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Gender

Doing What You Love Doesn’t Always Pay for Women

New research from Yale SOM’s Adriana Germano shows how the seemingly gender-neutral advice to “follow your passion” helps explain the gender gap in lucrative STEM fields.

A woman following a sign pointing to "passion" at a fork in the road
  • Investors Reward Gender-Diverse Companies

    Advocates have long made the case that hiring more women is the right thing to do, and that gender diversity helps firms be more effective. New research from Yale SOM’s Jennifer Dannals suggests another reason for a gender-diverse workforce: investors love to see it.

    An abstract image of a crowded corporate lobby overlayed by a stock chart
  • Video: Dating, Marriage, Parenting, and the Gender Wage Gap

    Women earn 79 cents for every dollar that men make. But look beyond that widely cited statistic, and you’ll find a complex story of causes, effects, and correlations. Prof. Mushfiq Mobarak surveys the literature on the subject and argues that, to close the gap, we need to address society’s differing expectations around who bears the burden of family and parenting responsibilities.

    An illustration of a woman thinking about earnings and family
  • Is the Art Market Fair to Women?

    Why do women artist appear less frequently at auctions and in galleries? A study of Yale Art School graduates over 120 years, co-authored by William Goetzmann of Yale SOM, suggests that institutions pose a bigger obstacle than market participants.

    Sculptor Eva Hesse,  who received a BFA from Yale in 1959, with her work.  
  • How Awards for Evaluators Can Reduce Gender Bias

    Tristan Botelho and his co-author found that once recognized with Yelp’s Elite label, reviewers demonstrate less gender bias in their reviews. Workplaces could achieve a similar effect by subjecting managers’ hiring and promotion decisions to stronger scrutiny.

    An illustration of a trophy with a résumé icon on it
  • Women Aren’t Promoted Because Managers Underestimate Their Potential

    Why are fewer women promoted to senior positions than men? In a study of a retail chain, Prof. Kelly Shue and her co-authors found that women got higher performance ratings than men but were incorrectly judged as having less leadership potential.

    A drawing of a woman sitting toward the bottom of a ladder
  • A Man and a Woman Walk into a Bar: How Gender Changes the Perception of a Bad Joke

    Yale SOM’s Taly Reich has found one situation in which women, rather than men, are more likely to get the benefit of the doubt: when they tell jokes that fall flat.

    An illustration of a woman wearing novelty glasses telling a joke while her male companion looks at his watch
  • How COVID-19 Is Making Gender Inequality Worse in Low-Income Countries—and What to Do About It

    Gender disparities in social and economic outcomes, already larger in the developing world than in rich countries, have been exacerbated by the pandemic. Policy action is badly needed to address the compounding of existing inequalities and protect the most vulnerable women.

    A Doctors Without Borders healthcare provider with a mother and her child at a mobile clinic in Sierra Leone in July 2020. Photo: Saidu Bah/AFP via Getty Images.
  • Weakening Unions Can Lead to Gender Gap in Wages

    In 2011, legislation in Wisconsin reduced the power of unions to negotiate teachers’ salaries. Within five years, male teachers started earning more than women did.

    Teachers protesting Wisconsin governor Scott Walker's proposal to eliminate collective bargaining for state workers, in 2010. Photo: Mark Hirsch/Getty Images.
  • What Kamala Harris’s Nomination Means for Women’s Equality

    If Joe Biden is elected this November, Kamala Harris would be the first woman and the first person of color to serve as vice president. We asked Prof. Oriane Georgeac, who studies perceptions of diversity, if Harris’s nomination heralds an acceleration of progress for women generally.

    Kamala Harris campaigning in Iowa in February 2019. Photo: Daniel Acker/Bloomberg via Getty Images.
  • Male Scientists Praise Their Own Research More

    According to a study co-authored by Yale SOM’s Olav Sorenson, male scientists are more likely than their women colleagues to use words like “novel,” “excellent,” and “unique” to describe their own work in the titles and abstracts of research articles.

    A male scientist putting an "excellent" ribbon on himself