In her paper, “A New Perspective on Gender Bias in the Upper Echelons: Why Stakeholder Variability Matters,” Joshi and her collaborators revisit previous assumptions about biased reactions to women in leadership positions. Notably, previous research doesn’t take into account increasing levels of political polarization that create deep fissures in how varied audiences might respond to information about the leader. As polarization has increased, previous strategies to prevent biases by providing more information about the leader may simply be ignored or even used to support and reinforce existing biases. This tendency can sometimes lead to misinformation, increasingly sharp criticism, pushback, and the perpetuation of harmful stereotypes directed toward women leaders.

In the following Q&A, Joshi shared a few key insights into the study and how organizations can implement its findings to create less friction in diversely led organizations.

Read more at: https://michiganross.umich.edu/news/navigating-stakeholder-biases-new-strategies-supporting-women-leadership