Publications

Educators

25 Feb 2019
Research & Ideas

How Gender Stereotypes Kill a Woman’s Self-Confidence

fields that they’ve performed well in these fields.” It’s unclear whether women would feel better about their abilities if they received repeated rounds of positive feedback, rather than one piece of good news. “I’d be interested to find out if the View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

January 2025
Module Note

Understanding and Addressing Gender Gaps

By: Katherine Coffman

This module provides a framework for students to analyze how gender stereotypes, through their impact on beliefs about others and beliefs about ourselves, contribute to gender gaps in the workplace. The module proceeds in three parts. First, through a case and an... View Details

Keywords: Decisions; Gender; Leadership; Management Practices and Processes; Prejudice and Bias

Forthcoming
Article

Non-Binary Gender Economics

By: Katherine B. Coffman, Lucas C. Coffman and Keith Marzilli Ericson

Economics research has largely overlooked non-binary individuals. We aim to jump-start the literature by providing data on several economically-important beliefs and preferences. Among many results, non-binary individuals report more gender-based discrimination and... View Details

Keywords: Inclusion; Gender; Prejudice and Bias; Personal Characteristics

07 Mar 2023
HBS Case

ChatGPT: Did Big Tech Set Up the World for an AI Bias Disaster?

ChatGPT, the remarkable AI chatbot garnering attention worldwide. The rollout comes amid mounting concerns that AI could perpetuate cultural, racial, and gender biases, sparking intense debate over the uses—and misuses—of this powerful... View Details

Keywords: by Scott Van Voorhis; Technology

18 Oct 2022
Research & Ideas

When Bias Creeps into AI, Managers Can Stop It by Asking the Right Questions

gender information from the data. And, as decision-makers, we might not want to do that. “Most algorithms do not create the bias per se, but tend to exacerbate it because of scale. And this becomes very... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne

08 May 2013
Research & Ideas

A Company’s Evolving View of Gender Equity

all three were important across the period studied, their relative prevalence varied. For example, gender bias peaked as a concern in 1991, underrepresentation dominated the picture in the late 1990s, and... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Accounting

16 Dec 2022
Research & Ideas

Why Technology Alone Can't Solve AI's Bias Problem

diversifying their workforces, more firms are scrutinizing the results of conventional algorithms on recruiting websites. But do fair rankings actually weed out gender bias and allow more women to rise to... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Technology

2016
Working Paper

PathBreakers? Women's Electoral Success and Future Political Participation

By: Sonia Bhalotra, Irma Clots-Figueras and Lakshmi Iyer

We investigate whether the event of a woman being competitively elected as a state legislator encourages the subsequent political participation of women, using a regression discontinuity design on constituency level data from India. We find that female incumbents are... View Details

Keywords: Political Participation; Women; Candidates; Gender Bias; Backlash; Minority Representation; Regression Discontinuity; India; Prejudice and Bias; Political Elections; Gender; Public Administration Industry; India

SSRN

17 May 2018
Sharpening Your Skills

You Probably Have a Bias for Making Bad Decisions. Here's Why.

entrepreneurs, even when the content of the pitches is identical. And handsome men fare best of all. Why Employers Favor Men Why are women discriminated against in hiring decisions? The answer is more subtle than expected. Simple Ways to Take View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

17 Apr 2013
Research Event

Conference Challenges Gender Conventions

work," and that redesign must include management buy-in, Perlow said. William Bielby, of the University of Illinois at Chicago, ended the session, discussing the need for more complex and varied solutions to workplace gender View Details

Keywords: by Maggie Starvish

2010
Working Paper

Men as Cultural Ideals: How Culture Shapes Gender Stereotypes

By: Amy J.C. Cuddy, Susan Crotty, Jihye Chong and Michael I. Norton

Three studies demonstrate how culture shapes the contents of gender stereotypes, such that men are perceived as possessing more of whatever traits are culturally valued. In Study 1, Americans rated men as less interdependent than women; Koreans, however, showed the... View Details

Keywords: Prejudice and Bias; Perception; Values and Beliefs; Gender; Culture; Power and Influence

Read Now

April 2022
Case

Gender Equality in Business: 100 Years of Progress?

By: Boris Groysberg and Colleen Ammerman

"Gender Equality in Business: 100 Years of Progress?" traces the history of women in management from the early 20th to early 21st century through analysis of Harvard Business Review's coverage of women and gender. The case identifies six distinct phases in the... View Details

Keywords: History; Business History; Gender; Management; Employees; Leadership; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Work-Life Balance; Prejudice and Bias; Social Issues; Diversity; Equity; United States

Educators

April 2022
Teaching Note

Gender Equality in Business: 100 Years of Progress?

By: Boris Groysberg and Colleen Ammerman

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 422-066, "Gender Equality in Business: 100 Years of Progress?" The case traces the history of women in management from the early 20th to early 21st century through analysis of Harvard Business Review's coverage of women and gender. The... View Details

Keywords: History; Business History; Gender; Management; Employees; Leadership; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Work-Life Balance; Prejudice and Bias; Social Issues; Diversity; Equity; United States

November–December 2021
Article

Does Gender Matter? The Effect of Management Responses on Reviewing Behavior

By: Davide Proserpio, Isamar Troncoso and Francesca Valsesia

We study the effect of management responses on the reviewing behavior of self-identified female and male reviewers. Using data from Tripadvisor, we show that after hotels begin to respond to reviews, the probability that a negative review comes from a self-identified... View Details

Keywords: Word Of Mouth; Online Reviews; Management Responses; E-commerce; Gender; Prejudice and Bias; Digital Platforms; Customers

SSRN

September 2011
Article

Taking Gender into Account: Theory and Design for Women's Leadership Development Programs

By: Robin J. Ely, Herminia Ibarra and Deborah Kolb

We conceptualize leadership development as identity work and show how subtle forms of gender bias in the culture and in organizations interfere with the identity work of women leaders. Based on this insight, we revisit traditional approaches to standard leadership... View Details

Keywords: Programs; Prejudice and Bias; Leadership Development; Identity; Organizational Culture; Gender

10 Nov 2022
Research & Ideas

Too Nice to Lead? Unpacking the Gender Stereotype That Holds Women Back

Finally Shrink the Gender Pay Gap? Don't Bring Me Down: Probing Why People Tune Out Bad News How Gender Stereotypes Kill a Woman’s Self-Confidence Feedback or ideas to share? Email the Working Knowledge team... View Details

Keywords: by Shalene Gupta

Article

Gender Bias, Social Impact Framing, and Evaluation of Entrepreneurial Ventures

By: Matthew Lee and Laura Huang

Recent studies find that female-led ventures are penalized relative to male-led ventures due to role incongruity, or a perceived “lack of fit,” between female stereotypes and expected personal qualities of business entrepreneurs. We examine whether social impact... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Gender; Prejudice and Bias; Framework; Perception; Performance Evaluation

12 Oct 2022
Research & Ideas

When Design Enables Discrimination: Learning from Anti-Asian Bias on Airbnb

society, it’s not my problem.’ It is your problem as a leader. You need to take steps to make sure you're contributing to solutions rather than to problems.” You Might Also Like: How Racial Bias Taints Customer Service: Evidence from... View Details

Keywords: by Pamela Reynolds; Technology; Travel

May 2016
Article

When Performance Trumps Gender Bias: Joint Versus Separate Evaluation

By: Iris Bohnet, Alexandra van Geen and Max Bazerman

We examine a new intervention to overcome gender biases in hiring, promotion, and job assignments: an "evaluation nudge," in which people are evaluated jointly rather than separately regarding their future performance. Evaluators are more likely to focus on individual... View Details

Keywords: Prejudice and Bias; Selection and Staffing; Decision Choices and Conditions; Performance; Gender