Glass Half-Broken
Shattering the Barriers That Still Hold Women Back at Work
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- £12.99
Publisher Description
Why the gender gap persists and how we can close it.
For years women have made up the majority of college-educated workers in the United States. In 2019, the gap between the percentage of women and the percentage of men in the workforce was the smallest on record. But despite these statistics, women remain underrepresented in positions of power and status, with the highest-paying jobs the most gender-imbalanced. Even in fields where the numbers of men and women are roughly equal, or where women actually make up the majority, leadership ranks remain male-dominated.
The persistence of these inequalities begs the question: Why haven't we made more progress?
In Glass Half-Broken, Colleen Ammerman and Boris Groysberg reveal the pervasive organizational obstacles and managerial actions—limited opportunities for development, lack of role models and sponsors, and bias in hiring, compensation, and promotion—that create gender imbalances. Bringing to light the key findings from the latest research in psychology, sociology, organizational behavior, and economics, Ammerman and Groysberg show that throughout their careers—from entry-level to mid-level to senior-level positions—women get pushed out of the leadership pipeline, each time for different reasons. Presenting organizational and managerial strategies designed to weaken and ultimately break down these barriers, Glass Half-Broken is the authoritative resource that managers and leaders at all levels can use to finally shatter the glass ceiling.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
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.
