Every week I receive literally dozens of links on recommended reading, article alerts and just plain old emails from readers like you pointing out something you've liked - which is great because it makes a little easier and a LOT more interesting!  I thought I'd start sharing some of my favorites each week, which I don't have time to cover in detailed articles but which are certainly worth a read.  Like these ones:

• Racism and Meritocracy (Tech Crunch): "There is some research on the differences between men and women, and it has shown some differences in both average aptitude and the standard deviation of aptitude (i.e. that men have more extreme outcomes in both the positive and negative direction). But these differences are extremely small, nowhere near large enough to suggest a region on this curve with all men and no women on it. If you’d like to examine the math involved, check out this excellent slide deck courtesy of Terri Oda..."

• Five Essential Leadership Lessons for Women (ForbesWoman):  "Men in media still earn 30% more than women in media. Women hold just one-third of full-time journalist positions and just a quarter of editor and top executive positions in the industry. In intellectual magazines, there are seven male bylines for every one female byline. As in most fields, there are still fewer female voices at major publications and very few women at the top of media outlets. So how do we turn up the volume?...."

• What life is like at Oprah's Leadership Academy (OnlineColleges.net): The Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls opened in 2007, backed by $40 million and the eponymous benefactor’s desire to provide young, promising female students opportunities her own impoverished background never could. Located in Henly-on-Klip, South Africa, the school launched with an initial class of 152, each hailing from economically depressed households, most of them situated in gang-ridden neighborhoods still recovering from apartheid-era marginalization. So how is it faring almost 5 years on?

• Straight white men: You're not oppressed. (MamaMia):  "... Newsflash: straight white men are not an underclass. They have all the rights. Still do, always have. More rights than anyone else. A few weeks ago we ran this piece from the Prime Minister about the importance of continuing the good fight for gender equality.  What we didn’t expect when we published it, was to unearth a new underclass of ‘oppressed’ people who objected to the idea of our PM (or anyone) singling out women for special mention...."

• How Pampers and UNICEF Conquered a Deadly Disease (HBR Blog Network):  "By appealing to the sympathies of young mothers toward the risk of childbirth in poor nations, Procter & Gamble's largest brand, Pampers, and its global partner, UNICEF, will soon defeat a disease that now kills a baby or its mother every nine minutes.  Since 2008, P&G has promised to contribute a portion of the sale of every pack of Pampers during the fourth quarter toward a vaccine against neonatal tetanus. Since the initiative expanded from a small pilot program in Western Europe, consumer enthusiasm has been so strong that the partners now expect the disease will be eliminated, as measured by World Health Organization standards, by 2015. Pampers is now one of UNICEF's largest corporate donors, yet the campaign has delivered year-on-year growth for P&G's brand even in its toughest markets..."  The power of the female pursestrings at play yet again...

What do you think... any of these articles strike a chord with you?