Improving gender diversity in leadership by ‘opting-out’ of the default

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2021-09-24 15:30:10

All it takes is a simple shift in the default: Study suggests that gender gaps in leadership can be eliminated by assuming every employee is interested in a leadership role (unless they say otherwise)

All it takes is a simple shift in the default: Study suggests that gender gaps in leadership can be eliminated by assuming every employee is interested in a leadership role (unless they say otherwise)

Much of the discourse surrounding the lack of women in leadership revolves around their personality traits. Yet, numerous studies have shown that programs aimed at making women push themselves forward for leadership roles has a limited effectiveness in improving gender diversity. So, what can organizations do to address the gender gap? A new study, in Leadership Quarterly, published by Elsevier, shows that the answer lies in changing the default in the leadership selection process to an “opt-out” mechanism.

In 2013, the corporate world was abuzz with talk of “leaning in,” a movement that promised seven-league strides for women in the workplace. Nearly a decade later however, the number of women in leadership positions is still disproportionately low1. Researchers in Australia examine how a simple change to the default mechanism for leadership selection can make a huge difference.

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