in nurturing the careers of the women they work with, Lean In is working with a number of high-profile male business leaders—including Oath CEO Tim Armstrong, LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, and SurveyMonkey CEO Zander Lurie—who have made a public pledge to mentor more women.

As the survey data reveals, the effort, called #MentorHer, comes at a critical moment. Many of the men I've discussed the Me Too moment with are supportive—but aren't sure about how to talk about it or what they should (or shouldn't) do to help. I suspect many of you have had similar conversations. Reminding men of the positive role they can—and really, must—play in women's careers if we are to have a chance of reaching actual equality has never been more urgent. Fortune

ALSO IN THE HEADLINES

• Magazine mind meld. Here's an excellent example of what can happen when men and women collaborate—the staffs of Marie Claire and Esquire put their heads together in an attempt to tackle the many thorny questions raised the onslaught of sexual stories that have come to the fore in the wake of the Weinstein revelations. The result: a thought-provoking package of essays from the likes of Gabrielle Union Wade, A.O. Scott, and Jill Filipovic. Esquire

• Driving into the gap. Female Uber drivers make 7% less per hour than their male counterparts—even though the algorithms that determine pay for the ride-hailing service are gender blind, according to a multi-year study. The researchers attribute the gap to a few areas where female drivers tend to deviate from their male counterparts, including location of pickups, experience, and driving speed. Fortune

• #StarWarsSoMale? Lucasfilm has announced that David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, the show runners of Game of Thrones, will write and produce a brand-new series of Star Wars movies. The pair were originally slated to work on another program for HBO—an alternative history titled Confederate—which triggered instant backlash when it was announced last July. Now, as my colleague Rachel King points out, the appointment of Benioff and Weiss raises another point of controversy: Lucasfilm has yet to hire a woman or person of color to helm one of its blockbuster films. Fortune

• 8 for 50. In yet another gender equality-focused package, Quartz asked the same eight questions to 50 fascinating women, including Lena Waithe, Tammy Duckworth, Janet Mock and Marie Kondo. Quartz

MOVERS AND SHAKERS: Megan Greenwell has been named editor-in-chief of Deadspin. Greenwell becomes the site's fifth chief editor, and the first woman to hold the post. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has named Kirsten Sutton Mork chief of staff for the agency. Teen Vogue has named Samhita Mukhopadhyay its first executive editor.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

• Dating ourselves. As companies increase their focus on combatting sexual harassment, some are revisiting their policies about employee dating. While it's easy enough to discourage relationships between managers and direct reports, the process gets much more complicated when employers start to regulate romantic entanglements among other types of colleagues. WSJ

• Invite me over, Oprah! Oprah Winfrey is having a moment (or maybe every moment is an Oprah moment?). This WSJ magazine profile of the media mogul makes her sound like the world's greatest hang. In it, she talks about why she's such a powerful listener, what motivated her to take on such projects as A Wrinkle in Time and her 60 Minutes gig, and why she is "probably one of the most content, peaceful people you will ever meet,” WSJ

• A new model. Fashion line Krammer & Stoudt will push the boundaries of New York Men's Fashion week with a runway show featuring no male models—in fact, the designers say that the majority of those walking their runway identify as nonbinary. New York Times

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