8 March is celebrated as International Women’s Day, a day dedicated to honoring the achievements of women throughout history and around the world, and a day for women from all backgrounds and cultures to band together to fight for gender parity and women's rights.  

The 2023 International Women’s Day theme is DigitALL: Innovation and technology for gender equality, which addresses the disparity that exists for women in digital spaces and skills. Despite progress, many women today face a disadvantage when it comes to participating in online and digital spaces.  

March is Women's History Month, which highlights the contributions of women to events in American history and contemporary society. The theme for this year’s Women's History Month, “Celebrating Women Who Tell Our Stories”, encourages the recognition of women, past and present, who have been active in all forms of media and storytelling including print, radio, TV, stage, screen, blogs, podcasts, news, and social media.

The status of women globally really depends upon who you are and where you are. In the United States and in other developed economies, there certainly is more attention to increasing women’s representation at the top. Arguably there is more support (mostly from the private sector) than ever before to increase women’s representations on boards and in the C-suite, as well as in professional fields in which they have been historically underrepresented (e.g., STEM, finance).  Yet in other nations, women are still fighting for educational attainment and economic citizenship. Regarding the theme for IWD, “DigitALL,” women and girls in rural areas around the world are more likely (relative to men) to lack access to technology, cell phones, and the internet.  This digital divide suppresses women’s voices, and it disadvantages them as they try to participate in politics, the formal economy, and other parts of society.  Also globally women are less likely to have access to financial institutions or bank accounts.

In addition, while COVID seems to have had a disparate impact on women’s careers, it also has enhanced public attention to the difficulties women and men face as employees and caregivers. Still women around the world do much of the unpaid care work, which can limit their opportunities for participation or advancement in the formal economy.  And if you look at labor statistics in the U.S. and globally, you see some of the same troubling trends that most women of color face a larger gender wage gap than do white women at work. Furthermore, occupational segregation by gender and race is still a major component of these persistent wage gaps. Female-dominated jobs pay less, and women of color are overrepresented in these positions. Career opportunities are really tied to social capital, technological access, and educational resources that are not available to all women.

Allison Elias, AOM Subject Matter Expert
Assistant Professor of Business Administration, Darden School of Business, University of Virginia

The following collection of Academy of Management research topics include:

• Gender and Diversity
• Careers and the Wage Gap
• Leadership

Media: please contact press@aom.org to receive copies of these or other AOM articles.

Gender and Diversity

Think Funny, Think Female: The Benefits of Humor for Women’s Influence in the Digital Age, Academy of Management Discoveries 

• Academy of Management Insights summary: Women Who Make Us Laugh Gain Influence and Clout 

Does Power Protect Female Moral Objectors? How and When Moral Objectors’ Gender, Power, and Use of Organizational Frames Influence Perceived Self-Control and Experienced Retaliation, Academy of Management Journal 

• Academy of Management Insights summary: Power Doesn’t Protect Women Who Raise Ethical Concerns 

“Invisible” Discrimination: Divergent Outcomes for the Nonprototypicality of Black Women, Academy of Management Journal 

• Academy of Management Insights summary: Discrimination Against Black Female Employees Is Often Overlooked 

Different Roots, Different Fruits: Gender-Based Differences in Cultural Narratives about Perceived Discrimination Produce Divergent Psychological Consequences, Academy of Management Journal 

• Academy of Management Insights summary: Women and Men Perceive Gender Discrimination Differently 

Signaling Legitimacy: Why Mixed-Gender Coalitions Outperform Single-Gender Coalitions in Advocating for Gender Equity, Academy of Management Journal 

• Academy of Management Insights summary: Men Have a Role to Play in Gender Equity at Work 

Signaling Diversity Debt: Startup Gender Composition and the Gender Gap in Joiners’ Interest, Academy of Management Journal 

From Exception to Exceptional: How Gender and Tenure Impact Sponsor Effectiveness, Academy of Management Discoveries 

• Academy of Management Insights summary: Women at the Top Are the Best Sponsors for Junior Females 

Which Ideas for Change Are Endorsed? How Agentic and Communal Voice Affects Endorsement Differently for Men and for Women, Academy of Management Journal 

• Academy of Management Insights summary: The Positive Style of the Opposite Gender Wins Pitches

Barriers and Boosts: Using Inequity Frames Theory to Expand Understanding of Mechanisms of Race and Gender Inequity, Academy of Management Annals 

Loosening Categorical Thinking: Extending The Terrain Of Theory And Research On Demographic Identities In Organizations, Academy of Management Review

• Academy of Management Insights summary:  Aligning Employee Demographics with Reality

Demographic Diversity In Decision-Making Groups: The Experiences Of Women And People Of Color, Academy of Management Review

Mosaic: A Model Of Stereotyping Through Associated And Intersectional Categories, Academy of Management Review

Personal Networks Of Women And Minorities In Management: A Conceptual Framework, Academy of Management Review

When Expectations Become Reality: Work-Family Image Management and Identity Adaptation, Academy of Management Review

• Academy of Management Insights summary: The Struggle to Balance Work, Family, and Self-Image

Diversity Initiative Effectiveness: A Typological Theory Of Unintended Consequences, Academy of Management Review

• Academy of Management Insights summary: Why Diverse Workplaces Remain Elusive

Integrating Diversity At Different Levels: Multilevel Human Capital, Social Capital, And Demographic Diversity And Their Implications For Team Effectiveness, Academy of Management Review

Making the Invisible Visible: Paradoxical Effects of Intersectional Invisibility on the Career Experiences of Executive Black Women, Academy of Management Journal

• Academy of Management Insights summary: Race Plus Gender Doubles the Struggle for Black Women

We Ask Men to Win and Women Not to Lose: Closing the Gender Gap in Startup Funding, Academy of Management Journal

• Academy of Management Insights summary: How Female Entrepreneurs Can Beat the VC Funding Bias

Diversity Thresholds: How Social Norms, Visibility, and Scrutiny Relate to Group Composition, Academy of Management Journal

• Academy of Management Insights summary:  “Twokenism:” Why Top U.S. Firms’ Boards Have Two Women

Why and When Does the Gender Gap Reverse? Diversity Goals and the Pay Premium for High Potential Women, Academy of Management Journal

• Academy of Management Insights summary:  How the Gender Pay Gap and Glass Ceiling Help Some Women

A Different Frame of Reference: Entrepreneurship and Gender Differences in the Perception of Danger, Academy of Management Discoveries

A More Feminine Scholarship: Relational Practice for Setting a Good Example, Academy of Management Learning & Education

Bringing Transgender Issues Into Management Education: A Call to Action, Academy of Management Learning & Education

• Academy of Management Insights summary: Why Managers Need to Know Transgender Terminology

Taking off the Blinders: A Comparative Study of University Students’ Changing Perceptions of Gender Discrimination in the Workplace From 2006 to 2013, Academy of Management Learning & Education

Ms. Trust: Gender, Networks and Trust—Implications for Management and Education, Academy of Management Learning & Education

Gender and the MBA, Academy of Management Learning & Education

Gender Diversity in Editorial Boards of Management Journals, Academy of Management Learning & Education

Masculinity and Management Education: Feminizing the MBA, Academy of Management Learning & Education

Careers and the Wage Gap

Virtuality at Work: A Doubled-Edged Sword for Women’s Career Equality?, Academy of Management Annals

• Academy of Management Insights summary: Virtual Work Offers Pros and Cons for Women’s Careers 

Scouting and Schmoozing: A Gender Difference in Networking during Job Search, Academy of Management Discoveries 

The Glass Wall and the Gendered Evaluation of Role Expansion in Freelancing Careers, Academy of Management Journal

• Academy of Management Insights summary: Female Freelancers Face a Glass Wall

Reaching for the Stars: How Gender Influences the Formation of High-Status Collaboration Ties, Academy of Management Journal 

Free to Be Me? Evolving Gender Expression and the Dynamic Interplay between Authenticity and the Desire to Be Accepted at Work, Academy of Management Journal 

The Hidden Cost of Prayer: Religiosity and the Gender Wage Gap, Academy of Management Journal  

• Academy of Management Insights summary: Deeply Religious Cultures Widen the Gender Wage Gap 

Covering in Cover Letters: Gender and Self-Presentation in Job Applications, Academy of Management Journal

• Academy of Management Insights summary: Women Using Less Feminine Terms in Cover Letters Are Less Likely to Get Hired
  

The Caregiving Ambition Framework, Academy of Management Review

Achieving Work-Family Balance: An Action Regulation Model, Academy of Management Review

Covering in Cover Letters: Gender and Self-Presentation in Job Applications, Academy of Management Journal

• Academy of Management Insights summary: Women Using Less Feminine Terms in Cover Letters Are Less Likely to Get Hired

To Delegate or Not to Delegate: Gender Differences in Affective Associations and Behavioral Responses to Delegation, Academy of Management Journal

• Academy of Management Insights summary:  Why Women Don’t Delegate As Much As Men

Work-Life Balance as a Household Negotiation: A New Perspective from Rural India, Academy of Management Discoveries

• Academy of Management Insights summary: A Rural Indian Perspective on Work-Life Balance

Choices and Consequences: Impact of Mobility on Research-Career Capital and Promotion in Business Schools, Academy of Management Learning & Education

How “Doing Gender” Leads to Gender Imbalances in the Higher Ranks in Colleges of Business [And How To “Undo Gender”], Academy of Management Learning & Education

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Leadership

Women in the C-Suite: A Review of Predictors, Experiences, and Outcomes, Academy of Management Annals

Unpacking Entrepreneurial Education: Learning Activities, Students’ Gender, and Attitude Toward Entrepreneurship, Academy of Management Learning & Education 

A New Perspective on Gender Bias in the Upper Echelons: Why Stakeholder Variability Matters, Academy of Management Review 

Sizing Up Entrepreneurial Potential: Gender Differences in Communication and Investor Perceptions of Long-Term Growth and Scalability, Academy of Management Journal  

• Academy of Management Insights summary: Should Women Pitch More Like Men to Win Startup Investments? 

What Changes after Women Enter Top Management Teams? A Gender-Based Model of Strategic Renewal, Academy of Management Journal 

• Academy of Management Insights summary: After Women Reach the Top, Executives Shift How They Innovate 

A Network Utilization Perspective On The Leadership Advancement Of Minorities, Academy of Management Review

Masculinity At The Negotiation Table: A Theory Of Men’s Negotiation Behaviors And Outcomes, Academy of Management Review

The Social Consequences of Voice: An Examination of Voice Type and Gender on Status and Subsequent Leader Emergence, Academy of Management Journal

• Academy of Management Insights summary: When a Positive Spin Helps Men, Not Women, Get Ahead

Reading the Face of a Leader: Women with Low Facial Masculinity Are Perceived as Competitive, Academy of Management Discoveries

• Academy of Management Insights summary: Equating Masculine Looks with Leaders May Be a Miscalculation

Gender, Education, and Occupation: How Founder Experiences Influence Firm Outcomes, Academy of Management Discoveries

A “Novel” Discovery: Exploring Women’s Literary Fiction for Use in Management and Leadership Education, Academy of Management Learning & Education

“Perfect Storm” on the Horizon for Women Business School Deans?, Academy of Management Learning & Education

Taking Gender Into Account: Theory and Design for Women's Leadership Development Programs, Academy of Management Learning & Education

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