Research - Gender Initiative

Daddy Issues: The Differential Impact of Childbirth on the Well-Being of Mothers and Fathers in the UK, Daisy Pollenne (Stone Centre for the Study of Wealth Inequality, and Gender Initiative at INSEAD). April 2025

Numerous studies in high-income countries have documented the existence of a "motherhood penalty", where the birth of a first child is associated with significant declines in maternal employment relative to fathers. A separate stream of research also provides evidence that women's mental health decreases with the transition to parenthood, although this is typically inferred through doctor visits
Faculty & Research INSEAD – The Business School for the World® and medical prescriptions. In this study, we investigate whether the birth of a first child results in a "double penalty" for mothers in terms of subjective, self-reported measures of well-being.

Beyond bars: Entrepreneurship and socioeconomic mobility among ex-offenders. Vera Rocha (Department of Strategy and Innovation, Copenhagen Business School). March 2025

Prior research has pointed to entrepreneurship, broadly defined as new venture creation or any form of self-employment, as a potential response to the lack of regular employment options in the labour market. However, whether marginalized groups will indeed be better off in entrepreneurship than in organizational employment remains poorly understood. We adopt a question-driven approach to study the role of entrepreneurship as a vehicle of social mobility for individuals with criminal records. 

Artificial Intelligence in Hiring and Gender-Based Differences in Job Applicants' Outcomes: Evidence from a Large Retail Organization. Federica De Stefano (Organisation Studies, Green Templeton College, Saïd Business School, University of Oxford). March 2025

This paper examines to what extent and under what conditions the use of AI to support hiring decisions mitigates gender-based differences in applicants’ outcomes, particularly when AI has the goal of reducing those differences. Using job application data from a large multinational retailer, we show that female candidates are less likely to be hired than their male peers but fail to find that this penalty is mitigated by AI. 

The Role of Feminist Identity in Influencing Evaluations of Gender Diversity. Kelly Nault (Human Resources and Organisational Behaviour, IE Business School), Kaisa Snellman (Organisational Behaviour, INSEAD), Stefan Thau (Organisational Behaviour, INSEAD). November 2024.

Businesses and policymakers are paying increased attention to diversity and inclusion within organisations. However, evaluating progress towards these goals is challenging because diversity is a subjective measure, influenced by individuals’ traits, beliefs, and values. Across two experiments, we found that feminist ideology affects gender diversity evaluations.

Workshop on Matched Employer-Employee Data. Dylan Glover (Economics, INSEAD), Gabriele Guaitoli (Economics and Political Science, INSEAD), Kaisa Snellman (Organisational Behaviour, INSEAD), Kamil Stronski (Organisational Behaviour, INSEAD).  Joint Research Seminar with the James M. and Cathleen D. Stone Centre for the Study of Wealth Inequality. October 2024.

Matched Employer-Employee Data have been extensively used across different disciplines including economics, management, strategy, sociology, organization studies, innovation, entrepreneurship to conduct studies that make meaningful academic and policy contributions. 

Maria Guadalupe (Economics and Political Science, INSEAD), Daisy Pollenne (Oxford University), Kaisa Snellman (Organisational Behaviour, INSEAD). Norms at Work: Masculinity, Well-being, and Performance in Academia, March 2024.
Joint Research Seminar with the Economics & Political Science Area. 
Abstract: Academia is a competitive and individualistic environment where stereotypically masculine behaviours are the norm. Using detailed survey data from staff and faculty at five business schools, we assess the implications of these hyper masculine norms for workplace well-being, turnover intentions, and performance. 

Luisa Carrer (PhD Student at Toulouse School of Economics). Municipal-level Gender Norms: Measurement and Effects on Women in Politics, January 2024.
Joint Research Seminar with the James M. and Cathleen D. Stone Centre for the Study of Wealth Inequality and the Economics & Political Science Area. 
Abstract: We study the implications of traditional gender norms for legislators’ engagement with women’s issues. Overall, our findings highlight the importance of social norms and sexist culture in law making, thereby slowing down reform for the expansion of women’s rights.

Michael Bikard (Strategy, INSEAD). Standing on the Shoulders of (Male) Giants: Gender Inequality and the Technological Impact of Scientific Ideas. January 2024. 
Abstract: This paper shows that gender inequality affects the extent to which scientific ideas are used to develop new technologies. Despite strong incentives to select the most promising ideas, we claim that inventors are more likely to build on men’s rather than women’s science. We examine several explanations for this gender gap in inventors’ attention. These findings have implications for our understanding of frictions in science-based technology development, as well as for broader theories of how gender inequality shapes cumulative innovation.

Elizabeth Wolf (Organisational Behaviour, INSEAD). Work Over Life: Gender Stereotypes and the Commodification of Men’s Health and Personal Lives. November 2023. 
Abstract: Traditionally, men are assumed to be more dedicated and committed workers than women, in part because women are assumed to have more personal commitments outside of work than men. Past research has explored many consequences this masculine ideal worker schema has for women, including generating pay and status gaps between men and women.

Liao Zhenyu (Organization Development, NORTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY). The Gendered Liability of Novelty: Norm Violation Judgments and Social Approval Forecasting of Novel Ventures from Women Entrepreneurs. June 2023 
Abstract:
To hedge unforeseen risk, investors may seek to fund male-led ventures that they anticipate most other investors will prefer, arriving at decisions biased against women. Yet, little is known about how investors infer such gendered preferences and when they are particularly likely to do so. By casting light on how venture novelty, a key determining factor of entrepreneurial success, makes third-party bias against women particularly salient, our work identifies a less overt “entrepreneurial gender dilemma,” which could provide new insights into policymaking for helping women entrepreneurs surmount financial and social barriers in the innovation-based economy.

Asher Lawson (Decision Sciences, INSEAD). Hiring Women into Senior Leadership positions is associated with a reduction in Gender stereotypes in Organizational Language. November 2022 
Abstract: Women continue to be underrepresented in leadership positions. This underrepresentation is at least partly driven by gender stereotypes that associate men, but not women, with achievement-oriented, agentic traits (e.g., assertive and decisive). These stereotypes are expressed and perpetuated in language, with women being described in less agentic terms than men. Taken together, our findings suggest that female representation is not merely an end, but also a means to systemically change insidious gender stereotypes and overcome the trade-off between women being perceived as either competent or likeable.