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

Description

Why the gender gap persists and how we can close it Women have made up roughly half of the college-educated workforce for years, and before the onset of the economic crisis of 2020, the gap between the percentage of women and the percentage of men in the labor force was the lowest on record. But women remain underrepresented in positions of power and status. The gender pay gap, for example, shows little movement, largely because high-paying jobs are the most gender-imbalanced. Even in areas where there are roughly equal numbers of men and women, or where women actually make up the majority, leadership ranks remain male-dominated. The endurance of these inequalities begs the question: Why haven't we made more progress? A 2020 analysis by a team of sociologists affirms that progress, as measured by rates of women's employment, earnings, and the types of fields and jobs they work in, has either stalled completely or slowed. With fifty years of sweeping reforms in educational and corporate policy, it's tempting to think that any remaining gender imbalances reflect differences in individual merit or behaviour, not organisational barriers. Much of the popular media supports this idea, with countless books and articles offering advice on what women should do to overcome challenges: lean in, speak up, do power poses, stop apologising, and delegate more. Ammerman and Groysberg focus instead on the pervasive organisational obstacles and managerial actions that create gender imbalance. Bringing to light the key findings from the latest research in psychology, sociology, and economics, Glass Half-Broken shows that along their entire career path - from entry- to mid- to senior-level positions - women get pushed out of the leadership pipeline and, at each point, for different reasons. Presenting institutional and managerial strategies designed to overcome and mitigate these barriers at each step in the career path, Glass Half-Broken is the authoritative resource that managers and leaders at all levels can use to finally shatter the glass ceiling.

Colleen Ammerman is Director of the Harvard Business School Gender Initiative, which catalyzes and translates cutting-edge research to transform practice, enable leaders to drive change, and eradicate gender, race, and other forms of inequality in business and society. She has authored various articles and teaching materials on gender and work and is a researcher with Life and Leadership After HBS, a longitudinal study of the post-MBA paths of Harvard Business School alumni that examines how race, gender, and other factors shape their life and career experiences. Boris Groysberg is the Richard P. Chapman Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School and a faculty affiliate at the Gender Initiative. He has won numerous awards for his research, which focuses on the challenge of managing human capital in small and large organizations across the world. Groysberg is the author of the award-winning book Chasing Stars: The Myth of Talent and the Portability of Performance and the coauthor of Talk, Inc.: How Trusted Leaders Use Conversation to Power Their Organizations. A frequent contributor to Harvard Business Review, he has written more than a hundred articles, notes, and case studies on how firms hire, engage, develop, retain, and communicate with diverse talent to create inclusive cultures. You can find Colleen Ammerman and Boris Groysberg on Twitter @colleenammerman, @bgroysberg, @HBSgender, and hbs.edu/gender.

"This nuanced and comprehensive look at the gender gap hits as an impassioned cry for corporate leaders to make some serious changes." - Publisher's Weekly Advance Praise for Glass Half-Broken: "Many have lamented that the world of work is still full of obstacles for women, but few have been able to do anything about it. This book could finally make a dent: it's packed with evidence and enlivened with examples of how organizations can finally start making real progress on gender parity." - Adam Grant, New York Times bestselling author, Think Again and Originals; host, TED podcast WorkLife "This book is a call to action—for all of us. Business leaders, educators, women, and male allies will discover that the glass ceiling can be shattered if we get our day-to-day practices and our formal procedures right." - Iris Bohnet, Albert Pratt Professor of Business and Government, Harvard Kennedy School; author, What Works: Gender Equality by Design "We need to transform norms at home and in the workplace that continue to reinforce gender bias and make it harder for women to reach their potential. Fortunately, this book offers tools for managers and leaders to do their part to create and sustain that change." - Commodore M. Jitendran, former Chairman and Managing Director, Cochin Shipyard Ltd. "Glass Half-Broken is a must-read for every manager and leader. Packed with insightful research, coupled with real and raw stories, this book by Ammerman and Groysberg delves deep into the issues that cause women to lose out in the leadership race." - Maya Hari, Vice President and Managing Director, Asia Pacific, Twitter "Ammerman and Groysberg provide a real service in terms of exposing the perceptions that still impede the progress of too many talented women at all stages of their careers. A must-read for those who either lead or aspire to lead organizations capable of competing and winning in the evolving business landscape of the twenty-first century." - Ken Frazier, Chairman and CEO, Merck "Are you a leader wondering what you can do to create a more equitable working environment? Glass Half-Broken will give you a specific set of actions you can take today to build teams that are more innovative, productive, and fair." - Kim Scott, author, Radical Candor