Publications

March 8, 2022
Article

Women Can’t Go Back to the Pre-Pandemic Status Quo

By: Colleen Ammerman and Boris Groysberg

Survey data collected in 2018 and 2019 from Harvard Business School graduates revealed that for women—and especially women of color—well-being at work was suffering long before the pandemic. While 17% of all respondents said that they often or very often experienced... View Details

Keywords: Women; Burnout; Gender; Race; Resignation and Termination; Well-being; Employees

March 2015
Case

Clifford Chance: Women at Work

By: Boris Groysberg, Katherine Connolly and Stephanie Marton

It was October 2013, and global law firm Clifford Chance was coming under fire for the second time in less than a year for reputedly failing to provide a supportive work environment for its female associates. A memo entitled "Speaking Effectively" was just issued to... View Details

Keywords: Women; Law; Fairness; Employee Relationship Management; Retention; Human Capital; Organizational Culture; Performance Expectations; Work-Life Balance; Public Opinion; Problems and Challenges; Legal Services Industry; United States

Educators

April 2, 2013
Article

Has the Glass Ceiling Been Shattered for Women Leading Major Companies?

By: Regina E. Herzlinger

With all the talk recently about the need for women to "lean in," the phrase that has gained instant currency with the publication of Sheryl Sandberg's book about how women should act more aggressively in pursuing their careers, it is worth asking: Has the glass... View Details

Keywords: Women And Leadership; Women; Glass Ceiling; Leadership; Personal Development and Career; Gender

September 2022
Article

How HBR Has Covered Women and Business: From Articles on 'Successful Wives of Successful Executives' to 'Women Rising: The Unseen Barriers'

By: Colleen Ammerman and Boris Groysberg

Over the course of its century-long history, HBR has evolved significantly in its coverage of women and business. At first the magazine barely acknowledged the existence of women in the workforce, but in the 1950s it began to pay attention to the roles women were... View Details

Keywords: Women; Business; Gender; Journals and Magazines; Trends

2021
Book

Glass Half-Broken: Shattering the Barriers That Still Hold Women Back at Work

By: Colleen Ammerman and Boris Groysberg

Why does the gender gap persist and how can we close it? For years women have made up the majority of college-educated workers in the United States. In 2019, the gap between the percentage of women and the percentage of men in the workforce was the smallest on record.... View Details

Keywords: Women; Career; Gender Gap; Glass Ceiling; Gender; Employment; Personal Development and Career; Equality and Inequality; Organizational Culture; Diversity; Management; Strategy

Research Summary

Women Entrepreneurs

By: Myra M. Hart

Professor Hart is currently conducting research on women entrepreneurs pursuing high growth strategies. Hart is a member of the Diana Research Group, a team of five professors who have collaborated in an on-going investigation of the unique oppportunities and obstacles... View Details

March 6, 2020
Article

Warren Buffett Has the Right Answer to Crony Capitalism: Women

By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter

Keywords: Women; Capitalism; Crony Capitalism

10 Feb 2003
Research & Ideas

Women at Work

Lynda Clarizio Every woman who works and has a life confronts unique challenges, from finding reliable and caring childcare to making time to nurture the relationship with their spouse or partner to fighting their own guilt and stereotypes of "working women."... View Details

Keywords: by Wendy Guild

Teaching Interest

Women on Boards

By: Paul M. Healy

The program helps women who aspire to be board directors to develop the tools and experience needed to become effective directors. View Details

15 Dec 2003
Research & Ideas

Women Leaders and Organizational Change

Why are women so dramatically underrepresented in formal leadership positions, and what can be done about it? That's the basic question contemplated in a book of essays called, The Difference "Difference" Makes, edited by Debra... View Details

Keywords: by Mallory Stark

13 Aug 2018
Research & Ideas

Women Heart Patients Have Better Survival Odds with Women Doctors

Tempura Women having a heart attack are less likely to die if their doctor is also female, a new study shows. How much less likely? When treated for a heart attack by men, the risk for women goes up 1.5... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne; Health

13 Oct 2003
Research & Ideas

Negotiating Challenges for Women Leaders

Women don't have a problem developing an effective leadership style. What they do struggle with more than men, however, is claiming the authority to lead, according to Hannah Riley Bowles and Kathleen L. McGinn. The gender gap in... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

02 Apr 2021
Research & Ideas

Salary Negotiations: A Catch-22 for Women

Professor Julian Zlatev and colleagues found evidence that women who felt empowered at the negotiation table were more likely to reach worse deals or no deal at all. The results held regardless of their negotiation partners’ gender. Eight... View Details

Keywords: by Kristen Senz

17 Dec 2001
Research & Ideas

Enterprising Women

Zipcar, which uses the Internet to "make access to cars as easy as getting money from an ATM" has approximately 1,500 member-users and expects to open in Manhattan in early 2002. The network for women isn't as developed yet, but... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna

September 2013
Article

Women Rising: The Unseen Barriers

By: Herminia Ibarra, Robin Ely and Deborah Kolb

Even when CEOs make gender diversity a priority—by setting aspirational goals for the proportion of women in leadership roles, insisting on diverse slates of candidates for senior positions, and developing mentoring and training programs—they are often frustrated by a... View Details

Keywords: Prejudice and Bias; Leadership Development; Working Conditions; Organizational Culture; Gender; Diversity

Find at Harvard

April 2010
Case

A Giant Among Women

By: Willy C. Shih, Ethan S Bernstein, Maly Hout Bernstein, Jyun-Cheng Wang and Yi-Ling Wei

Few CEOs successfully manage the evolution of their companies from OEM outsourcer to branded manufacturer to expert consumer marketer as well as Tony Lo, CEO of Giant Manufacturing Co. Ltd., now the largest bicycle manufacturer in the world. In the mid-1980s, Giant... View Details

Keywords: Consumer Behavior; Customer Focus and Relationships; Global Strategy; Gender; Customer Satisfaction; Product Development; Bicycle Industry; Taiwan

Educators

26 Nov 2001
Research & Ideas

Women Entrepreneurs Use Springboard for Funding

What do a health food manufacturer, an infectious-diseases specialist and a content-management expert have in common? Answer: All are women, all are entrepreneurs. And by virtue of being women and entrepreneurs they share one... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

October 2020 (Revised April 2021)
Case

Women Entrepreneurs and Tech Ecosystems: One City, Two Realities, and Four Diverse Women

By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter and Joyce J. Kim

Four diverse women entrepreneurs launched their ventures in a thriving entrepreneurial ecosystem that was part of a shift to a creative technology-driven economy for Miami. Although Miami was rated the #1 U.S. city for startups in 2017, the region contained structural... View Details

Keywords: Female Entrepreneur; Entrepreneurial Ecosystems; Inclusion; Innovation ＆ Entrepreneurship; Racism; Sexism; Start-up; Entrepreneurship; Business Startups; Diversity; Gender; Race; Prejudice and Bias; Innovation and Invention; City; Culture; Miami

Educators