Rethinking Work and Care: Inside Dr. David Smith’s Fair Share Vision

Dr. David Smith, Professor of Practice and Co-Director of the Gender & Work Initiative at Johns Hopkins Carey Business School, unpacks the key ideas from his book Fair Share: How Men and Women Can Create a More Equitable Workplace Together, showing what a more equitable workplace looks like and how each of us can help build it. Dr. David Smith’s journey into gender equity began with his and his wife’s unequal experiences as dual career naval officers, revealing how policy change without cultural change fails families and organizations. Drawing on his book Fair Share, he dismantles the zero sum myth that women’s progress harms men, showing that equitable workplaces expand opportunity and support men’s caregiving aspirations. He explains the “mental load” and invisible emotional labor women shoulder at home and at work, and how this feeds perceptions that mothers are less committed, limiting advancement. Post MeToo, he argues that real progress requires actively engaged male allies, not fear driven avoidance. His framework rests on three pillars: transparent culture and work design, caregiving benefits people can actually use, and routine measurement to make fairness stick. Above all, he urges leaders to “pull back the curtain,” listen, gather data, and confront hidden inequities as the starting point for genuine change. This podcast is brought to you by Global Management Consultancy. Disclaimer: 1. The background music incorporated in this video is the intellectual property of its respective developer and is protected under applicable copyright laws. Notwithstanding that it is a free-to-use version, Business Talk, Global Management Consultancy, and Deepak Bhatt do not own, and expressly do not claim, any rights, title, or interest in or to this music. 2. Dr. David Smith shared key insights from his latest book, “Fair Share: How Men and Women Can Create a More Equitable Workplace Together”, in an engaging episode of the Business Talk podcast. The uploaded video contains copyrighted content, so changing any graphics, music, or on-screen appearance of the author or host is not allowed.