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The Challenges of Commercializing Fertility

Re: Debora L. Spar

Entrepreneur Christy Jones wants to create a venture to help women preserve their eggs and postpone motherhood. But what would an egg-freezing service sell—and to whom? Debora Spar discusses the challenges of commercializing fertility in a new case study. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

The COVID Gender Gap: Why Fewer Women Are Dying

by Dina Gerdeman

To promote the greatest safety, public health officials should target their pandemic messaging to men differently than to women. Research by Vincent Pons and colleagues. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

Can Being the ‘Token’ Give Women and Minorities a Competitive Edge?

by Danielle Kost

Underrepresented professionals are more likely to choose predominantly male or white workgroups if it helps their ideas stand out, according to research by Edward H. Chang and colleagues. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

Why Don’t More Organizations Understand the Power of Diversity and Inclusion?

by James Heskett

SUMMING UP: Diversity in business leadership is certainly an enviable social goal, but does it improve company performance? James Heskett's readers look for the research evidence. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

When Do Experts Listen to Other Experts? The Role of Negative Information in Expert Evaluations for Novel Projects

by Jacqueline N. Lane, Misha Teplitskiy, Gary Gray, Hardeep Ranu, Michael Menietti, Eva C. Guinan, and Karim R. Lakhani

Evaluators of early-stage scientific proposals tend to systematically focus on the weaknesses of proposed work rather than its strengths, according to evidence from two field experiments.

Gender Differences in COVID-19 Related Attitudes and Behavior: Evidence from a Panel Survey in Eight OECD Countries

by Vincent Pons, Vincenzo Galasso, Paola Profeta, Michael Becher, Sylvain Brouard, and Martial Foucault

Survey evidence from eight countries indicates strong gender differences in people’s belief that COVID-19 represents a serious health risk and in their agreement and compliance with restraining policy measures.

Discrimination, Disenfranchisement and African American WWII Military Enlistment

by Nancy Qian and Marco Tabellini

The United States entered World War II during one of the worst periods of racial discrimination in post-Civil War history. This paper examines the social costs of this discrimination, with clear implications for policymakers: Requiring equal contributions from citizens means treating citizens equally.

Racism and Digital Design: How Online Platforms Can Thwart Discrimination

by Kristen Senz

Poor design decisions contribute to racial discrimination on many online platforms. Michael Luca and colleagues offer tips for reducing the risk, used by Airbnb and other companies. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

Gender Inequality in Research Productivity During the COVID-19 Pandemic

by Ruomeng Cui, Hao Ding, and Feng Zhu

Analysis of data from the largest open-access repositories for social science in the world finds that female researchers’ productivity significantly dropped relative to that of male researchers as a result of the lockdown in the United States.

Starbucks Commits to Raising Awareness of Racial Bias

Re: Francesca GinoRe: Katherine B. Coffman

After a highly publicized act of racial discrimination by a Starbucks employee the company revised store policies and employee training practices. Francesca Gino and Katherine Coffman discuss unconscious bias in corporate culture. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

The Pursuit of Passion Propagates Privilege

by Josephine Tan and Jon M. Jachimowicz

While graduating students are often exhorted to do work they love to do, those from lower socioeconomic backgrounds are less likely to feel that they are a fit for and have the skills to thrive in a job that calls for passion.

Merck CEO Ken Frazier Discusses a COVID Cure, Racism, and Why Leaders Need to Walk the Talk

by Staff

VIDEO: Ken Frazier, one of only four Black CEOs of Fortune 500 companies, speaks with Professor Tsedal Neeley about the search for a coronavirus vaccine, how racism at the workplace holds back America’s progress, and his own upbringing just one generation from slavery. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

Is a Business School-Industry Collaboration Needed to Attract Black Talent to Campus?

by James Heskett

SUMMING UP:James Heskett's readers suggest that recruiting minority students to business school must be matched with programs to retain them. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

Corporate Leadership and Creditor Recovery Rates: Evidence from Executive Gender

by Clarissa Hauptmann and Anywhere Sikochi

This paper examines the relationship between executive gender and creditor recovery rates, showing that creditors to female-run firms have higher recovery rates in the event of default.

The Little Understood Problem Confronting Diverse Workplaces

by Julia Hanna

Knitting together a diverse workforce into a common fabric is a difficult challenge for managers—and even more difficult for the workers themselves, say Lakshmi Ramarajan and Erin Reid. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

The Old Boys' Club: Schmoozing and the Gender Gap

by Zoë B. Cullen and Ricardo Perez-Truglia

Over a four-year period, male employees assigned a male manager were promoted at a faster rate than their female counterparts, with no observable difference in performance. Women, in turn, were promoted at the same rate whether assigned to a male manager or female manager. Male employees benefited from the higher rates of social interactions with their male managers.

Taking on the Taboos That Keep Women Out of India's Workforce

by Julia Hanna

Giving women in rural India more control over household finances reduces the social stigma of working, says research by Natalia Rigol. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

When to Apply?

by Katherine Coffman, Manuela Collis, and Leena Kulkarni

Using a series of experiments, the authors studied gender differences in how job-seekers perceive their own qualifications for different opportunities and how this affects their decision to apply. Results suggest that soft touch employer interventions can improve the diversity of applicant pools even if candidate beliefs about their own ability are unchanged.

Gender Bias Complaints against Apple Card Signal a Dark Side to Fintech

by Karen G. Mills

The possibility that Apple Card applicants were subject to gender bias opens a new frontier for the financial services sector in which regulators are largely absent, argues Karen Mills. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

The Gender Gap in Self-Promotion

by Christine L. Exley and Judd B. Kessler

Many organizations and job applications require individuals to assess their own ability and performance. When women communicate to potential employers, however, they systematically give less favorable assessments of their own past performance and potential future ability than equally performing men. The study rules out potential explanations for the gap and discusses implications.