Rotman School of Management

Tapping out smartphone messages using shorthand such as “btw” (by the way) or “tbh” (to be honest) may feel breezy and efficient – but a new study warns these and other common abbreviations may make it less likely to get a response.

Whether you’re on a dating app or messaging with fellow gamers, it turns out that using abbreviations makes people believe you’re putting less effort into the conversation. They’ll find your message less sincere and not as worthy of a reply as the exact same text written in full.

“Abbreviations imply informality and casualness – so we thought if somebody uses one, you might read that as a signal of closeness and be more likely to respond,” says study co-author Sam Maglio, a marketing professor in the department of management at the �ؿ�ζSM Scarborough and the Rotman School of Management.

“We figured that was perfectly plausible and we found out that was perfectly wrong. An abbreviation makes the other party tune out.”

The study, published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, was based on the results of experiments in the lab and the field, survey data and archival field data.

One experiment examined Tinder conversation histories submitted by 700 users across five continents. Researchers calculated the percentage of abbreviations participants used in their messages on the popular dating app. They found that for every one-per-cent increase in abbreviations, average conversation length decreased by about seven per cent.

When other Tinder users were surveyed, 80 per cent believed their matches wouldn’t care if they used abbreviations. But that wasn't reflected in the data – regardless of profile characteristics, topics discussed, message length or the sophistication of word choices.

Another experiment focused on Discord, a messaging platform popular among young people. They sent almost 2,000 messages to members of a Discord channel dedicated to anime TV shows, asking for a show recommendation.

“We set ourselves up to fail. We tried to find the most challenging arena for this effect to work: young people who live online – and it still worked,” says Maglio.

The Discord messages were probing whether reactions changed based on the type of abbreviations used. That includes: phonological abbreviations that condense words based on how they sound, such as “plz” or “thnx”; acronyms and initialisms like “hru” (how are you?) and “ttyl” (talk to you later); subbing letters or numbers for words, as in “u 2”; and contractions, which shorten words by removing letters, such as “rlly” or “wud.” All forms of abbreviations were less likely to get a reply than their spelled-out counterparts on the platform. The only exception was for the messages that used phonological abbreviations (although this exception was not noted in a subsequent experiment).

In a virtual speed dating experiment, roughly 200 young Americans were paired up for five-minute dates. Half were encouraged to integrate words from one of two lists – an abbreviated version and a spelled-out one – into their conversations. Dates had a much greater desire to continue talking to non-abbreviated texters and viewed them as more sincere. More of their dates also offered to share their contact information to continue chatting after the experiment.

The researchers’ lab-based tests yielded similar results – and the thousands of participants who participated in these studies all rated how much effort they felt were put into the texts, how sincere they felt the sender was being and how likely they were to reply.

The results were the same across the board: abbreviations meant less effort, less sincerity and a lower desire to reply.

“It’s possible that some participants treated the sincerity question as a kind of general ‘good or bad’ evaluation,” says study co-author David Fang, a U of T alumnus.

“We mainly chose sincerity because it's important for relational building. Participants are taking a stab at defining what they perceive sincerity to be – for instance expressing genuineness in the interaction.”

U of T ranked among top 10 universities globally in five subjects: ShanghaiRanking Consultancy

Christopher.Sorensen — Mon, 18 Nov 2024 20:30:13 +0000

U of T ranked among top 10 universities globally in five subjects: ShanghaiRanking Consultancy

Christopher.Sorensen Mon, 11/18/2024 - 15:30

Cutline

(photo by Matthew Dochstader/Paradox Images)

Mariam Matti

Topic

Global Lens

Temerty Faculty of Medicine

Dalla Lana School of Public Health

Faculty of Arts & Science

Global

Meric Gertler

Rankings

Rotman School of Management

Shanghai Ranking Consultancy

Sociology

The �ؿ�ζSM has placed among the top 10 universities globally in five subjects – sociology (2^nd), medical technology (5^th), public health (7^th), finance (8^th) and management (10^th) – in the latest ShanghaiRanking Consultancy rankings by subject.

U of T also ranked in the top 100 globally in 42 subjects in the Global Ranking of Academic Subjects 2024, released last week – a feat matched only by the University of Michigan.

Among Canadian universities, U of T ranked first in 27 subjects. That’s more than any other institution.

“The �ؿ�ζSM’s performance in the latest Shanghai subject rankings underscores our academic excellence across an extremely broad range of fields,” said U of T President Meric Gertler.

“These results are a testament to the talent and dedication of our world-leading researchers and scholars.”

More than 1,900 universities across 96 countries and regions are listed in the 2024 edition of the Shanghai subject rankings, which cover 55 subjects across natural sciences, engineering, life sciences, medical sciences and social sciences.

This year, the methodology was updated with four new indicators, increasing the total to nine. The new evaluation criteria include the number of faculty who are: recipients of significant awards, chief editors of academic journals, leaders in international academic organizations and considered highly cited researchers.

Existing criteria continue to assess research output, quality and influence, international collaboration and other academic awards.

Of the 55 subject areas covered by the rankings, U of T ranked in the top 50 globally in 28 subjects and in the top 25 globally in 21 subjects.

The updated methodology resulted in significant changes for U of T in several subjects, including 25 where U of T moved up the rankings. Notable gains included: chemistry, which moved into 37^th place from outside the top 50; political science, which climbed 23 spots to 18^th; biology, which rose 12 spots to 21^st; human biology, which rose 12 spots to 24^th; and computer science, which climbed seven places to 17^th. U of T declined in 18 subjects and remain unchanged in 5 subjects.

The ShanghaiRanking Consultancy also produces the influential Academic Ranking of World Universities, the most recent edition of which ranked U of T as Canada’s top university and 26^th in the world.

Overall, U of T continues to be the highest-ranked Canadian university and one of the top-ranked public universities in the five most closely watched international rankings: Times Higher Education’s World University Rankings, QS World University Rankings, ShanghaiRanking Consultancy’s Academic Ranking of World Universities, U.S. News & World Report’s Best Global Universities and National Taiwan University World University Rankings.

Missing a deadline has a bigger impact than you might think: Study

Christopher.Sorensen — Mon, 04 Nov 2024 15:22:40 +0000

Missing a deadline has a bigger impact than you might think: Study

Christopher.Sorensen Mon, 11/04/2024 - 10:22

Cutline

(photo by Envato Elements)

Alexa Battler

Topic

Breaking Research

Research & Innovation

Rotman School of Management

U of T Scarborough

Subheadline

People who were told work was submitted late considered it to be of lower quality than the same work submitted early or on time

Missing a deadline has more complex consequences than you might think.

Researchers at the �ؿ�ζSM found that if you submit a piece of work late, people will think it’s lower in quality than if you were to submit the exact same work on time or early.

This is because missing a deadline can prompt others view you as less competent – and therefore your work must also be lacking, according to the study.

“All the research that we could find looked at how deadlines impact the minds and actions of workers,” says study co-author Sam Maglio, a professor of marketing in the department of management at U of T Scarborough and the Rotman School of Management.

“We wanted to know how a deadline impacts the minds and actions of others when they look at those workers.”

Researchers surveyed thousands of people in the U.S. and U.K. across 18 experiments and studies, including managers, executives, human resources personnel and others whose jobs included evaluating others.

They presented participants with the same examples of work, including advertising flyers, art, business proposals, product pitches, photography and news articles – and then asked them to rate it. But first, they mentioned whether it was either submitted early, right at the deadline or late. Respondents who were told it was late consistently rated the work as worse in quality than those who were told the same work was early or on time.

“Everyone saw the exact same art contest entry, school submission or business proposal, but they couldn't help but use their knowledge of when it came in to guide their evaluation of how good it was,” says Maglio, who co-authored the study with alumnus David Fang.

The study, published in Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, also finds there isn’t much benefit to submitting work early since evaluators tended to rank work submitted before and at the deadline as the same quality, meaning there’s no boost in an evaluator’s opinion of an employee who submits work early.

Late submission made evaluators rate work about as negatively as work that had objective shortcomings in quality such as not meeting a word count. Furthermore, it didn't matter how late the work was submitted. Work submitted one week after the deadline caused both the employee and the work to be viewed just as negatively as work that was one day late. That remained the case if the employee gave their manager advance warning that they would miss the deadline. Even for an employee with a history of getting their work in on time, one missed deadline still damaged their competence and integrity in evaluators’ eyes.

A missed deadline also led evaluators to believe an employee had less integrity, and they reported they’d be less likely to ask that employee to do other tasks in the future. The researchers note this could limit an employee’s opportunities to prove themselves and earn promotions.

However, the reason behind the missed deadline mattered, researchers found. If it was due to forces beyond an employee’s control, such as jury duty, evaluators didn’t end up with as negative a view of the employee or their work as they did when the reason was one within their control. Researchers also found the negative effects weren’t as severe if the deadline or work were framed as not particularly important.

“Communication around deadlines is vital. If it's a hard, and not a soft, deadline, you as the manager should let your employees know. If the reason why you missed the deadline was beyond your control, you as the employee should let your manager know,” Maglio says. “That seems to be one of the few instances in which people cut you a break.”

The results persisted across language, age and culture. A field experiment was conducted in a high school in China that had students grade pieces of art in a staged contest. The art was on a piece of paper that also included the date it was submitted, showing that one version came in after the deadline and the other was in early. Even though the kids were explicitly told to ignore all other details on the paper other than the art itself, the version submitted after the deadline received lower grades.

“That study breaks down the power imbalance that usually characterizes boss-employee relationships. These judging kids didn’t set the deadline. This is a peer-to-peer evaluation. But the effect holds,” Maglio says. “It also makes the broader point that it doesn't really matter who set the deadline. In the eyes of the evaluator, any miss is a meaningful miss.”

U of T commerce grad discovers passion for teaching, science - and helping others

Christopher.Sorensen — Tue, 29 Oct 2024 15:59:13 +0000

U of T commerce grad discovers passion for teaching, science - and helping others

Christopher.Sorensen Tue, 10/29/2024 - 11:59

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Roshawn Jamasi, a member of Innis College, is graduating with an honours bachelor of commerce with a specialization in management (supplied image)

Sean McNeely

Topic

Our Community

Convocation 2024

Faculty of Arts & Science

Rotman School of Management

Subheadline

Roshawn Jamasi, who is now contemplating a career in medicine, volunteered in hospitals during his undergraduate studies and helped international students stay connected during COVID-19

Applying to medical school might not seem like a natural next step for a commerce grad, but Roshawn Jamasi says it’s all part his rich �ؿ�ζSM journey – one that also included discovering passions for teaching, science and volunteer work.

As a member of Innis College, Jamasi is graduating with an honours bachelor of commerce with a specialization in management through a joint program between the Rotman School of Management and the Faculty of Arts & Science.

“Something I loved broadly about the program was the quality of professors,” Jamasi says. “It was clear how knowledgeable they were in the depth and breadth of their experiences. The wisdom they shared was incredible.”

In particular, he credits Cindy Blois, an assistant professor, teaching stream, in the department of mathematics, for giving him the opportunity to teach in his second year.

“She took a chance on me to help teach a calculus course,” says Jamasi, who earned the department’s Daniel B. DeLury Teaching Assistant Award in 2023. “I fell in love with teaching tutorials, working with first-years and helping with lectures.

“That was one of the more standout experiences I had as an undergrad.”

He says his program’s flexibility allowed him to take courses in psychology, immunity and infection, human physiology, environmental human health, chemistry, human biology, and brain pharmacology.

“I was able to really develop my skills outside of commerce which helped me find my true passion for science, while teaching me key transferable skills through my program courses.”

Jamasi, who has had heart disease since he was 13, says he also learned the importance of putting health and well-being first – after pushing himself a little too hard in his first year.

“I would wake up at 4:30 a.m. and study for eight hours straight. I'd be getting four or five hours of sleep every night. My grades were excellent but by the exam period of second semester, my body finally quit on me as I incurred a new stomach condition."

This pain paired with managing his heart disease forced Jamasi to step back and better manage his course load and his busy schedule for his remaining years. He says he’s grateful to Innis College for being supportive and giving him the accommodations he needed to continue his studies.

“At the end of the day, a student can’t perform at their best if they're not in their best health,” he says.

Helping others flourish was a consistent theme throughout Jamasi’s academic journey.

An Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) team he helped establish within his program enabled international students to better connect digitally with the rest of the program during the COVID pandemic when much of life was lived online. The team soon realized students in China were at a disadvantage because many of the program’s clubs and associations primarily used Instagram and Facebook to promote their events and activities.

“At the time Instagram was blocked in China, so was Facebook,” Jamasi says, adding that the team helped the groups share their information on the social media platform WeChat.

“This way, they had another way of getting all of the information, resources and potential job opportunities. That was something we were proud of.”

Wanting to connect students further, Jamasi and his team also created a way to show the human side of his classmates.

“We find our program is very competitive,” he says. “Our surveys were showing a lack of connectedness between students, and a lack of appreciation of each other and the diversity we bring.”

To offset this, he and his team created an Instagram page called peopleofRC that features students sharing interesting facts and experiences outside of academics.

“There’s nothing about personal achievements, nothing about accolades, it’s just sharing something unique about yourself that we can all celebrate,” says Jamasi.

Jamasi’s desire to support others also saw him volunteering at nearby Toronto hospitals.

“I began volunteering at Toronto Western Hospital when I was 16,” he says. “That's always been a nice way for me to take my mind off school and focus on other people. I would visit patients who were staying overnight and keep them company and help them feel like they're not alone. That was always really satisfying for me. I learned a lot about so many different types of people.

“Some days I'd have class in the morning. After that, I'd run to the hospital because it's so close and do some volunteering and come back to classes in the evening. Those were some of the best days.”

Jamasi has applied to medical school though he hasn’t decided which field of medicine interests him most.

“But I'm happy that I did this Rotman degree because it teaches you so many soft skills, like how to communicate, how to present yourself, how to present in a group of people, how to work in a team and lead a team,” he says.

“All those skills transfer to every aspect of business, whether you're in medicine, health care, or administration. I'm just so happy that I got to go to U of T and experience everything I did.”

'Narrative reversal' is key to telling a great story in books, films and TV shows: Study

Christopher.Sorensen — Tue, 17 Sep 2024 14:59:38 +0000

'Narrative reversal' is key to telling a great story in books, films and TV shows: Study

Christopher.Sorensen Tue, 09/17/2024 - 10:59

Cutline

(photo by Klaus Vedfelt/Getty Images)

Topic

Research & Innovation

Rotman School of Management

Subheadline

Researchers found that works featuring changes of fortune, or turning points, were more popular and received better audience reviews

Writers and scholars have long debated what makes for a great story, but Samsun Knight wanted to see whether there was a way to empirically determine which stories will be snore fests and which will leave audiences hungry for more.

Using a scientist’s tools, the novelist and economist found that “narrative reversals,” or peripeteias, were the key factor – lots of them and the bigger the better.

Samsun Knight (supplied image)

Commonly known as changes of fortune or turning points, where characters’ fortunes swing from good to bad and vice versa, Knight and his colleagues found that stories rich in these mechanisms boosted popularity and engagement with audiences through a range of media, from television to crowdfunding pitches.

“The best-written stories were always either ‘building up’ a current reversal, or introducing a new plot point,” says Knight, an assistant professor of marketing at the �ؿ�ζSM’s Rotman School of Management.

“In our analysis, the best writers were those that were able to maintain both many plot points and strong build-up for each plot point across the course of the narrative.”

The research, co-authored with Matthew D. Rocklage and Yakov Bart of Boston’s Northeastern University, was recently published in the journal Science Advances.

For the study, the researchers analyzed nearly 30,000 television shows, movies, novels, and crowdfunding pitches using computational linguistics, a blend of computer science and language analysis. The approach allowed them to quantify not only the number of a reversals in a text but also their degree or intensity by assigning numerical values to words based on how positive or negative they were.

Movies and television shows with more and bigger reversals were better rated on the popular ratings site IMDb. Books with the most and biggest reversals were downloaded more than twice as often as books with the fewest reversals from the free online library Project Gutenberg. And GoFundMe pitches with more and larger reversals were as much as 39 per cent more likely to hit their fundraising goals.

The Greek philosopher Aristotle was the first to identify peripeteia as a key feature of a good story, with Oedipus Rex serving as a classic example. Other thinkers have since added their ideas, including American playwright and dramaturg Leon Katz, whose scholarship particularly inspired Knight’s research.

“[Katz] described the reversal as the basic unit of narrative – just as a sentence is the basic unit of a paragraph, or the syllogism is the basic unit of a logical proof,” Knight says.

In addition to helping psychologists understand how narrative works to educate, inform and inspire people, the findings may also benefit storytellers of all kinds.

“Hopefully our research can help build a pedagogy for writers that allows them to rely on the accumulated knowledge of Aristotle et al. without having to reinvent the wheel on their own every time,” says Knight.

That includes himself. With another novel on the way, he was recently working on a chapter with a big reveal.

“I realized that this drop might hit harder if I gave the character more positive moments before pulling the rug out from under them.”

Food for thought: First-year student campaigned for more nutritious, affordable meals in Niagara schools

rahul.kalvapalle — Wed, 28 Aug 2024 14:29:41 +0000

Food for thought: First-year student campaigned for more nutritious, affordable meals in Niagara schools

rahul.kalvapalle Wed, 08/28/2024 - 10:29

Cutline

Julianna Marcel, who graduated from Greater Fort Erie Secondary School in Fort Erie, Ont., will be studying at Rotman Commerce this fall (photo courtesy of Julianna Marcel)

Rahul Kalvapalle

Topic

Our Community

Back to School 2024

Faculty of Arts & Science

Rotman Commerce

Rotman School of Management

Undergraduate Students

Victoria College

Subheadline

As a high school student and Niagara Region school board trustee, Julianna Marcel led a successful effort to overhaul school cafeteria meals and secure funding for culinary education

Julianna Marcel was in Grade 10 when a teacher pulled her out of science class and asked if she’d be interested in joining the District School Board of Niagara (DSBN)’s student trustee senate.

“I said yes, despite not knowing what it was,” says Marcel of the group that serves as a bridge between the school board and student body.

It would prove to be a fateful decision for both Marcel and the school board.

Later elected to one of three student positions on the DSBN’s board of trustees, Marcel went on to lead a successful campaign to overhaul school cafeteria menus to make them more nutritious and affordable. The effort also helped secure funding for culinary education.

“It ended up being one of the most transformative experiences of my life, connecting me deeply with both the student body and the educational community," Marcel says.

Marcel, who will begin a bachelor of commerce degree at the �ؿ�ζSM this fall, decided to act when a survey revealed a significant demand for healthier, more affordable meal options.

“Students expressed concerns about the high cost and low quality of their food, which I found unacceptable,” she says. “I recognized the need for change and saw an opportunity to advocate for healthier food in schools while better supporting our students.”

As she attended Greater Fort Erie Secondary School in Fort Erie, Ont., Marcel educated herself on food services policy and finance and carried out research on the impact of nutrition on academic performance and student success.

With her adviser’s encouragement, Marcel shared her findings in a letter to the president of DSBN’s food service provider. A series of meetings followed and, ultimately, a revamp of cafeteria menus.

Next, Marcel turned her attention to campaigning for more resources for culinary education. This led to the DSBN allocating $500,000 in its 2023-24 budget to expand culinary education.

Marcel's contributions were recognized with an Ontario Public Student Trustee Leadership Scholarship, jointly awarded by the Ontario Public School Boards’ Association and the Public Board Council of OSTA-AECO. The award citation noted that her work benefited some 37,500 students.

She's keen to highlight that the positive outcomes were the result of collective effort.

“I wouldn’t say that these changes are my accomplishments. They are a testament to what we can achieve when we listen to and involve students in decision-making processes,” she says.

The advocacy work led by Marcel benefited more than 37,000 students (photo courtesy of Julianna Marcel)

In addition to her trustee responsibilities and keeping up her grades, Marcel also made sure to carefully consider her post-secondary options. She participated in the U of T Faculty of Law’s youth summer programs in 2022 and 2023 – experiences that she says inspired her long-term ambition to attend law school at U of T and become a technology and corporate lawyer.

She says she is drawn to U of T’s vast array of resources and supports – and the diversity of its community.

“When I was picking between schools, I really did a deep delve into my top few choices and the �ؿ�ζSM has the most academic, extracurricular and career supports of any school that I researched,” says Marcel, who will pursue a specialist in finance and economics at Rotman Commerce as member of Victoria College.

“Coming to Toronto, I’m so excited to get to know everyone, learn more about the people and communities around me and meet so many international students.”

She intends to use her undergraduate years to enrich her understanding of how economics can be used to address societal problems.

“I’m drawn to economics because it offers a powerful framework for analyzing the challenges we face in society,” Marcel says. “Whether it’s understanding the causes of economic inequality or exploring the impacts of globalization or designing policies for sustainable growth, I believe economics provides the tools to critically access and influence the world around us.”

Marcel also plans to make time for her many hobbies while at university: she plays five musical instruments, enjoys soccer and basketball, and loves writing.

She hopes to start a tutoring business that engages U of T students in assisting high school and elementary learners, and wants to get involved in student groups at Rotman Commerce – particularly the Law Association, FinTech Association and Women in Business group.

"My ultimate goal is to support my community in every way that I can – not just in my first year but throughout my life," she says.

Milt Harris Library, Rotman School of Management

laurie.bulchak — Sat, 27 Jul 2024 17:22:26 +0000

Milt Harris Library, Rotman School of Management laurie.bulchak Sat, 07/27/2024 - 13:22

URL

https://www.rotman.utoronto.ca/faculty-and-research/milt-harris-library/

Foreign-born CEOs more likely to acquire assets across borders - particularly in their home countries: Study

rahul.kalvapalle — Mon, 22 Jul 2024 16:53:05 +0000

Foreign-born CEOs more likely to acquire assets across borders - particularly in their home countries: Study

rahul.kalvapalle Mon, 07/22/2024 - 12:53

Cutline

(photo by ER Productions Limited/Getty Images)

Topic

Research & Innovation

Rotman School of Management

U of T Scarborough

Subheadline

Researchers suggest the phenomenon is likely driven by local knowledge and connections, as well as a desire to “give back”

CEOs who have moved away from their country of origin are more likely to make international acquisitions, with a preference for targets in their birth country, a new study by researchers at the �ؿ�ζSM shows.

Using a sample of nearly 1,300 corporate acquisitions over a 14-year period, Ron Shalev, an associate professor of accounting at U of T Scarborough who is cross-appointed to the Rotman School of Management, and his co-authors compared acquisitions, financial and other corporate data with biographical information on the companies’ CEOs at the time of the purchases.

“Foreign-born CEOs are taking an increasing leadership role in the corporate world,” says Shalev of the research. “In our sample, 24 per cent of the acquiring companies have foreign-born CEOs.”

The study, published in the Journal of Accounting Research, was co-authored by Milan-based researchers Antonio Marra of the Università Bocconi and Angela Pettinicchio of Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore and SDA Bocconi School of Management.

After examining the data, Shalev and his colleagues found that foreign-born CEOs were 43 per cent more likely than domestic-born ones to acquire across borders – and that the phenomenon may be explained by a preference for acquiring in the countries of their birth. When considering all potential international targets that might be on the CEO’s radar, the researchers found that foreign-born CEOs were 17 times more likely to go after a buy in their country of origin versus another cross-border acquisition.

That difference was explained by the CEO having a leg up by knowing more about the country and having local connections. They are also driven by a desire to “give back” to the place where they came from, the researchers say.

The researchers also found that foreign-born CEOs were more than twice as likely to make an acquisition in a former colonizer of their birth country as they were to choose any other potential international target. “The idea is that if a CEO wants to bring pride to the birth country, she would acquire targets in the country that colonized it in the past,” says Shalev.

How are companies involved affected by CEOs tendency to acquire targets in their birth country? The acquiring company’s shareholders see a 1.3 per cent difference in excess returns on acquisitions in the CEO’s birth country, while shareholders of the target company enjoy a 2.9 per cent excess premium due to the purchase.

“This is not something that should prevent the hiring of a CEO,” Shalev says of the findings.

Instead, he says it’s simply an aspect a company’s board should be aware of and, if the CEO has a target in mind in their birth country, to take a harder look at the proposal. “In many cases these acquisitions will be good for the acquirer firm – but not always.”

U of T Chancellor Rose Patten celebrated for her exceptional leadership

bresgead — Fri, 31 May 2024 19:23:23 +0000

U of T Chancellor Rose Patten celebrated for her exceptional leadership

bresgead Fri, 05/31/2024 - 15:23

Cutline

U of T Chancellor Rose Patten and her husband Tom Di Giacomo attend a recent farewell reception at Hart House to celebrate her tenure as the university’s 34th chancellor (photo by Lisa Sakulensky)

Topic

President Meric Gertler

Rotman School of Management

Subheadline

“Rose and leadership go hand in hand. She wrote the book on the subject – literally"

Rose Patten’s name was a byword for leadership at a celebration marking the culmination of her distinguished tenure as the �ؿ�ζSM’s 34th chancellor, with one speaker after the next taking to the stage to express their gratitude for her transformative influence on the university and its community of future leaders.

After more than 25 years of service to the U of T community, Patten is set to complete her second term as chancellor (the maximum length permitted) on June 30, leaving a legacy characterized by visionary leadership and her commitment to championing those who would follow her.

At a farewell reception at Hart House, President Meric Gertler praised Patten’s unparalleled ability to bring out the leader in each and every member of the U of T community.

“Rose and leadership go hand in hand. She wrote the book on the subject – literally,” said President Gertler, referring to Patten’s vade mecum, Intentional Leadership. “Leadership has been the central theme of her time as chancellor. It is the hallmark of her life and career, in business and in volunteer service.”

U of T President Meric Gertler said leadership has been a hallmark of Chancellor Rose Patten’s career (photo by Lisa Sakulensky)

A major figure in Canada’s financial services sector, Patten’s long history with U of T has been defined by her prolific engagement in, and enhancement of, almost every aspect of university life, President Gertler said.

Her involvement began as a member of Governing Council, where she served for the full extent of her nine allowable years, culminating in three years’ service as chair.

From 2007 to 2010, Patten chaired the task force whose recommendations led to U of T’s current tri-campus governing structure.

Toronto-based portrait artist Brenda Bury, left, and Nobel Prize-winning U of T University Professor Emeritus John Polanyi, middle, pose for a photo with Chancellor Rose Patten (photo by Lisa Sakulensky)

First elected as chancellor in 2018, Patten will have presided over 133 convocation ceremonies by the end of her six years in the position.

In addition to her ceremonial duties, Patten has been a constant presence on campus as chancellor, attending scores of university events each year.

Beyond her administrative roles, she has imparted her insights on leadership with the next generation as an adjunct professor at the Rotman School of Management, where she serves as co-director of the Executive Leadership Program.

Myriad senior leaders at U of T have drawn on Patten’s expertise, President Gertler said – including himself.

Chancellor Rose Patten shakes hands with Governing Council Chair Anna Kennedy as former Interim President Frank Iacobucci and Trinity College Provost and Vice-Chancellor Mayo Moran look on (photo by Lisa Sakulensky)

Anna Kennedy, chair of Governing Council, also counted herself among the beneficiaries of Patten’s knowledge and counsel.

“Rose has led with grace, wisdom and incredible generosity, providing insights and guidance to everyone she interacts with,” Kennedy said. “We’re very thankful and grateful to have had the opportunity to be able to work alongside and learn from such an accomplished leader.”

A former justice of the Supreme Court of Canada, Frank Iacobucci said his 10-month tenure as U of T’s interim president was as memorable as any other part of his career largely because of Patten’s remarkable leadership.

From breaking the glass ceiling in business to steering U of T through uncertain times, Patten has converted challenges into opportunities throughout her distinguished career, Iacobucci said, but what sets Patten apart as a leader is her profound understanding that every organization is at its heart a human enterprise.

“A special talent Rose possesses is a respect for and fondness of people,” said Iacobucci. “Humanity is a companion for all that she says and does.”

Mayo Moran, provost and vice-chancellor of Trinity College, echoed this sentiment as she thanked Patten on behalf of the countless U of T community members who have benefited from her human-centred approach to leadership.

This is exemplified by Patten’s steadfast commitment to mentorship, particularly for women leaders, that has not only made her a role model, but also the namesake of the Rose Patten Mentorship Program, said Moran.

“The �ؿ�ζSM is so much better for having had you at helm,” she said. “I also feel heartened … by the fact that you’ll continue, through your writing and your teaching, to shape generations who are going to go on and really exemplify the human side of leadership.”

U of T Vice-President and Provost Trevor Young, left, poses for a picture with Chancellor Rose Patten (photo by Lisa Sakulensky)

Following a video tribute, President Gertler announced that Patten recently made a new gift to the university, which, among other things, will enable the renewal of Convocation Hall’s grand, circular entrance hallway. That key space will now be called the Rose Patten Rotunda.

Additionally, a new scholarship at the Temerty Faculty of Medicine has been named the Rose M. Patten Graduate Student Scholarship.

Both Patten and her husband, Tom Di Giacomo are long-time donors to the university, President Gertler said, supporting a range of initiatives to bolster student financial aid and academic programs. As a result of Patten’s most recent gift, she and Di Giacomo are now members of the Chancellors’ Circle of Benefactors, the community of U of T’s most generous philanthropic supporters.

Chancellor Rose Patten and her husband Tom Di Giacomo are among U of T’s most generous donors (photo by Lisa Sakulensky)

In her remarks, Patten said she was touched by the tributes and turnout to the reception, reflecting on how her relationship with U of T has deepened over the past quarter-century.

“I often speak about mentoring and volunteering, and I always say that we receive more than we give, or at least as much,” Patten said. “At U of T, it was especially true for me. And let me say, it was more.”

She highlighted her role in conferring degrees as a special privilege of her office, expressing what a joy it’s been to celebrate the milestone with graduating students and their families.

Patten said every commitment she’s made to U of T has enriched her, noting that everyone has a role to play in leading the university toward a brighter future.

“In this institution, there’s always more to know, more to learn, more to appreciate, more to think about,” she said. “It can make life not just a journey, but an adventure. I can’t imagine mine without my relationship with everyone here.”

Race-based police violence impacts wealth of Black families, study finds

Christopher.Sorensen — Tue, 21 May 2024 14:20:17 +0000

Race-based police violence impacts wealth of Black families, study finds

Christopher.Sorensen Tue, 05/21/2024 - 10:20

Cutline

(photo by Jane Tyska/Digital First Media/East Bay Times via Getty Images)

Diana Mehta

Topic

Breaking Research

Crime

Research & Innovation

Rotman School of Management

U of T Mississauga

Subheadline

Researchers say race-based police violence changes the way members of affected communities make financial decisions, with negative effects on their capacity to build long-term wealth

Financial decision-making for Black individuals can be dealt a major blow by race-based police violence, new research suggests, offering insight into the far-reaching effects of police brutality.

The study, titled “Race, Police Violence, and Financial Decision-Making,” examined detailed American data on home ownership and contributions to a pension plan – using statistics broken down by zip code – as well as information on fatal police encounters.

Lisa Kramer (supplied image)

The analysis suggests police violence negatively influence financial decision-making for Black individuals, even when they are not directly involved in the incidents.

“We find that when a member of the Black community is killed in a police incident, the members of that racialized group in that local area experience changes in their financial decision-making that are not just statistically significant, but economically large,” says co-author Lisa Kramer, a professor of finance in the department of management at �ؿ�ζSM Mississauga and the Rotman School of Management.

“I think what was most surprising was the magnitude of the effects.”

The study, which will appear in the May issue of AEA Papers and Proceedings, was carried out by U of T’s Kramer, Duke University’s Vicki Bogan, University of Manitoba’s Chi Liao and University of Mannheim’s Alexandra Niessen-Ruenzi. It explored whether two key pieces of the “wealth pie” for most individuals – home ownership and retirement savings – might be affected by race-based police violence. While many studies have already looked at the grief and community trauma associated with race-based police violence, Kramer says the ripple effects on economic decision-making have been analyzed to a far lesser extent.

The research showed Black individuals were 47.5 per cent less likely to own a home than their non-Black counterparts. After exposure to police-based violence, that gap increases to 62.2 per cent, the study suggests. It also found that Black individuals’ participation in defined contribution pension plans was reduced after exposure to police violence.

“We find already just to start with, just at the baseline, Black households are less likely to even own a home than others. And once they've observed one of these events in their local community, they become much less likely to own a home,” Kramer says.

Since researchers analyzed demographic, socio-economic and geographic data from U.S. households from 1999 to 2019, some recent key events – including the 2020 Minneapolis police killing of George Floyd that prompted anti-racism protests all over the world – were not captured.

“I think in this more recent era, where social media allows these events to get on the collective consciousness more quickly and more fully, we might find that any sort of traumatic implications that arise might even be more pervasive,” Kramer says.

And while the study is based on American data, Kramer says its findings likely apply in Canada as well.

“Certainly in Canada we have also had incidents of racialized violence with police involvement. We're not immune to that in Canada,” she says. “There's every reason to believe that the effects that we document aren't unique to the United States.”

The study doesn’t delve into why police-based violence could have such an effect on financial decision-making for Black individuals, but it does hint at possible explanations, including disengagement from financial decision-making after police violence in a local area and decisions to relocate following an incident.

Kramer, who notes that the study does not seek to deliberately cast police forces in a negative light, says she and her colleagues want to explore possible causes for their findings in future research.

“Right now, we’re identifying a striking set of results,” she says. “We find differences in financial outcomes at the local community level after these police-involved fatalities. Next, we need to identify the mechanisms that drive the results by testing different hypotheses.”

The hope is that the research will add to broader findings on racial inequalities and spark ideas about potential remedies to underlying problems.

“We're looking to explore those events through a financial lens because it's so important to make sure that households have the financial resources that they need,” Kramer says. “And if there is a connection there – as it appears there may be – we want to start the conversation, in a data-driven way.”

Rotman School of Management

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Race-based police violence impacts wealth of Black families, study finds