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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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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. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

Conference Challenges Gender Conventions

by Maggie Starvish

A 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; 0 Comments.

Women’s Summit Celebrates ‘Sisterhood of the Traveling Pantsuit’

by Katie Koch & Harvard Gazette

Some 800 alumnae returned to Harvard Business School for the W50 Summit, two days of reflection, celebration, and brainstorming on women's experiences at HBS and beyond. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.

Will Women Leaders Influence the Way We Work?

by James Heskett

Summing Up: Readers are split on Jim Heskett's question about whether men and women manage differently. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.

HBS Cases: Women MBAs at Harvard Business School

by Carmen Nobel

Professor Boris Groysberg discusses his new case, "Women MBAs at Harvard Business School: 1962-2012," which delves into the experiences of the School's alumnae over the past 50 years. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.

HBS Research Focuses on Gender Issues and Fixes

As Harvard Business School commemorates the 50th anniversary of the first women admitted to the school's two-year MBA program, a wealth of new research is emerging from HBS on gender issues in the workplace. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

Few Women on Boards: Is There a Fix?

by Carmen Nobel

Women hold only 14 percent of the board seats at S&P 1500 companies. Why is that, and what—if anything—should business leaders and policymakers do about the gender disparity? Research by Professor Boris Groysberg and colleagues shows that male and female board members have very different takes on the issue. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.

An Outside-Inside Evolution in Gender and Professional Work

by Lakshmi Ramarajan, Kathleen McGinn & Deborah Kolb

How do organizations adapt to social transformation? In the US, one of the most visible changes in employment since the 1980s—the growing representation of highly educated women—has challenged widely held understandings about gender and professional work. Although much is known about social institutions and social issues at the institutional and organizational levels, researchers still know very little about how individual organizations experience and internalize gradual shifts in deeply held social understandings. To bridge the gap, this study analyzes nearly 20 years of data to explore the adaptation of one professional service firm to an increase in women in the professional workforce and the shifting discourse around gender and work. Findings show that the firm internalized shifts in the social institution of gender through iterated cycles of analysis and action, integrating external pressures from the changing social institution of gender into its beliefs, structure, policies, programs, and practices. Overall, the study reveals how the interplay between activities and beliefs directs the pace and course of organizational change over time. Key concepts include: This paper examines how a social institution like gender plays out across multiple levels of analysis-organization and environment-over time. The authors' model sheds light on the ways in which internal and external forces are paired to propel the internalization of social discourse over time. At the firm level, analysis and action are separate but linked activity phases with transitions between them triggered by changes in beliefs and a growing awareness of discrepancies between beliefs and outcomes. Outside scrutiny and recognition drive accountability, while real changes in the firms' activities and outcomes drive internal buy-in. Sustainable change at the organizational level may require periodic monitoring of the fit between outcomes and assumptions, and intermittent periods of analysis relatively free of new activities. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.

Looking Up and Looking Out: Career Mobility Effects of Demographic Similarity among Professionals

by Kathleen L. McGinn & Katherine L. Milkman

While women and racial minorities have increasingly crossed the threshold into professional service organizations, the path to the top remains elusive. Why do inequalities persist? McGinn and Milkman study processes of cohesion, competition, and comparison by looking at career mobility in a single up-or-out professional service organization. Findings show that higher proportions of same-sex and same-race superiors enhanced the career mobility of junior professionals. On the flip side, however, higher proportions of same-sex or same-race peers increased the likelihood of women's and men's exit and generally decreased their chances of promotion. This research highlights how important it is to look at both cooperative and competitive effects of demographic similarity when trying to address the problem of persistent underrepresentation of women and minorities at the highest levels in organizations. Key concepts include: Social comparisons lead to measurable effects on individuals' careers, in turn shaping the demographic composition at the top of professional service organizations. Organizations should attend to the ways in which policies and practices invoke competition and comparison within demographic categories. Clustering same-race or same-sex junior employees to provide an increased sense of community may have the opposite effect of that desired, unless accompanied by senior professionals' active sponsorship of juniors across demographic lines. Attempts to design employment practices that are blind to the demographics of candidates are likely to succeed only if all candidates perceive and receive equal mentoring, sponsorship, and peer support regardless of their race and gender. Among peers, the potentially positive role for social cohesion could be compromised by minimal interaction in day-to-day work, while limited opportunities for choice assignments and promotion lend a distinctly competitive edge to the work environment. Junior professionals perceive that they are easily replaced by peers. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.

Better by the Bunch: Evaluating Job Candidates in Groups

by Maggie Starvish

The key to avoiding gender stereotyping in the hiring process lies in evaluating job candidates as a group, rather than one at a time. So says new research by Iris Bohnet, Alexandra van Geen, and Max H. Bazerman. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

When Performance Trumps Gender Bias: Joint versus Separate Evaluation

by Iris Bohnet, Alexandra van Geen & Max H. Bazerman

Gender-based discrimination in hiring, promotion, and job assignments is difficult to overcome. This paper suggests a new intervention aimed at avoiding biased assessments: an "evaluation nudge," in which employees are evaluated jointly rather than separately regarding their future performance. While joint evaluation is common for most hiring decisions, especially at the lower levels, it is rarely used when job assignments and promotions are being considered. The research shows that a joint-evaluation mode succeeds in helping employers choose based on past performance, irrespective of an employee's gender and the implicit stereotypes the employer may hold. While it is not always feasible to bundle promotion decisions and explicitly compare candidates, the research suggests that, whenever possible, joint evaluation would increase both efficiency and equality. Findings have implications for organizations that want to decrease the likelihood that hiring, promotion, and job-assignment decisions will be based on irrelevant criteria triggered by stereotypes. Key concepts include: In addition to being a profit-maximizing decision procedure, joint evaluation is also a fair mechanism, as it encourages judgments based on people's performance rather than their demographic characteristics. In experiments, employers tasked to choose an employee for future performance were influenced by the candidate's gender in cases where candidates were evaluated separately. In contrast, in joint evaluation, gender was irrelevant. Employers were significantly more likely to choose the higher- rather than the lower-performing employee. Companies concerned about discrimination in these phases of employment might choose to review how, for example, career-relevant jobs are assigned and how promotion decisions are made. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.

Leadership Program for Women Targets Subtle Promotion Biases

by Maggie Starvish

Despite more women in the corporate work force, they still are underrepresented in executive officer positions. Professor Robin Ely and colleagues propose a new way to think about developing women for leadership. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.

Gender and Competition: What Companies Need to Know

by Kim Girard

Do women shy away from competition and thus hurt their careers? New research by Harvard's Kathleen L. McGinn, Iris Bohnet, and Pinar Fletcher suggests the answer is not black and white, and that employers need to understand the "genderness" of their work. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

How ‘Political Voice’ Empowers the Powerless

by Maggie Starvish

Women in India often are targets of verbal abuse, discrimination, and violent crimes—crimes that are underreported. Fortunately, an increase in female political representation seems to be giving female crime victims a voice in the criminal justice system, according to new research by Harvard Business School professor Lakshmi Iyer and colleagues. Key concepts include: Political representation of disadvantaged groups is an important means of giving them a voice in the criminal justice system. An Indian constitutional amendment enacted in 1993 mandated that at least one-third of council seats at the village, intermediate, or district level be filled by women. The rise in female representation empowered more women to report crimes. Female political representation also induced law enforcement officials to be more responsive to crimes against women. Similar results were found in crimes against Scheduled Castes—the so-called untouchables who have historically been at the bottom of the Hindu caste system. An increase in SC political representation led to an increase of documented crimes against the group. Women (or other minorities) might be better able to maximize their voice by increasing their representation more broadly, rather than targeting a few high-level positions. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.

Taking the Fear out of Diversity Policies

by Carmen Nobel

Workplace policies regarding race, gender, and sexual orientation often are borne of studies that focus on the problem of discrimination—rather than on the benefits of a diverse workforce. HBS professors Lakshmi Ramarajan and David Thomas argue that focusing on the benefits of a diverse organization will lead to workplace policies that embrace diversity, instead of grudgingly accepting it or dancing around it. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.

Will I Stay or Will I Go? How Gender and Race Affect Turnover at ‘Up-or-Out’ Organizations

Re: Kathleen L. McGinn

Gender and racial inequalities continue to persist at "up-or-out" knowledge organizations, making it difficult for women and minorities to advance to senior levels, Kathleen McGinn says. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.

It Pays to Hire Women in Countries That Won’t

by Carmen Nobel

South Korean companies don't hire many women, no matter how qualified. So multinationals are moving in to take advantage of this rich hiring opportunity, according to new research by professor Jordan Siegel. Key concepts include: Employing women who are excluded by their own countries' labor markets is a growing trend for international affiliates of global multinational companies. Using data from South Korea, researchers showed that a 10 percent nominal increase in the percentage of female managers (at the level of the then-prevailing glass ceiling) was associated with a 1 percent nominal increase in ROA. Multinational firms that recruit females into management roles at their local affiliates face the possibility of upsetting local male employees, partners, and customers who don't approve of women in executive roles. In many instances, multinational firms hired and promoted female managers in a discriminatory host market at a far higher rate than they employed female managers in their own home markets. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.

Power Posing: Fake It Until You Make It

by Julia Hanna

Nervous about an upcoming presentation or job interview? Holding one's body in "high-power" poses for short time periods can summon an extra surge of power and sense of well-being when it's needed, according to Harvard Business School professor Amy J.C. Cuddy. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.

From Bench to Board: Gender Differences in University Scientists’ Participation in Commercial Science

by Waverly W. Ding, Fiona Murray & Toby E. Stuart

Does gender affect whether a university scientist will be invited to work with for-profit companies? Indeed it does. A new paper finds that male professors receive more opportunities than their female counterparts to join scientific advisory boards and start new companies. Research, focusing on the biotechnology field, was conducted by Haas School of Business professor Waverly W. Ding, MIT Sloan professor Fiona Murray, and HBS professor Toby E. Stuart. Key concepts include: University-employed scientists helped to found at least half of the publicly traded biotech firms in existence today. Women scientists receive far fewer invitations than men to join scientific advisory boards, and so male scientists are more than twice as likely as female scientists to become formal board advisors. When female scientists do receive invitations to join boards, they generally come from small start-ups with limited financial backing, rather than from high-profile companies backed by high-status venture capitalists. The corporate gender gap increases among scientists employed at elite universities or academic departments. However, the gender gap decreases at schools with formal technology transfer offices, indicating that institutional support can help women overcome obstacles to entry into commercial science. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.

Multinational Firms, Labor Market Discrimination, and the Capture of Competitive Advantage by Exploiting the Social Divide

by Jordan I. Siegel, Lynn Pyun & B.Y. Cheon

Women and ethnic minorities are frequently discriminated against in the labor markets of both developed and emerging economies, particularly in opportunities for management positions. Multinationals entering such markets must decide whether to aggressively hire and promote the excluded group, thus reaping the benefits of their underutilized talent, or conform to local practice and avoid provoking some bigoted policymakers, executives, purchasers, and/or supply agents. In this paper, HBS professor Jordan Siegel, Lynn Pyun, and B.Y. Cheon find that multinationals gain significant competitive opportunities by scanning the host-market social landscape, identifying social schisms in the labor market, and exploiting such schisms by actively hiring and promoting members of the excluded group to positions of management responsibility. Key concepts include: Foreigners achieve a competitive advantage by exploiting the social divide in a host market. This competitive advantage is not unique to foreigners. However, foreign multinationals, who are not affected by prior social network obligations, may often find it easier than some domestic firms to in effect form an alliance with the excluded group. Foreign multinationals can exploit market failure where the excluded group is talented but underutilized. This competitive advantage is associated with a significant profit benefit, and one that is only very slowly being whittled away through imitation. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.