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New research on gender in the workplace from Harvard Business School faculty on issues including "leaning-in," gender inequity, the social and economic effects of maternal employment, and gender diversity's effect on corporate financial performance.
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Simple Ways to Take Gender Bias Out of Your Job Ads

by Carmen Nobel

Iris Bohnet's new book, What Works: Gender Equality by Design, discusses how organizations can leverage findings from behavioral science research to fight gender bias in the workplace—starting with job listings. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

Explaining the Persistence of Gender Inequality: The Work-Family Narrative as a Social Defense against the 24/7 Work Culture

by Irene Padavic, Robin J. Ely, and Erin M. Reid

A common explanation for women’s stalled advancement into high-level positions is that women’s family obligations conflict with the long hours of these jobs. Work-family accommodations have done little to help women advance, however. And men also experience work-family conflict yet nevertheless advance. This study argues that women’s advancement is slowed because of social defenses at the organizational level, along with wider cultural beliefs that are resistant to change. These findings concur with scholars’ observations that progress toward gender equality is slowed to the extent that efforts are focused exclusively on women. Expanding efforts to include a thorough-going reconsideration of gender at work and at home, such that both women and men can freely pursue lives in which one domain need not take precedence over the other, may be more effective.

What's Behind the Unexpected Trump Support from Women

by Laura Morgan Roberts and Robin Ely

Why did Donald Trump’s candidacy appeal to so many women voters? Laura Morgan Roberts and Robin Ely say women from varying backgrounds cast their ballots for a number of reasons related to gender, economics, and perceptions of leadership. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

Who Pays for White-Collar Crime?

by Paul Healy and George Serafeim

Punishments of white-collar crime are systematically related to perpetrator, transaction, and company characteristics. This variation is consistent with executives determining appropriate punishments by an economic analysis of costs and benefits. Even so, senior male executives receive lighter punishments than female peers, for example. These and other variations suggest that not all decisions about punishment are taken with shareholders’ interests in mind: The self-interest of host company executives is also an important consideration.

The Cost of Leaning-in

by Carmen Nobel

Women who are forced to negotiate tend to fare worse than if they hadn’t negotiated at all, according to research by Christine Exley, Muriel Niederle, and Lise Vesterlund. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

What Does 'Diversity' Really Mean?

by Dina Gerdeman

At Harvard Business School’s fourth annual Gender & Work Symposium, speakers reflected on how the language we use can either hold certain groups back or help point organizations toward positive social change. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

Knowing When to Ask: The Cost of Leaning-in

by Christine L. Exley, Muriel Niederle, and Lise Vesterlund

The popular push for women to “lean in” holds that women should negotiate on their own behalf to overcome the gender wage gap. This study, however, shows the importance of choice in successful negotiations. Women usually choose to enter negotiations leading to financial gains and avoid negotiations that would result in financial losses. Regardless of the reasons for avoidance, leaning-in is not automatically the best advice for women.

Researchers Prove C-Suite Gender Gap—but Can’t Explain It

by Carmen Nobel

In research involving virtually every top executive in Sweden, Matti Keloharju and colleagues document what many already believe: women get fewer opportunities at top positions and lower pay when they get those positions. But just what is causing this gender gap is not so clear. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

Incentives for Prosocial Behavior: The Role of Reputations

by Christine L. Exley

This study documents how small monetary incentives discourage volunteering when they are public and thus introduce a “greedy” signal. The discouragement from this greedy signal, however, is less pronounced among volunteers with public reputations, or those who are likely known not to be too greedy.

What Will It Take to Achieve Gender Equality in Leadership?

by James Heskett

SUMMING UP James Heskett's readers question the meaning of "gender equality" and ponder ways to give women access to the same management opportunities as men. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

Why Does Gender Diversity Improve Financial Performance?

by James Heskett

SUMMING UP Why does having more women in leadership positions make for more successful companies? James Heskett's readers offer a variety of theories. Closed for comment; 0 Comment(s) posted.

Men Want Powerful Jobs More Than Women Do

by Carmen Nobel

While women and men believe they are equally able to attain high-level leadership positions, men want that power more than women do, according to new research by Francesca Gino, Caroline Wilmuth, and Alison Wood Brooks. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

Mums the Word! Cross-national Effects of Maternal Employment on Gender Inequalities at Work and at Home

by Kathleen L. McGinn & Elizabeth Long Lingo

This study contributes to a growing body of research that explores the effects of maternal employment on their children's well-being. Female respondents raised by a mother who worked outside the home are more likely to be employed, more likely to hold supervisory responsibility if employed, work more hours, and earn higher hourly wages than women whose mothers were home full time. Sons raised by an employed mother spend more time caring for family members than men whose mothers stayed home full time, and daughters raised by an employed mother spend less time on housework than women whose mothers stayed home full time. Results overall show the power of non-traditional gender role models, especially employed mothers, as critical factors for reducing gender inequality in labor markets and households across the globe. Closed for comment; 0 Comment(s) posted.

Kids Benefit From Having a Working Mom

by Carmen Nobel

Women whose moms worked outside the home are more likely to have jobs themselves, are more likely to hold supervisory responsibility at those jobs, and earn higher wages than women whose mothers stayed home full time, according to research by Kathleen McGinn and colleagues. Open for comment; 33 Comment(s) posted.

Venture Investors Prefer Funding Handsome Men

by Carmen Nobel

Studies by Alison Wood Brooks and colleagues reveal that investors prefer pitches from male entrepreneurs over those from female entrepreneurs, even when the content of the pitches is identical. And handsome men fare best of all. Open for comment; 13 Comment(s) posted.

Difficulties for Women Bridging Racial, Generational, and Global Divides

by Carmen Nobel

A symposium at Harvard Business School delved into "intersectionality"—the seemingly obvious yet complex idea that gender interacts with other axes of inequality such as race, age, class, and ethnicity. Open for comment; 1 Comment(s) posted.

Stressing Safety in South Africa’s Platinum Mines

by Carmen Nobel

Gautam Mukunda discusses why and how he teaches a case study about Cynthia Carroll, the first woman and non-South African to serve as chief executive of mining giant Anglo American. Open for comment; 4 Comment(s) posted.

Should Men’s Products Fear a Woman’s Touch?

by Carmen Nobel

Recent research shows that loyal customers often get upset when a brand associated with men expands to include products perceived as feminine. Senior Lecturer Jill J. Avery discusses the problem of "gender contamination." Closed for comment; 17 Comment(s) posted.

A Company’s Evolving View of Gender Equity

by Martha Lagace

Looking at the evolution of gender in US society over nearly 20 years, a new study by Lakshmi Ramarajan, Kathleen L. McGinn, and Deborah Kolb traces how one prominent professional-service firm internalized the shifting concerns. Closed for comment; 2 Comment(s) posted.

Conference Challenges Gender Conventions

by Maggie Starvish

A recent conference at Harvard Business School addressed the on-the-ground reality of women leaders 50 years after the first women were admitted to the two-year MBA Program at Harvard. Open for comment; 4 Comment(s) posted.