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

Women have made progress in the workforce, but only up to a point, argue Ammerman, director of the Harvard Business School Gender Initiative, and Groysberg (Chasing Stars), a Harvard Business School professor of business administration. Women “remain underrepresented, often dramatically so, in positions of power,” they write, due to systemic inequalities and a status quo that keeps women from rising into leadership roles, despite years of corporate and government initiatives and activism. And when women do rise to positions of power, the authors write, they tend to be tokenized. Ammerman and Groysberg present a hopeful road map to counter this, which includes advice for organizations and individuals on attracting candidates (assess the language in job postings “and identify where it may suggest that women candidates are less desirable”) and guidance for male allies (such as choosing to mentor women). Useful “what managers can do” sections suggest ensuring new employees aren’t left out and reviewing any differences between men’s and women’s evaluations, and interviews with successful businesswomen round things out. “We should no longer be satisfied,” the authors argue, “with seeing individual women break through barriers.” Instead, organizations should clear the way for women. This nuanced and comprehensive look at the gender gap hits as an impassioned cry for corporate leaders to make some serious changes. (Apr.)