When Women Rise, Business Thrives
A recent report in Fortune Magazine stating that women comprise 40% of students in the nation’s top MBA program sounds like good news. But what is the real face of gender diversity, both in business school and beyond?
Lehigh University College of Business and Economics Professor Corinne Post’s research aims to shed light on this question.
Exploring the Mechanics of Workplace Diversity
It’s clear to many that diversity in leadership creates an atmosphere of inclusion that only leads to greater productivity. If workers feel kinship with managers who reflect the experience of their own race or gender, it only helps them succeed. While this scenario seems ideal, the actual workplace is far different. For instance, women represent only 5% of Fortune 500 CEOs.
Further, a 2015 report states that less than 1% of these companies have African Americans among their chief ranks.
Professor Post explores not only these statistics in her work, but also what happens when companies succeed through practices that support equality. Her research aims to discover how diverse leadership actually works.
When Women Rise, Business Thrives
Professor Corinne Post Lecturing at Lehigh University
Post asserts, specifically in the area of gender equality, that when women rise to management and C-suite positions, companies thrive. Post has examined at length the circumstances under which companies grow under female leaders. In a recent profile, she said, “I wanted to explore under what context women have more of an impact.”
Post’s recent work focuses specifically upon the fields of science and engineering, “with an emphasis on how dynamics [that are diverse in nature]… shape groups’ innovativeness and performance.”
When is Female Leadership an Advantage?
Professor Post’s June 2015 report in the Journal of Organizational Behavior, titled: “When is Female Leadership an Advantage?” aggregates the results of a survey of 82 teams in 29 companies. Among her results she discovered several hallmarks of successful teams, such as: cooperative learning, clear communication, and cohesion among team members.
Organizations with female leaders reported greater degrees of these markers than their male-led counterparts.
“The special thing women leaders bring to the team is that they exercise relational leadership practices, stimulating high-quality relationships, bonding, and connectivity among members. This can be a strong advantage when teams are challenged by size, geographic dispersion and functional diversity,” she said. “There is a lot of evidence that women pay more attention to the quality of relationships versus men.”
Post points out that American business operates within a “network economy” which requires aptitude in relational skills, nurturing and development of peers, shared responsibility, and accountability. It’s important to remember, however, that geographically widespread and diverse teams should focus less on always having a female leader, and more upon enhancing these skills across all gender lines.
In another recent article, Post addressed the connection between the number of women on corporate boards of directors and social impact. Post and her co-author set out to discover whether companies with more women on their boards actually showed greater corporate responsibility. The study found that while companies with female board members generally showed greater social responsibility, this was dependent upon the larger context of the support the company received from its stakeholders.
Corinne Post, Board Member and Advocate
In addition to her research, Corinne Post is herself an active board member and advocate. As a member of the executive board of the Academy of Management’s Gender and Diversity Division, she consults with a wide variety of executives on how to implement policies that strengthen teams.
During her undergraduate studies in Switzerland, Post was able to view the role of gender diversity from a different perspective. She earned both a B.S. in Organizational Management and a Masters in International Management. Post received her doctorate from Rutgers Business School, also in organizational studies. Before entering academia she also worked as a human resources specialist and IT analyst for Accenture.
Currently, Post holds the Scott Hartz Term Professorship at Lehigh, and has most recently taught courses in management for MBA students.
About the Author
Maggie Boccella
Maggie Boccella, a lifelong resident of Philadelphia, is a freelance writer, artist and photographer. She has consulted on various film and multimedia projects, and she also serves as a juror for the city's annual LGBTQIA Film Festival.
