What Works: Gender Equality by Design

by Iris Bohnet

Overview

Shortlisted for the Financial Times and McKinsey Business Book of the Year Award
A Financial Times Best Business Book of the Year
A Times Higher Education Book of the Week
Best Business Book of the Year, 800-CEO-READ

Gender equality is a moral and a business imperative. But unconscious bias holds us back, and de-biasing people’s minds has proven to be difficult and expensive. By de-biasing organizations instead of individuals, we can make smart changes that have big impacts. Presenting research-based solutions, Iris Bohnet hands us the tools we need to move the needle in classrooms and boardrooms, in hiring and promotion, benefiting businesses, governments, and the lives of millions.

“Bohnet assembles an impressive assortment of studies that demonstrate how organizations can achieve gender equity in practice…What Works is stuffed with good ideas, many equally simple to implement.”
—Carol Tavris, Wall Street Journal

“A practical guide for any employer seeking to offset the unconscious bias holding back women in organizations, from orchestras to internet companies.”
—Andrew Hill, Financial Times

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780674986565
Publisher:	Harvard University Press
Publication date:	10/15/2018
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	400
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 7.70(h) x 1.20(d)

About the Author

Iris Bohnet is a behavioral economist and the academic dean of Harvard’s Kennedy School. She combines insights from economics and psychology to improve decision-making in organizations and society. Her most recent research examines how behavioral design can be used to de-bias how we live, learn and work. She is co-director of the Kennedy School’s Women and Public Policy Program, and the faculty chair of the “Global Leadership and Public Policy for the 21st Century” for the World Economic Forum’s Young Global Leaders.

Table of Contents

1 The Promise of Behavioral Design 1

The violin behind the screen

A well-timed break matters

Nudge by nudge

Biases are everywhere

The business case for gender equality

For women, a matter of life and death

The importance of experimentation

Overcoming gender bias by design

Part 1 The Problem

1 Unconscious Bias Is Everywhere 21

Why people like Howard more than Heidi

The competence-likability dilemma across cultures

The dangers of having a counterstereotypical job

Survivor bias

Statistical discrimination, or why women cannot get a good price on a used car

Who lives in Florida?

The representativeness heuristic

How your brain forms first impressions

Measuring your own biases-the Implicit Association Test

A taste for discrimination

2 De-Biasing Minds Is Hard 44

How to know when to settle and when to take a case to court

Self-serving bias

It's your bias, not mine

Teaching about bias or suppressing it can backfire

Halos and hindsight

When our better natures do not whisper in our ears

Why diversity training programs might not work

Moral licensing

Taking advice from the crowd within

A radio soap opera changing norms in Rwanda

Behaviorally inspired diversity training programs

3 Doing It Yourself Is Risky 62

The dilemma of an academic dean at Harvard

Why women are less inclined to negotiate

Why President Obama called on female reporters only

The social cost of asking, and how using "we" can help

Why female politicians in Sweden and the United States speak less than their male counterparts

Transparency is key

Negotiating on behalf of others

What the Pill and dishwashers have in common

A nudge, not a shove

4 Getting Help Only Takes You So Far 82

Evaluating leadership development programs

Bridging the gender promotion gap through mentoring

How a business training program in India did not work for everyone

Mentors or sponsors-what's the difference?

From leadership training to leadership capacity building

Why representation matters

Social networks can help you achieve your goals

Part 2 How To Design Talent Management

5 Applying Data to People Decisions 103

How people analytics helped new mothers at Google

Why female stockbrokers earned less and female professors at MIT had smaller labs than their male counterparts

Using evaluation and certification tools to reveal gender gaps

The pitfalls of a meritocracy

Signing a form before completing it increases honesty

How we can improve performance appraisals

A machine can make predictions better than you can, but you might not trust it

6 Orchestrating Smarter Evaluation Procedures 123

Pink is for tax bills

Why Lakisha needs a longer resume than Emily

How comparative evaluation can overcome stereotypical judgments

Seeking diversity over cultural fit

The beauty premium trap, halo effects, and confirmation bias

In praise of the structured interview

Check your biases, frames, and anchors at the door

A smarter approach to hiring and evaluation

7 Attracting the Right People 146

Diet Coke and Diet Pepsi for women-Coke Zero and Pepsi Max for men

Looking for attractive women and experienced men in China

The economic concept of sorting

Sending the right, messages to attract community health workers in Zambia

What if every work arrangement was flexible until proven otherwise?

Why more women apply to jobs when others do so as well

How long does stardom last?

Part 3 How To Design School And Work

8 Adjusting Risk 167

De-biasing the SAT

Women do not gamble on long odds when running for public office

Who wants to be a millionaire?

Testosterone and the winner's effect

Who else is in the room matters

Stereotype threat, and self-fulfilling prophecies on math tests

Why the placement of that checkbox for demographic characteristics should move

Counting to five in the classroom and other techniques to promote inclusion

9 Leveling the Playing Field 182

Girls outperform boys in reading and writing in Nordic countries and boys outperform girls in math, in Latin American countries

Cost-effective aid-when deworming helps more than scholarships

Why formal self-appraisals should not be shared with managers

Competition among the Maasai in Tanzania versus the Khasi in. India

Not everyone is a tennis star

How feedback can eliminate gender differences in competitiveness

The dictator game

Part 4 How To Design Diversity

10 Creating Role Models 201

The portraits on our walls

Why looking at a picture of Hillary instead of Bill Clinton might make your speech better

The impact of quotas on local politics in India

How role models change, stereotypical beliefs and career aspirations

Becoming a politician

Why having a same-sex teacher matters

The scarcity of role models can turn into a self-fulfilling prophecy

Fear of same-sex competition in Spain

Are justices' opinions influenced by the gender of their children?

11 Crafting Groups 220

Cooperation works but negotiation may not among groups of women

The pros and cons of single-sex education

More girls, better classrooms

Collective intelligence

The protective effect of political correctness

Diversity, done right, leads to improved performance

Critical mass:gender balance in groups

Quotas, perceived fairness, and the impact of affirmative action

Evaluating the impact of gender diversity and quotas on corporate boards

12 Shaping Norms 244

Why we are more likely to pay our taxes if others do

Prescribing social norms through design

More than one quarter of UK directors on the board of FTSE 100 companies are female

Why we need experiments to evaluate impact

The battle of the sexes

Norm entrepreneurship

Why our energy bill is lower than our neighbor's

The impact of rankings

How I became a jaywalker

The expressive power of Title IX

Gender equality as a company value

13 Increasing Transparency 266

What you should know about restaurant hygiene

On (not) reading disclosure statements

Product labeling: keep it salient, simple, and comparable

Eating food from a plate, not a pyramid

The comply-or-explain approach in Canada and other countries

What traffic lights have to do with what you choose to eat

Transparency of pay

How accountability can reduce stereotyping and help organizations follow through

Designing Change 285

We can do this

The DESIGN mnemonic

Effortless and energy-saving design for lights in hotel rooms

Behavioral insights teams across the globe

A leader is a behavioral designer

Overcoming the tension between "want" and "should"

Creating a global movement

Notes 293

Credits 365

Acknowledgments 367

Index 373

Editorial Reviews

What Works delivers! I have long been inspired by Iris Bohnet’s impressive research on gender bias. In this book, she has distilled years of work into practical approaches that any organization—business, education or government—can adapt to start changing the environments in which we all live, learn, and work. This is a must-read for everyone who actually wants to do something to address the stubborn and costly issue of gender inequality.

Beth A. Brooke-Marciniak

If you really want equality, here is a guide to action. No more excuses; we know how to design. Bohnet is brilliant and practical, and she documents what works. Everyone who read Thinking, Fast and Slow and Nudge and cares about equality will want to consume this masterpiece.

Max Bazerman

What Works serves both as a clear indication of where we currently stand and a guide as to how, institution by institution, we can nudge ourselves towards greater gender equality.

Nic Logan-Murray

Despite so many improvements, gender equality in the workplace (let alone in other parts of life) often seems like a chimera: something that exists only in imagination and is not possible in reality…Bohnet presents the science; we no longer have to think that it is all in our imagination. Read the book. Act on it. Make gender equality a reality.

Business Record - Lori Chesser

This is a persuasive manual for anyone seeking to eliminate unconscious biases—in recruitment and management—that perpetuate imbalances between men and women. Bohnet offers invaluable, research-based guidance about how to design and run organizations that are not only fairer, but better.

Financial Times - Andrew Hill

True to its title, Iris Bohnet’s timely book marshals evidence from proven research to designing interventions that actually work. A must-read for anyone trying to move the needle on gender diversity.

Herminia Ibarra

This book is easy to follow with helpful summaries and an inspiring finish. I would highly recommend that anyone who manages people gives it a go. It is stuffed with experiments and data drawn from all over the world…This is a must-have guide for anyone in charge of a diversity budget.

Management Today - Julie Chappell

In a field overflowing with opinions and ‘gut feelings,’ What Works is a shining ray of truth and insight. Bohnet lays out the science behind what really drives—and prevents—gender inequality, and translates it into clear, easy-to-implement steps for achieving equality. A much needed book with precise, effective prescriptions for any environment.

Laszlo Bock

Bohnet is the world’s leading expert at the intersection of behavioral science and gender equality. Her work moves effortlessly between laboratory studies and real world examples, and spells out the practical implications. Achieve equity; enhance profit; and beat your rivals—and be gripped along the way.

David Halpern

Have you checked your boardroom and hallways lately? What do you see on the walls? Among the many interventions Iris Bohnet…proposes in order to achieve gender equality, one that you could implement pretty quickly is reviewing the photos hanging around your company. If after a quick inspection, you discover the portraits are mostly of past male CEOs, rethink your decor. It’s a simple idea that can work wonders.

Forbes

What Works is a call to action. It demonstrates with real-life examples, such as the introduction of blind auditions into the world of symphony orchestras, how the seemingly intractable problem of gender inequality can be not only addressed but solved. This book is a gift.

Deborah Borda

Right up to board level, companies should find in What Works not only food for thought [about gender bias], but a guide for effective practical action as well.

Financial Times - Sarah Gordon

Iris Bohnet has not only managed to successfully explain how gender bias exists in all of us, she then goes on to provide straightforward, practical suggestions to overcome the suboptimal status quo. A groundbreaking book with solutions that every institution and corporation should implement in their quest for high performance.

Carol Schwartz

Compelling, lucid, and filled with actionable insights, What Works draws from a deep well of research to explain how we can end gender inequality.

Adam Grant

If you think you have no gender bias, you should read this book. It will surprise you. Bohnet uses hard evidence to show that complacency about gender equality is dangerous because bias in the workplace remains widespread, entrenched and destructive. Sometimes depressing, always compelling, this work makes it clear how much work has yet to be done.

Times Higher Education - Sarah Green

A game changer. In this brilliant and practical book, Bohnet explains how behavioral insights can collapse gender inequality in our lifetime. It’s terrific.

Linda Babcock

This in-depth exploration of gender bias offers practical examples of what you can do to ensure your business hires and retains the best talent.

HR Magazine

What Works is one of those rare books that will cause me to act differently. Confronting me with common situations and arming me with practical recommendations, Iris Bohnet challenged my ingrained beliefs and behavior. Brava!

Severin Schwan

Bohnet elegantly and expansively demonstrates how [subconscious] biases can be obstacles to gender equality. What sets her approach apart in an increasingly crowded field of gender-equality literature is her use of behavioral design to offer practical—and often intuitive—solutions…She leads through demonstration and design, leaving readers better equipped to find solutions that work, so we can each contribute to making a difference.

Finance and Development - Karen Ongley

Iris Bohnet’s groundbreaking work will revolutionize the way governments and corporations approach gender equality in the workplace. Extraordinary.

Mirjam Staub-Bisang

If you want to solve gender inequality, read What Works. Then follow the compelling, insightful suggestions Iris Bohnet provides. This is a book you will return to again and again, for this is a book that changes everything.

Urs Rohner

What Works is a brilliant breakthrough guide to closing the gender gap. Iris Bohnet connects research-based insights from many nations that are tackling this vital issue to show how biased minds can be nudged to make unbiased choices, and how small changes can have big impact. Her book provides essential leadership lessons for designing a more equitable and more productive world.

Rosabeth Moss Kanter

What Works is an out-of-the-box read. Full of facts, data and real-life evidence, it is a must read for those who want doable actions to ensure gender equality.

Governance Now - Yoshika Sangal

Pathbreaking work, and packed with insights on every page. Bohnet has produced, at once, the best book ever written on behavioral science and discrimination, and a major contribution to behaviorally informed policymaking as a whole. Her book promises to change both private and public institutions—and to improve individual lives.

Cass Sunstein

Impressive…What Works is stuffed with good ideas...The glory of this book is that Bohnet not only offers dozens of practical examples of how behavioral findings can be put to use but also demonstrates that moving toward equity need not be a zero-sum game in which as women gain, men lose…She makes trying out the new steps seem like an exhilarating project rather than an impossible one.

Wall Street Journal - Carol Tavris

A handy manual about promoting gender in the workplace, which is up front about what works, and what doesn’t.

Management Today - Rebecca Smith

To blindly assume that sexism is a thing of the past is to fly in the face of the wealth of modern-day experimental evidence presented in this fascinating book… From the boardroom to the classroom, this book outlines a set of tools that we need to design organizations in a way that sets us free from unconscious gender bias… Bohnet’s book is a call to action—and it is one that organizations cannot afford to ignore.

Times Higher Education - Victoria Bateman

What Works is a fascinating and absorbing book, presenting dozens of research projects, case studies, and theories that address a wide range of gender equality problems…It offers thought-provoking (and empirically-researched) challenges to many of the mainstream notions and ideas that turn out to be rooted in bias, stereotypes, and other ‘mind bugs that affect our judgment.’

PopMatters - Hans Rollmann

[Bohnet’s] straightforward tools for designing inclusive and diverse workplaces and institutions are a boon to anyone who hopes to study, work, and live in an atmosphere of openness and civility.

Stanford Social Innovation Review - Kavita Nandini Ramdas

Even when women do make it to the bargaining table, they often fare poorly… Bohnet examines data from a group of Swedish job seekers, among whom women ended up with lower salaries than their equally qualified male peers…When women act more like men, she suggests, they are often punished for it. Lean in, and you might get pushed even further back. Bohnet recommends that organizations explicitly invite women to negotiate, and train managers to counteract their biases.

New Yorker - Lauren Collins

Drawing on a deep well of research and expertise, Iris Bohnet’s new book gives companies a practical and invaluable toolkit for designing a gender-equal culture. Her business case for action is so compelling that it should be required reading for every corporate leader.

Frédéric Rozé

Fresh, scholarly, and illuminating. Iris Bohnet brings a new lens to gender discussion that will spark much-needed debate.

Tina Brown

Provides a useful introduction to all the available evidence showing there is a business, as well as moral, case for diversity. What Works speaks to CEOs in a language they will understand, taking the emotion out of the argument and making a pragmatic case for reshaping workplace norms to make women feel less alienated.

New Statesman - Helen Lewis

A refreshingly clear, meticulously researched manual for eliminating gender inequality in the workplace.

The Guardian

Professor Bohnet has written a pathbreaking book documenting how unconscious biases and stereotypes are pervasive barriers to gender equality. The book combines brilliant insights from behavioral research with practical recommendations about how to design policies and organizations to counter these biases and accelerate progress toward gender parity. The moral case for gender parity is indisputable; the business case is compelling. Now Professor Bohnet has written a how-to manual, based on rigorous research, about how to achieve this goal.

Laura D. Tyson

Thoroughly evidence-based and intensely practical. This book will provide employers with ways to think about what changes they can and should be making to address unintentional discrimination in the workplace, and how such changes would benefit everyone.

Prospect

Drawing on a deep well of research and expertise, Iris Bohnet’s new book gives companies a practical and invaluable toolkit for designing a gender-equal culture. Her business case for action is so compelling that it should be required reading for every corporate leader.

Frédéric Rozé

Thoroughly evidence-based and intensely practical. This book will provide employers with ways to think about what changes they can and should be making to address unintentional discrimination in the workplace, and how such changes would benefit everyone.

Prospect - Jessica Abrahams

2015-12-21
How to recognize and overcome bias. Professor and director of the Women and Public Policy Program at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government, Bohnet, a behavioral economist, draws on extensive research to argue that gender equality can be accomplished in schools, businesses, and politics. Her goal, she writes, is to present a range of designs "that make it easier for our biased minds to get things right." The book, which reads like a series of TED talks, is strongest in revealing unconscious forces that shape decision-making: the halo effect, for example, "when an initial positive impression of a person impacts how favorably the person is perceived"; the influence of gendered language in job ads, newsletters, and Web pages; and the power of believing that gender equality is a prevalent norm. "People are generally more likely to adopt a behavior if they know that most others are already doing it," she writes. Bohnet has found that diversity training in businesses "has no relationship with the diversity of the workforce" but instead may promote moral licensing, "where people respond to having done something good by doing more of something bad." More effective approaches teach people to "consider-the-opposite" (imagining oneself in another's shoes) and imagine a "crowd-within" (asking themselves how a crowd would assess evidence). Bohnet's designs for change underscore the need for transparency in interviewing, hiring, promotion, school policies, and government. She advises publicizing role models through such strategies as displaying portraits of women and minorities in public settings and by increasing "the fraction of counterstereotypical people in positions of leadership, through quotas or other means." She sums up her advice in the acronym DESIGN: Data, Experiment, Signpost. "Do not focus on changing minds," she cautions, but instead collect data, experiment with solutions, and create signposts that "nudge behavior toward more equality." An optimistic solution to a complex problem.

Kirkus Reviews