Category: Research Overviews

4-5 page overviews of debates in scholarly research on hot topics

  • Valuing Care: Policies and Practices to Advance an Equitable and High-Quality Care Economy

    Valuing Care: Policies and Practices to Advance an Equitable and High-Quality Care Economy

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    Care is the invisible infrastructure that sustains our societies and economies. Every one of us has needed care in the past, and all of us will rely on it again as we age. Many also provide care, whether for children, elders, or others in need, often at great personal and economic cost. Yet, care remains undervalued, underfunded, and overlooked in public policy, even though it underpins our communities and drives economic productivity. At a moment of demographic change, global inequality, and rising demand, investing in care is not only a moral imperative but also an economic necessity.

    The research covered in this report suggests several policy implications for governments and employers in creating more equitable, high-quality, and resilient care systems. A focus on improving care systems will improve outcomes for care recipients as well as the caregivers who support them. Policy can aim to ensure that everyone has access to high-quality care, especially those belonging to marginalized communities, that carers are working in fair conditions with sustainable wages, and that future trends relating to migration, aging populations, technology, and climate change are key considerations.

    • Public investment in care systems, such as universal or targeted care systems and subsidies, benefits families, the economy, and care workers, and advances gender equality. These systems help unpaid carers share responsibilities, which in turn fosters women’s participation in the workforce and improves well-being for caregivers and care recipients. However, to ensure high-quality care for all who need it, policymakers can focus on mitigating issues that may arise from publicly funded care programs. These include excess demand, a lack of spaces for all those who need them, and inequity in access for groups who face marginalization.
    • Employers that support caregivers through providing care benefits may see gains in recruitment and retention, productivity, and job satisfaction, as well as reducing employee absences. Benefits may include care stipends, care services on or near-site, paid parental leave, and employee assistance programs for caregivers.
    • Excluding unpaid care from economic measurement conceals its significance for women’s employment and income, as well as for family well-being, especially when public care options are unavailable. Prioritizing the measurement of unpaid care is essential for improving the accuracy of economic and social policy design related to care provision and labour market outcomes.
    • Prioritizing stability and well-being of care workers through improving job quality and wages will result in higher quality care systems for both care recipients and caregivers, and will help increase the supply of care workers. Better working conditions will also mitigate gender and racial inequalities and better support immigrants, since most care workers are women and racialized and immigrant women are disproportionately represented as carers. Improving working conditions in the sector may also encourage more men to participate.
    • One-size-fits-all solutions will not work effectively to reduce inequalities in care systems. Public care policies will be more robust and reduce bias in access to care through consideration of differing experiences, cultures, and histories of marginalized families, such as those who are low-income, Indigenous, and racialized groups.
    • Care policies can become more resilient to global trends such as rapidly aging populations, as well as the climate crisis and resulting migration patterns, by preparing proactively rather than reacting after the fact.

    The report is based on insights and themes presented at The University of Toronto Institute for Gender and the Economy’s research April 29, 2025 roundtable: “Advancing the Care Economy: Policies and Practices for Equitable and High-Quality Care.” Speakers included multi-disciplinary scholars who shared research findings on the future of the care economy, including Samantha Burns (University of Toronto), Maria Floro (American University), Ludovica Gambaro (Federal Institute for Population Research, Germany), Pilar Gonalons-Pons (University of Pennsylvania), Eva Jewell (Toronto Metropolitan University), Laura Lam (University of Toronto), Guida Man (York University), Izumi Niki (University of Toronto), LaShawnDa Pittman (University of Washington), Susan Prentice (University of Manitoba), Moyosore Sogaolu (University of Toronto), Carieta Thomas (Carleton University), and Brenda Yeoh (National University Singapore).

    DOWNLOAD THE FULL REPORT (IN ENGLISH/EN FRANÇAIS)

    The report was written by Moyosore Sogaolu and Carmina Ravanera and was supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada and SDGs@UofT.

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  • Lavender Ceiling: LGBTQ+ Board Directors in Canada

    Lavender Ceiling: LGBTQ+ Board Directors in Canada

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    Executive summary 

    LGBTQ+ people are underrepresented on corporate boards of directors and throughout most organizations in Canada. This report summarizes findings from an analysis of representation on Toronto Stock Exchange-listed companies from 2015-2022 along with a review of the existing research on LGBTQ+ representation on boards and within organizations. Key insights include: 

    • Only 0.15% of TSX-listed company directors publicly identify as members of the LGBTQ+ community, yet greater board diversity is associated with greater connections and collaborations among board members, increased innovation and long-term strategic thinking, greater inclusiveness throughout the organization, and improved corporate resilience to crisis. 
    • Research and practice have overlooked LGBTQ+ board directors, but a review of research on LGBTQ+ inclusion in organizations more broadly give us clues into the sources of the “lavender ceiling” of barriers that prevent LGBTQ+ people from entering and rising up into top leadership. 
    • There is a plethora of evidence that LGBTQ+ people experience discrimination in applying for and interviewing for jobs, in their daily work experiences once they get jobs, and in their exclusion from networks that could lead to promotion opportunities. This leads to feelings of isolation, lack of engagement and higher turnover. 
    • LGBTQ+ employees experience a disclosure dilemma at work: they can achieve greater authenticity and connection by “coming out” but risk discrimination, or they can hide their identities to avoid discrimination but risk the disconnection that comes from not bringing their whole selves to work. Moreover, this choice is not a one-time thing but instead must occur with every new situation and when meeting each new person. 
    • LGBTQ+ employees have multiple intersecting identities—related to gender, race, disability, immigrant status, Indigeneity or other—which can result in different experiences at work, where different identities can either offset or amplify advantages or disadvantages. 
    • LGBTQ+ employees can be agents for change by both normalizing LGBTQ+ identities and disrupting existing norms in organizations. But the burden of change should not rest only or mainly on the shoulders of these employees. 
    • Peers, supervisors, organizational leaders, policy makers and other stakeholders can create more inclusive organizations by becoming strong allies, implementing effective training, setting strong cultures and developing inclusive policies and practices. These actions may not be fully effective on their own, but in combination can create a positive cycle of inclusion that is better for LGBTQ+ employees and for organizational health and resilience overall. 

    DOWNLOAD THE FULL REPORT (IN ENGLISH/EN FRANÇAIS).

         

    DOWNLOAD THE INFOGRAPHIC (IN ENGLISH/EN FRANÇAIS).

    The report was written by Matt Wang and Sarah Kaplan. The infographic was prepared by Sarah Kaplan with research assistance from Daphné Baldassari, Makayla Fang, Fiona Hoang, Ian Wan, and Matt Wang. This work was supported by LGBTQ+ Corporate Directors Canada and the 2SLGBTQI+ Entrepreneurship Knowledge Hub.

    In an op-ed for The Globe and Mail, Jane Griffith and Sarah Kaplan discuss barriers that keep LGBTQ+ people out of leadership roles and board directorships, and what corporates can do to help.

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  • Beyond Surviving: Examining Inequities in Access to GBV Support Services for Racialized Women

    Beyond Surviving: Examining Inequities in Access to GBV Support Services for Racialized Women

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    OVERVIEW:

    Gender-based violence (GBV) remains a global pandemic with destructive effects on the well- being of women and girls. Defined as any act of violence that results in physical, sexual, or emotional harm and suffering, GBV takes many forms, encompassing intimate partner violence (IPV), non-partner violence, and other harmful acts directed at people based on their gender expression, gender identity, or perceived gender. It can include physical abuse, criminal harassment, emotional and psychological abuse, and coercive control. For all those experiencing GBV—but especially for racialized women—leaving abusive relationships can entail significant challenges, among them surmounting barriers that prevent GBV survivors from accessing formal care and support. This report synthesizes research on barriers to accessing support services for racialized women who experience gender-based violence and the outcomes associated with access to support services that reflect the lived experiences of racialized GBV survivors.

    Key findings:

    • Common supports reflected in the literature include healthcare, policing, social work, legal or criminal justice assistance, psychosocial help, and support by social networks such as family, friends, and neighbours.
    • People experiencing GBV are often motivated to seek formal care and support to protect their children.
    • The presence of supportive informal networks and positive prior experiences with formal service providers can motivate help-seeking.
    • Survivors frequently experience barriers when accessing support that relate to the acceptability, affordability, and availability of the services they need.
      • Acceptability barriers include cultural acceptance of violence, internalized stigma and shame, racial and gender stereotypes and oppression, and a lack of culturally and linguistically appropriate services.
      • Affordability barriers include the cost to access services, lack of health insurance and the cost of medical care, and lack of financial autonomy.
      • Availability barriers include lack of knowledge of services, transportation concerns, and time constraints.
    • Service providers also struggle to provide comprehensive and culturally competent and safe services to women due to funding constraints, inadequate legal structures, and rigid immigration policies.
    • When adequately supported, racialized survivors experience improved well-being, improved self-confidence, reduced psychological distress, increased social connectedness, and increased motivation to help others facing violence.
    • Inadequate attention to the needs of racialized survivors can risk secondary victimization by service providers and the escalation of violence from abusive partners.

    CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THIS RESEARCH REPORT IN ENGLISH /IN FRENCH

                        

    __________________________

    RESEARCH REPORT PREPARED BY

    Beverley M. Essue, Cyndirela Chadambuka, Isabel Arruda-Caycho, Carmina Ravanera, Amaya Perez-Brumer, Rebecca Balasa and Sarah Kaplan

    “Beyond Surviving” was co-funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council and Women and Gender Equality Canada Grant #872- 2022-0005 and a University of Toronto Black Research Network Ignite Grant.

    [/fusion_text][fusion_separator style_type=”none” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” class=”” id=”” sep_color=”” top_margin=”20″ bottom_margin=”20″ border_size=”” icon=”” icon_circle=”” icon_circle_color=”” width=”” alignment=”center” /][fusion_button link=”https://www.gendereconomy.org/category/research-overviews/” text_transform=”” title=”” target=”_blank” link_attributes=”” alignment_medium=”” alignment_small=”” alignment=”” modal=”” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” sticky_display=”normal,sticky” class=”” id=”” color=”custom” button_gradient_top_color=”#62bd19″ button_gradient_bottom_color=”#62bd19″ button_gradient_top_color_hover=”#00c2e2″ button_gradient_bottom_color_hover=”#00c2e2″ accent_color=”” accent_hover_color=”” type=”” bevel_color=”” border_color=”” border_hover_color=”” size=”” stretch=”yes” margin_top=”” margin_right=”” margin_bottom=”” margin_left=”” icon=”” icon_position=”left” icon_divider=”no” animation_type=”” animation_direction=”left” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_offset=””]See more research overviews[/fusion_button][fusion_separator style_type=”none” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” class=”” id=”” sep_color=”” top_margin=”20″ bottom_margin=”20″ border_size=”” icon=”” icon_circle=”” icon_circle_color=”” width=”” alignment=”center” /][fusion_recent_posts layout=”default” hover_type=”none” columns=”3″ number_posts=”3″ offset=”0″ pull_by=”category” cat_slug=”research-briefs” exclude_cats=”” tag_slug=”” exclude_tags=”” thumbnail=”yes” title=”yes” meta=”no” meta_author=”no” meta_categories=”no” meta_date=”yes” meta_comments=”yes” meta_tags=”no” content_alignment=”” excerpt=”no” excerpt_length=”35″ strip_html=”yes” scrolling=”no” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_direction=”left” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_offset=”” /][/fusion_builder_column][fusion_builder_column type=”1_4″ layout=”1_4″ spacing=”” center_content=”no” hover_type=”none” link=”” min_height=”” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” class=”” id=”” background_color=”” background_image=”” background_position=”left top” background_repeat=”no-repeat” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” border_position=”all” padding_top=”” padding_right=”” padding_bottom=”” padding_left=”” margin_top=”” margin_bottom=”” animation_type=”” animation_direction=”left” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_offset=”” last=”true” border_sizes_top=”0″ border_sizes_bottom=”0″ border_sizes_left=”0″ border_sizes_right=”0″ first=”false”][fusion_title title_type=”text” rotation_effect=”bounceIn” display_time=”1200″ highlight_effect=”circle” loop_animation=”off” highlight_width=”9″ highlight_top_margin=”0″ before_text=”” rotation_text=”” highlight_text=”” after_text=”” title_link=”off” link_url=”” link_target=”_self” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” sticky_display=”normal,sticky” class=”briefsummary” id=”” content_align_medium=”” content_align_small=”” content_align=”left” size=”3″ animated_font_size=”” fusion_font_family_title_font=”” fusion_font_variant_title_font=”” font_size=”” line_height=”” letter_spacing=”” text_transform=”” text_color=”” hue=”” saturation=”” lightness=”” alpha=”” animated_text_color=”” text_shadow=”no” text_shadow_vertical=”” text_shadow_horizontal=”” text_shadow_blur=”0″ text_shadow_color=”” margin_top_medium=”” margin_right_medium=”” margin_bottom_medium=”” margin_left_medium=”” margin_top_small=”” margin_right_small=”” margin_bottom_small=”” margin_left_small=”” margin_top=”” margin_right=”” margin_bottom=”” margin_left=”” margin_top_mobile=”” margin_bottom_mobile=”” gradient_font=”no” gradient_start_color=”” gradient_end_color=”” gradient_start_position=”0″ gradient_end_position=”100″ gradient_type=”linear” radial_direction=”center center” linear_angle=”180″ highlight_color=”” style_type=”none” sep_color=”” link_color=”” link_hover_color=”” animation_type=”” animation_direction=”left” animation_color=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_delay=”0″ animation_offset=””]

  • The Future of Work: Will Remote Work Help or Hinder the Pursuit of Equality?

    The Future of Work: Will Remote Work Help or Hinder the Pursuit of Equality?

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    OVERVIEW:

    The widespread shift to remote work during the COVID-19 pandemic has brought about many questions on the future of work. A recent survey by Microsoft of 31,000 workers in 31 countries suggests that 52% of employees are somewhat or extremely likely to prefer hybrid or remote work in the year ahead, and 53% of employees are more likely to prioritize their wellbeing over work than before the pandemic. The way that people perceive and experience work has changed drastically over the last two years. But how have marginalized workers specifically been affected by the shift to working from home? And what types of work design will best facilitate equity, well-being, and opportunity for workers moving forward?

    Analyzing the dynamics of remote work with an intersectional lens allows us to understand how different groups may be experiencing this transformation in labour. Research suggests that remote and hybrid work models have improved many workers’ lives, but it has also been associated with career penalties, work-family conflict, higher stress, and other mental health challenges—particularly for those who already experience inequity. Many of these disadvantages come about not because of anything inherent about remote work but because of bias, stereotypes, and social norms surrounding paid and unpaid work. This report synthesizes key research insights, including the following:

    • Remote work policies must be matched by public and organizational policies that address gendered structures. Such structures contribute to increased work-life conflict and mental health issues for caregiving women while working from home. Public policies such as affordable childcare, adequate paid family leave, and a range of options for flexible work can facilitate more egalitarian relationships and households.
    • Both workers and organizations benefit from policies that remove stigma of remote work because it increases worker motivation and job performance. Organizations can offer these options on a regular basis and ensure that they are accessible for everyone and universally appealing to people of all genders and backgrounds.
    • Office workspaces and work design can be transformed to facilitate different forms of work. Studies indicate that some forms of work practices and routines (i.e., more traditionally bureaucratic arrangements) facilitate the use of remote work and flexible work policies more than others. Flexible work stigma can also be reduced by ensuring information is accessible online, and creating team-building opportunities for hybrid- and remote-working employees.
    • Organizational initiatives can decrease work-family conflict, such as by ensuring reliable and consistent communication to all employees, establishing that workers know they do not have to work longer hours at home, and eliminating employee monitoring.
    • Remote work needs will not have a major impact on the climate crisis unless accompanied by other policy measures, such as ensuring widespread availability of quality public and other low-carbon transportation and affordable housing in urban areas.

    DOWNLOAD THIS RESEARCH OVERVIEW IN ENGLISH/ EN FRANÇAIS

    The Future of Work: Will Remote Work Help or Hinder the Pursuit of Equality?” is co-funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council and Employment and Social Development Canada.

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    Research Overview prepared by

    Carmina Ravanera, Kim de Laat and Sarah Kaplan

    Published

    November, 2022

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  • Care Work in the Recovery Economy: Towards a Caring Economy

    Care Work in the Recovery Economy: Towards a Caring Economy

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    DOWNLOAD THIS RESEARCH OVERVIEW IN ENGLISH/ EN FRANÇAIS

    English cover of report- Care Work in the Recovery Economy        French cover of report- Care Work in the Recovery Economy

    OVERVIEW:

    The care economy—the economic sectors that involve paid and unpaid care, including childcare, elder care, and health care—is one of the fastest expanding economic sectors globally. A 2015 study of 45 countries by the International Labour Organization (ILO) found that there were 206 million people in care jobs such as early childhood educators and long-term care providers. But the complex work involved in this crucial sector tends to be poorly understood, undervalued, and unprioritized. The COVID-19 pandemic has brought an increased focus on care, highlighting how the lack of support for care sectors and the increasing trend of financializing access to care have placed equality and health on fragile grounds during this crisis.

    As society emerges from COVID-19 into a recovery economy, questions about the future of care also emerge. What organizational and policy changes are needed to ensure that care work and caregiving is more equal and sustainable? And what research questions on the care economy remain to be investigated? To explore these lines of inquiry, the Institute for Gender and the Economy convened a virtual research roundtable on Care Work in the Recovery Economy in January and February of 2022 with support from Women and Gender Equality Canada and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. The workshop hosted over 60 scholars and practitioners from around the world who presented their cutting-edge research, identified research agendas, and discussed policy implications for the future of care. This report highlights key policy and research insights from the roundtable, including the following:

    1. Intersectional perspectives in data collection and analysis on the care economy will allow for more nuanced and complex understandings of care.
    2. Data collection and analysis should capture the complexity of the care economy by focusing on historically neglected care activities. This may include data on the value of unpaid care, on less direct forms of care work (e.g., care advocacy), and on temporary and migrant care workers and their transitions in and out of care work.
    3. Including paid and unpaid care workers’ voices in policymaking and aligning policies with communities and care workers will result in more effective policy outcomes.
    4. The toll of the COVID-19 pandemic on care workers highlights the importance of making their physical and mental wellbeing a policy and research priority, including through ensuring high-quality working conditions with labour protections.
    5. Care policy should not be seen as independent of other government policy making. Integrating care policies with immigration, economic, technology and other policies would help care workers, including temporary workers, have protection from precarity.
    6. Policymaking should take both the direct impacts on outcomes as well as “expressive” impacts that shape the culture and norms about what is acceptable into account.
    7. Measuring the value of care accurately means measuring not only economic growth and gain (e.g., GDP), but also the less visible, yet foundational, benefits of care to society, such as physical and mental well-being, capabilities, inclusion, and so on.
    8. Without stability and resilience of care systems, care responsibilities are hard to manage and can disadvantage caregivers’ careers, create gender inequity, and lead to overwork and stress.
    9. Technological “solutionism” and other short-term fixes alone will likely not lead to a sustainable and more equal care economy.
    10. For-profit models have not historically resulted in high-quality and affordable care. Non-profit and cooperative models may be better options for a higher-quality care system.
    11. Care work takes many different forms, both paid and unpaid, and is connected to all sectors. Understanding “chains” of care is important to understand who might benefit or be disadvantaged.

     Watch the research roundtable highlights

    __________________________

    This project has been funded through Women and Gender Equality Canada’s Women’s Program and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada

    [/fusion_text][fusion_separator style_type=”none” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” class=”” id=”” sep_color=”” top_margin=”20″ bottom_margin=”20″ border_size=”” icon=”” icon_circle=”” icon_circle_color=”” width=”” alignment=”center” /][fusion_button link=”https://www.gendereconomy.org/category/research-overviews/” text_transform=”” title=”” target=”_blank” link_attributes=”” alignment_medium=”” alignment_small=”” alignment=”” modal=”” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” sticky_display=”normal,sticky” class=”” id=”” color=”custom” button_gradient_top_color=”#62bd19″ button_gradient_bottom_color=”#62bd19″ button_gradient_top_color_hover=”#00c2e2″ button_gradient_bottom_color_hover=”#00c2e2″ accent_color=”” accent_hover_color=”” type=”” bevel_color=”” border_color=”” border_hover_color=”” size=”” stretch=”yes” margin_top=”” margin_right=”” margin_bottom=”” margin_left=”” icon=”” icon_position=”left” icon_divider=”no” animation_type=”” animation_direction=”left” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_offset=””]See more research overviews[/fusion_button][fusion_separator style_type=”none” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” class=”” id=”” sep_color=”” top_margin=”20″ bottom_margin=”20″ border_size=”” icon=”” icon_circle=”” icon_circle_color=”” width=”” alignment=”center” /][fusion_recent_posts layout=”default” hover_type=”none” columns=”3″ number_posts=”3″ offset=”0″ pull_by=”category” cat_slug=”research-briefs” exclude_cats=”” tag_slug=”” exclude_tags=”” thumbnail=”yes” title=”yes” meta=”no” meta_author=”no” meta_categories=”no” meta_date=”yes” meta_comments=”yes” meta_tags=”no” content_alignment=”” excerpt=”no” excerpt_length=”35″ strip_html=”yes” scrolling=”no” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_direction=”left” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_offset=”” /][/fusion_builder_column][fusion_builder_column type=”1_4″ layout=”1_4″ spacing=”” center_content=”no” hover_type=”none” link=”” min_height=”” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” class=”” id=”” background_color=”” background_image=”” background_position=”left top” background_repeat=”no-repeat” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” border_position=”all” padding_top=”” padding_right=”” padding_bottom=”” padding_left=”” margin_top=”” margin_bottom=”” animation_type=”” animation_direction=”left” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_offset=”” last=”true” border_sizes_top=”0″ border_sizes_bottom=”0″ border_sizes_left=”0″ border_sizes_right=”0″ first=”false”][fusion_title title_type=”text” rotation_effect=”bounceIn” display_time=”1200″ highlight_effect=”circle” loop_animation=”off” highlight_width=”9″ highlight_top_margin=”0″ before_text=”” rotation_text=”” highlight_text=”” after_text=”” title_link=”off” link_url=”” link_target=”_self” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” sticky_display=”normal,sticky” class=”briefsummary” id=”” content_align_medium=”” content_align_small=”” content_align=”left” size=”3″ animated_font_size=”” fusion_font_family_title_font=”” fusion_font_variant_title_font=”” font_size=”” line_height=”” letter_spacing=”” text_transform=”” text_color=”” hue=”” saturation=”” lightness=”” alpha=”” animated_text_color=”” text_shadow=”no” text_shadow_vertical=”” text_shadow_horizontal=”” text_shadow_blur=”0″ text_shadow_color=”” margin_top_medium=”” margin_right_medium=”” margin_bottom_medium=”” margin_left_medium=”” margin_top_small=”” margin_right_small=”” margin_bottom_small=”” margin_left_small=”” margin_top=”” margin_right=”” margin_bottom=”” margin_left=”” margin_top_mobile=”” margin_bottom_mobile=”” gradient_font=”no” gradient_start_color=”” gradient_end_color=”” gradient_start_position=”0″ gradient_end_position=”100″ gradient_type=”linear” radial_direction=”center center” linear_angle=”180″ highlight_color=”” style_type=”none” sep_color=”” link_color=”” link_hover_color=”” animation_type=”” animation_direction=”left” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_offset=””]

    Research Overview prepared by

    Laura Lam, Carmina Ravanera, and Sarah Kaplan

    Published

    May, 2022

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  • An Equity Lens on Artificial Intelligence

    An Equity Lens on Artificial Intelligence

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    DOWNLOAD THIS RESEARCH OVERVIEW IN ENGLISH/ EN FRANÇAIS

          

    OVERVIEW:

    Artificial intelligence (AI) describes machines that can simulate some forms of human intelligence, such as identifying patterns and making predictions and decisions. Today, AI is used by organizations across many sectors for a variety of purposes, from hiring employees, to assessing risk, to making investment recommendations, to recommending criminal sentencing. However, it is well-known that social relations and contexts are reflected and reproduced in technology, and AI is no exception: it has the potential to reinforce underlying biases, discrimination, and inequities. Although AI can be used to benefit marginalized groups, a concerted focus on equity in AI by businesses and governments is necessary to mitigate possible harms. Here we provide a resource for scholars and practitioners for viewing AI through the lens of equity, with the objectives of synthesizing existing research and knowledge about the connection between AI and (in)equity and suggesting considerations for public and private sector leaders to be aware of when implementing AI.

    The key Insight: AI is a double-edged sword, with potential to both mitigate and reinforce bias:

    • Because AI uses statistical prediction methods that can be audited, it has the potential to create outcomes that help groups facing marginalization in situations where human decisions may be clouded by cognitive biases.
    • Despite this potential, because inequality and inequity are often reflected in technologies, some AI can and has reinforced marginalization of certain groups, such as women, gender minorities, and racialized and low-income communities. AI-powered products and services mayuse biased data sets that reproduce this bias; amplify stereotypes and marginalization, sometimes for profit; and/or widen asymmetries of power.
    • The reinforcement of inequity and inequality has occurred because of embedded bias or significant omissions in datasets; the complexity and trade-offs involved in aligning AI with social values when profits are also at stake; a lack of transparency from those creating and implementing AI; a lack of accountability to the public or other users of AI; and limited participation by marginalized and diverse groups in the technology sector.
    • There are also varied potential impacts of AI and automation on jobs and labour. It is possible that women, racialized, and low-income groups may be more susceptible to job loss or displacement due to automation across an increasing number of blue-, white- and pink- collar jobs.

    These results suggest the following considerations for businesses and governments:

    • Technology companies and governments can focus on initiatives for equitable representation in AI development
    • Creators, researchers and implementors of AI can prioritize aligning AI with social values such as fairness, despite possible trade-offs for efficiency and profit
    • Governments can create policies for AI that prioritize accountability and transparency, and require organizations to adhere to these principles
    • Governments and companies can work towards economic security for workers who are being doubly impacted by new technologies and a global pandemic through attention on reskilling and/or upskilling programs
    • Academic researchers can deepen knowledge on AI and inequity, such as by continuing cross-disciplinary work on the social, political and environmental impacts of AI and developing new and different alternatives that prioritize mitigation of harm.

    VIDEO SUMMARY:

    __________________________

    RESEARCH OVERVIEW PREPARED BY

    Carmina Ravanera, Sarah Kaplan

    VIDEO ANIMATION

    Fuselight Creative

    “An Equity Lens on Artificial Intelligence” is co-funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council and the Government of Canada’s Future Skills Program Grant #872-2020-0011.

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    Research Overview prepared by

    Carmina Ravanera, Sarah Kaplan

    Published

    September, 2021

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  • Debates and controversies in understanding gender, race and entrepreneurship

    Debates and controversies in understanding gender, race and entrepreneurship

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    Gender, Race & Entrepreneurship report cover              

    This research overview is based on the fascinating conversations we had in our Workshop on Gender, Race and Entrepreneurship, sponsored by the Government of Canada’s Women Entrepreneurship Hub.

    Overview

    Entrepreneurship is a key path to job creation and economic growth in the modern economy, yet women and minorities remain underrepresented. Research to date has documented some “supply side” factors showing that women and/or minorities are less likely to enter entrepreneurship and some “demand side” factors highlighting the struggle these entrepreneurs face in getting funding and other resources.[1] [2] [3] A 2013 review by Jennings and Brush documents many of these insights.[4] We know less, however, about how the supply side and demand side interact and what kinds of interventions might improve outcomes.

    To explore these challenges, the Institute for Gender and the Economy at the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management convened a 6-week workshop series in October and November 2020 sponsored by the Government of Canada’s Women Entrepreneurship Knowledge Hub. Organized by Camille Hebert and Sarah Kaplan, the workshop hosted over 150 scholars from around the world who heard cutting edge research from sociology, economics, management and finance researchers, including Asia Bento (Rice), Ruiqing Cao (Harvard), Alexia Delfino (Bocconi), Stefan Dimitriadis (U Toronto), Sabrina Howell (NYU Stern), Song Ma (Yale), Milan Miric (USC Marshall), Tiantian Yang (Wharton), Emmanuel Yimfor (Michigan Ross), and Jonathan Zandberg (Boston College). In the final session, senior scholars Mike Ewens (Caltech), Fiona Murray (MIT Sloan), Zulema Valdez (UC Merced) discussed the future research agenda for gender and race in entrepreneurship. The workshop and discussions underscored a number of debates and controversies in the entrepreneurship literature which are highlighted below along with a roadmap for a future research agenda in gender, race and entrepreneurship. To learn more about the event, including a video summary, click here.

    What are work and family conditions that shape entry into entrepreneurship?

    When looking at the dearth of women in the entrepreneurial space, people often suggest that it is because women don’t prefer entrepreneurship. However, research is making it increasingly clear that there are other important social and structural factors that shape these choices. A long stream of research has established that motherhood (much more so than fatherhood) leads to career and pay penalties for women, but the effects of motherhood or potential motherhood on entrepreneurship are just starting to be explored. The transition to entrepreneurship can occur during different life stages and at various career trajectories. Understanding life and workplace conditions that women and minority entrepreneurs face is important because these conditions predict the types of businesses created as well as the timing of business creation.

    • Diminishing career opportunities at work accelerates entrepreneurship for women. Individuals may consider entrepreneurship as a career option if they find that opportunities at their current jobs are not sufficient. Reduced career opportunities at work—especially associated with the penalties that women pay for motherhood such as lower pay, fewer paths to promotion, and poor access to family-friendly work policies—increases the likelihood that women will become entrepreneurs.[5]
    • Entrepreneurship may not always be an ideal career outcome for women. For women, the need for flexible time due to work-family conflict can predict entry into self-employment, as self-employment often allows for more flexible work schedules. This highlights the fact that entrepreneurship maybe not always be an ideal outcome for women who may be forced into it because more stable employment is not available. Scholars have called this type of entrepreneurship “Plan B” entrepreneurship and have shown that these constraints often lead to self-employment or small, low-growth businesses [6].
    • The start of family life for women may constrain entrepreneurship. Women who choose to exploit an entrepreneurial idea may also defer family decisions until after they have started their businesses. New research shows that better access to reproductive health care (e.g., access to abortion clinics, emergency contraception, or to fertility programs such as egg freezing) increases women’s entrepreneurship as well as their ability to raise capital and prevent bankruptcy.[7] [8] [9] This evidence suggests that if women do not have access to reproductive healthcare, this may limit their entry into high-growth entrepreneurship which is seen as highly demanding.
    • We may need new approaches to attracting women to entrepreneurship. Recent research shows that men are more likely to be attracted to jobs that demonstrate a potential for high returns to effort (a challenging environment). For women, a higher perceived share of men in a field (which is certainly the case of entrepreneurship) discourages women from entering, with only the most talented applying.[10] This may mean, in the case of entrepreneurship, that too many men are entering at lower quality while not enough women are entering.

    Obstacles in turning entrepreneurial ideas into businesses

    Even if individuals have entrepreneurial ideas, turning those ideas into businesses require being evaluated favourably key stakeholders in in entrepreneurial financing and in commercialization stages. What are the mechanisms that explain how these stakeholders may differentially evaluate entrepreneurial ideas from women and minorities?

    • Networking with venture capital firms may be more difficult for women. Entrepreneurs may experience difficulties in funding depending on their gender or minority status. Because entrepreneurial ideas carry high uncertainty, potential funders including venture capital firms (VCs) rely on personal introductions and referrals for deal sourcing. Yet, a study showed that exposure to networking opportunities benefited male entrepreneurs, but not women.[11] It appears that women may not access these networking opportunities because they felt that the VCs wouldn’t have the background to understand their business, they feared discrimination, or they held themselves to a too-high standard. Thus, designers of innovation incubators, accelerators or pitch competitions should work to reduce these networking-related frictions for women entrepreneurs.
    • Startup pitches are evaluated differently based on gender. In addition to barriers to networking with potential funders, the content of the pitches by female entrepreneurs may be interpreted differently from pitches by male entrepreneurs. Building on research showing that pitches for the identical business by men received more recommendations for funding than pitches by women[12] [13], recent research using video analysis shows that women entrepreneurs, relative to male entrepreneurs, are judged more on delivery than on informational content.[14] This puts women in a double bind because pitches mainly chosen based on delivery, rather than content, were associated with lower ex-post performance, suggesting that investors have biased beliefs about gender. While it may be tempting to tell women that they need to learn to be more persuasive, this may not be particularly helpful. Instead, motivating evaluators to focus more on the content ultimately facilitates financing of the best entrepreneurial ideas. Rather than “fixing the women,” these results point to solutions that “fix the system” (the demand side of entrepreneurship).
    • During the commercialization stage, the paucity of female product evaluators can hurt female entrepreneurs. Beta testers on online platforms are often used to evaluate products in the commercialization stage. However, because these testers are mostly men, they may not accurately assess the products targeting women, hurting the likelihood of women-targeted products developed by female entrepreneurs. As a result, products that are eventually commercialized might not reflect preferences of the entire group of consumers which impacts which products survive and grow.[15] Therefore, paying attention to the composition of early users, such as beta testers, can improve the reach and effectiveness of innovations and, conversely, biased early testing can reduce innovation impact.

    The role of institutions

    There are also important roles played by the authorities that govern, monitor and support well-functioning entrepreneurial activities. Because these institutions can confer legitimacy to entrepreneurial entities and provide capital that accelerate the creation of businesses, it is important to examine whether different minority groups benefit equally from roles played by these institutions.

    • Institutions can help to boost legitimacy of businesses founded by women. Because women’s contributions in the economy, especially in entrepreneurship, tend to be devalued, they often need to access sources that support their legitimacy. This challenge is particularly acute in settings where the power of formal institutions is weak, such as in developing countries or in any other context that puts a heavy weight on personal relationships and trust. Globally, 78% of all entrepreneurship occurs in the informal economy. In a study of entrepreneurs in Togo, where the majority of entrepreneurs operate in the informal economy, the formal registration of businesses benefited women entrepreneurs more than men entrepreneurs.[16] Similar effects for other kinds of adjudicating institutions were also identified in Zambia.[17] If entrepreneurial performance depends heavily on building relationships, women entrepreneurs may face more hurdles as they are subject to traditional gender beliefs about them. Formal registration and other legitimization mechanisms can compensate for these disadvantages.
    • Institutional resources meant to boost entrepreneurship may unintendedly reinforce racial divides. Government interventions are often intended to drive financial resources into communities which could spur entrepreneurial activity. A study that explored federal recovery programs after natural disasters, showed that capital from recovery assistance programs was only associated with increases in self-employment for whites, but not other racial groups.[18] These effects were attributed to social vulnerabilities tied to racial marginalization and hoarded opportunities tied to white privilege. These results suggest that institutions could reproduce, rather than alleviate, racial inequalities, particularly in the wake of crisis.
    • Institutions can improve entrepreneurial performance by monitoring entrepreneurial financing. Because funding is difficult to access, particularly for women and minority entrepreneurs, brokers and finders can be helpful intermediaries. Indeed, new research shows that women and minority entrepreneurs do access these sorts of resources. However, brokered offerings—because they mainly aggregate funds from retail investors—don’t perform as well because they don’t bring the same advantages of advice and networks that come with VC funding. For example, from a sample of startup offerings in the US from 2010-2019, brokers intermediated 15% of startup offerings, but 20% of these brokers were unregistered by SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission). The performance gap between registered and unregistered brokers was wider in fiduciary states (where brokers are subject to higher standards) and when unregistered brokers have a history of misconduct.[19] Thus, while these intermediaries can mitigate the challenges that underrepresented entrepreneurs face in accessing financing, without better regulations, they could actually exacerbate the entrepreneurship divide.

    The path forward and future research agenda

    The emerging research presented at this workshop series opens up exciting new lines of inquiry and suggests a new research agenda for studies of gender, race and entrepreneurship. These possibilities explore both the supply-side questions about who enters entrepreneurship and the demand-side questions about what factors are keeping women and minorities out or inhibiting their success. In our rich discussions in each of the workshop sessions, as well as in the final panel with senior scholars reflecting on the field, we developed a fruitful list of questions and opportunities.

    • Why entrepreneurship? The research shared in this workshop series highlighted that entrepreneurship is not often people’s first choice. Some entrepreneurs or self-employed people have simply been excluded from the paid workforce. Often employment is better for personal outcomes because it could come with benefits, sick leave and a steady source of income. Entrepreneurs are sometimes racial minorities who are excluded from the regular workforce or women who can’t make a corporate job work with her responsibilities at home given the gendered division of labor in unpaid care work. This research cautions us not to glorify entrepreneurship as an outcome but understand its costs and benefits, assessing not only how to get people into entrepreneurship but whether that is even the best outcome.
    • An intersectional gender lens on entrepreneurship. Neither those seeking capital nor those providing capital are representative of society in terms of gender and race. Entrepreneurship is not just an economic activity but also a cultural phenomenon that has historically been fundamentally masculinist and white and where attempts have been made to be more inclusive, they have often glorified a certain type of female entrepreneur that leverages the intersection of white, heteronormative power.[20] Thus, unsurprisingly, the discussions in this workshop made clear that we need to consider gender, race and their intersections in studying and implementing policies to support entrepreneurship. Most research on women in entrepreneurship does not consider race. There is less research on race and entrepreneurship, and what exists often neglects important gender distinctions.
    • Not all entrepreneurship is created equal. These discussions also highlighted the fact that not all entrepreneurship is the same. Research would do well to distinguish between self-employment, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) without growth aspirations, and high-tech, high-growth entrepreneurship. The reasons for entering entrepreneurship and the roadblocks to success in each of these different categories is different. Each plays a valuable role in society. We tend to glorify high-tech entrepreneurship, but SMEs are the source of more employment. For example, more than 90% of all workers in the private sector in Canada are employed in SMEs. Similarly, entrepreneurship may not operate in the same ways in different regions around the world and the role of women may differ in these diverse contexts. Researchers and policy makers would do well to distinguish between the dynamics associated with each without devaluing certain types of entrepreneurial efforts relative to others.
    • Understanding racial and ethnic minority entrepreneurs. Although we are beginning to understand the unique challenges that women entrepreneurs face, we know relatively less about precursors of entrepreneurship for racial and ethnic minorities. We know even less about how gender intersects with race and ethnicity. Empirically, this is related to small numbers of businesses created by racial and ethnic minorities in most study samples. Conceptually, we need to be conscious about using pan ethnic categories that may blur the boundaries of different ethnic groups in it. For example, within the population of people from Latin-American descent, there may be differences in initial conditions that predict the creation of businesses depending on ethnic groups (e.g., Cuban origin versus Mexican origin). The monolithic treatment of Latinx peoples may compress distinct ethnic subgroups, which masks different economic conditions and identities among these groups.[21] The same argument could be made for different groups within Asian entrepreneurs (e.g., Korean-American business-owners versus Japanese-American owners) or Black entrepreneurs who may be African-American or recent immigrants from Africa, the Caribbean or elsewhere. Therefore, to understand different entrepreneurship trajectories by race, we need conceptual toolkits to capture these differences as well as data that allows for comparison across different ethnic groups within the same pan ethnic category.
    • Family members as hidden funders and entrepreneurs. Securing entrepreneurial capital has become easier over time (for example, through the National Securities Markets Improvement Act of 1996)[22], yet we continue to witness underrepresentation of women and minority entrepreneurs. A possible answer to this question can come from understanding family and workplace conditions of women and minority entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurship is often a family endeavour, and by primarily examining entrepreneurship as an individual activity, we are missing out important factors related to funding as well as founding decisions. Further, entrepreneurs frequently rely on family for securing startup funding and sustaining business. For example, having a partner with a stable job allows entrepreneurs to persist in their business. This highlights the importance of understanding family conditions especially during the early stages of entrepreneurship. Once the business is created, an entrepreneurs’ spouses may be “shadow entrepreneurs,” playing as significant role as the founder but with less recognition. For example, depending on cultural norms that entrepreneurs are exposed to, a wife’s labor can be perceived as “family labor” readily available to entrepreneur husbands, whereas men’s labor is perceived as their own.[23] Future research should examine the role of these hidden entrepreneurs as a critical part of the entrepreneurial funding landscape and workforce.
    • Industry dynamics shaping entrepreneurial dynamics. There may be systematic variations in the gender gap in entrepreneurship by sector, but we are only beginning to observe these patterns and underlying mechanisms. For example, the gender gap in entrepreneurship in digital industries is greater than other industries. This is surprising given that digitization actually lowers the costs of launching businesses (for example, everyone can access Amazon Web Services for their data infrastructure rather than building it themselves) which should erode funding frictions that would be a source of the gender gap in entrepreneurship.[24] If funding isn’t the barrier, then what other structural characteristics in the high-tech industry would predict the lower likelihood of entrepreneurship for women, compared to other industries? It is also possible that the gender gap in entrepreneurship by industries is related to gendered distribution of workers in certain industries in the first place (male-dominated versus female-dominated sectors).[25] Large-scale field experiments would help us to understand conditions that may facilitate men’s entry into jobs dominated by women and vice versa.
    • Activating networks and referrals. The research shared in this workshop series highlighted the importance of networks for entrepreneurs to achieve success. These networks, properly mobilized, can provide access to funding, advice and other resources. Yet, the studies suggest that it is not enough to expose women and underrepresented minorities to potential networks. We also are unclear if structured interventions to create networks such as accelerator programs actually help in this regard. In addition, disentangling the effect of networking in explaining business outcomes remains challenging, empirically.[26] Connecting networks to outcomes is difficult because it is a two-sided matching problem: you need to understand how and why each matches with the other. Future research would seek to understand the underlying mechanisms that explain the benefits of networking and mentorship and determine what interventions would work to activate useful networks for underrepresented groups.
    • Reducing gatekeeper biases. The role of gatekeepers, such as VCs, are critical in early stages of startups. By studying these gatekeepers over time, we can sort out the sources of bias and appropriate interventions. For example, central to statistical discrimination theory is that when beliefs turn out to be inaccurate, actors can update their beliefs. Will we see gatekeepers update their beliefs on businesses led by women and minorities? What are ways to disentangle statistical discrimination versus taste-base discrimination against women and minority entrepreneurs? To answer these questions, researchers should leverage study designs that track behaviours of gatekeepers over multiple periods.[27] In the short run, it may be necessary to provide women and minority entrepreneurs with other supports that will increase their legitimacy as a compensatory mechanism that may offset biases.[28] For example, in Togo, this was formal business registration. In the Silicon Valley, this might be affiliation with a top VC or endorsements from recognized leaders. Such signals may help women and minority entrepreneurs overcome gatekeepers’ uncertainties around their quality and potential. Research might ask whether social capital can be transferred, as we are seeing African American stars in music, movies and sports entering into entrepreneurship or into entrepreneurial financing.

    In sum, the emerging research on gender and race is shedding new light on the complex dynamics of assuring equal opportunities in the entrepreneurial space. Many of the insights direct our attention away from seeing this as a “supply side” problem in which not enough women and minorities enter entrepreneurship and towards seeing how “demand side” factors such as systemic racism, biased evaluations, and family dynamics disguise limits and impede success. We also see an emerging set of solutions—such as interventions with gatekeepers, creating legitimacy mechanisms and reconfiguring institutional supports—that should lead to greater equity in our economy.

    __________________________

    RESEARCH OVERVIEW PREPARED BY:

    Hyeun Lee and Sarah Kaplan, Institute for Gender and the Economy at the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management.

    The preparation of this research overview was supported by the Government of Canada’s Women Entrepreneurship Knowledge Hub (WEKH).

    CITE AS:

    Lee, Hyeun. and Kaplan, S. (2021). “Debates and controversies in understanding gender, race and entrepreneurship,” Institute for Gender and the Economy, https://www.gendereconomy.org/debates-and-controversies-in-understanding-gender-race-and-entrepreneurship/.

    References

    [1] Kanze, D., Huang, L., Conley, M. A., & Higgins, E. T. 2018. We Ask Men to Win and Women Not to Lose: Closing the Gender Gap in Startup Funding. Academy of Management Journal, 61(2): 586–614.

    [2] Ewens, M., & Townsend, R. R. 2020. Are early-stage investors biased against women? Journal of Financial Economics, 135(3): 653-677.

    [3] Hebert, C. 2020. Gender stereotypes and entrepreneur financing.  Working Paper available on SSRN: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3318245

    [4] Jennings, J, & Brush, Candida G. Research on Women Entrepreneurs: Challenges to (and from) the Broader Entrepreneurship Literature. Academy of Management Annals, 7(1): 663-715.

    [5] Yang, T., Kacperczyk, A., & Naldi, L. 2020. Career Antecedents of Female Entrepreneurship. Working Paper.

    [6] Thébaud, Sarah. 2015. Business as Plan B: Institutional Foundations of Gender Inequality in Entrepreneurship across 24 Industrialized Countries. Administrative Science Quarterly, 60(4): 671-711.

    [7] Zandberg, J. (Forthcoming). Family Comes First: Reproductive Health and the Gender Gap in Entrepreneurship. Journal of Financial Economics.

    [8] Zandberg, J. 2020. Reproductive Rights and Women’s Access to Capital. Working Paper. https://papers.ssrn.com/abstract=3727553.

    [9] Core, Fabrizio. (2020). Maternity Risk and the Gender Gap in Entrepreneurship. Working paper available on SSRN: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3539508

    [10] Delfino, Alexia. 2020. Breaking Gender Barriers: Bringing Men into the Pick-Collar Jobs of the Future. Working Paper. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1T2KKmwIaqTZ9HiuAExq2vItss75R4_7X/view?usp=sharing

    [11] Howell, S. T., & Nanda, R. 2019. Networking Frictions in Venture Capital, and the Gender Gap in Entrepreneurship. Working Paper. https://papers.ssrn.com/abstract=3484700.

    [12] Brooks AW, Huang L, Kearney SW, Murray FE. 2014. Investors prefer entrepreneurial ventures pitched by attractive men. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 111(12): 4427–4431.

    [13] Op cit. Hebert, C. 2020.

    [14] Hu, A., & Ma, S. 2020. Human Interactions and Financial Investment: A Video-Based Approach. Working paper available on SSRN: https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3583898.

    [15] Cao, R., Koning, R., & Nanda, R. 2020. Biased Sampling of Early Users and the Direction of Startup Innovation. Working Paper available on SSRN. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3736119.

    [16] Dimitriadis, S. 2020. Gender, formal registration, and entrepreneurial performance. Working Paper.

    [17] Ashraf, Nava, Delfino, Alexia, & Glaeser, Edward L. Rule of Law and Female Entrepreneurship, NBER working paper, available at https://www.nber.org/papers/w26366

    [18] Bento, A., & Elliot, J. 2020. The Racially Unequal Impacts of Disasters and Federal Recovery Assistance on Local Self Employment Rates. Working Paper.

    [19] Yimfor, E. 2020. Brokered Startup Financing. Working Paper available on SSRN: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3511164.

    [20] Heizmann, H., & Liu, Helena. (forthcoming) “Bloody Wonder Woman!”: Identity performances of elite women entrepreneurs on Instagram. Human Relations.

    [21] Valdez, Z. 2011. Political Participation Among Latinos in the United States: The Effect of Group Identity and Consciousness. Social Science Quarterly, 92(2): 466–482.

    [22] Ewens, M., & Farre-Mensa, J. 2020. The Deregulation of the Private Equity Markets and the Decline in IPOs. The Review of Financial Studies, 33(12): 5463–5509.

    [23] Valdez, Z. 2016. Intersectionality, the household economy, and ethnic entrepreneurship. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 39(9): 1618–1636.

    [24] Yin, P., & Miric, M. 2020. Population-level Evidence of the Gender Gap in Technology Entrepreneurship. Working Paper.

    [25] Op cit. Delfino, A. 2020.

    [26] Chatterji, A., Delecourt, S., Hasan, S., & Koning, R. 2019. When Does Advice Impact Startup Performance? Strategic Management Journal, 40(3): 331–356.

    [27] Rubineau, B., & Kang, Y. 2012. Bias in White: A Longitudinal Natural Experiment Measuring Changes in Discrimination. Management Science, 58(4): 660-677.

    [28] Castilla, E. J., & Rissing, B. A. 2019. Best in Class: The Returns on Application Endorsements in Higher Education. Administrative Science Quarterly, 64(1): 230–270.

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    Research summary prepared by

    Hyeun Lee and Sarah Kaplan

    Published

    January, 2021

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  • Shattering the second glass ceiling: Financing women’s entrepreneurial ventures

    Shattering the second glass ceiling: Financing women’s entrepreneurial ventures

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    Download this research brief (in English/en Français).

    Shattering the Second Glass Ceiling cover             

    Overview

    Securing funding is one of the first obstacles every entrepreneur must overcome. But, for women entrepreneurs, accessing financial capital is even more challenging than it is for men. For example, in 2018 nearly 98% of all venture capital funding in the United States went to start-ups owned and operated by men.[1] That means only 2.2% went to women entrepreneurs. Scholars have described this phenomenon as the “second glass ceiling.”[2] This research brief provides an overview of existing academic literature about the barriers to funding and financing for women entrepreneurs, identifying current gaps in research, providing recommendations for future work, and practical implications for researchers, funders and entrepreneurs.

    Today, only 16% of businesses in Canada are owned or led by women.[3] Why does this matter? Not only do women entrepreneurs represent an important source of economic growth and provide valuable and diverse perspectives, committing to supporting women’s entrepreneurship is one step toward a more just and equitable world.

    What does it mean to be an entrepreneur?

    Historically, an entrepreneur was defined as someone who managed theatrical productions, borrowing from the French entrepreneur: “one who undertakes or manages.”[4] In the 15th century, the word began to be used by English speakers to describe business managers in general. During industrialization, entrepreneurship became inextricably linked to capitalism, machines, and men. This association continues resulting in the conflation of entrepreneurship with innovation and masculinity, particularly in the technology sector.

    One of the challenges in understanding what the research says about women entrepreneurs is that the definition of entrepreneur used today is often very narrow. For example, self-employed women may not be considered entrepreneurs. As a result, this research overview focuses primarily on studies about founders (that is, women who start companies), but also includes work about women who lead small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

    Research about women and entrepreneurship is relatively young.

    Although scholars have studied entrepreneurship since the 1930s, the first research article about women and entrepreneurship was not published until the mid-1970s.[5] The literature reviewed below comes from a variety of peer-reviewed academic sources. We’ve sought to include seminal studies as well as contradictory findings and more recent research. When discussing emerging trends (e.g., “sidepreneurship”), we also cite relevant popular sources (e.g., Fortune, Forbes). It’s important to note, however, that this is a nascent area of study, deserving more time and attention from researchers in diverse disciplines.[6] Finally, it’s also telling that many of the top tier journals in fields like finance, management, and organizational studies have published relatively few studies about women entrepreneurs and funding.[7] Note that there is even more limited research on the experiences of transgender and gender non-conforming entrepreneurs and so we can only offer some suggestions for future research in this domain.[8]

    What existing research tells us about women entrepreneurs and funding

    Research says women entrepreneurs are less likely to seek certain kinds of funding, but a closer look proves it’s more complicated than “women don’t ask.”

    Research suggests women are less likely to seek funding provided by formal, external sources (e.g., angel investors, venture capitalists, public lenders).[9],[10] For example, a 2008 study found that significantly fewer women-led firms—less than 9%—were likely to seek angel investment (meaning, investment from a high-net worth individual who uses their own capital).[11]

    Why do women seemingly exclude themselves from certain kinds of funding? A growing body of work suggests that, while self-efficacy, imperfect information, and internalized sexism—sometimes contributing to what researchers call the “discouraged borrower” phenomenon[12],[13] —may play a role, so too does the presence (or absence) of start-up helpers (i.e., supporters who are not financially involved)[14] and women’s perceptions of how effective asking for funding may (or may not) be.[15]

    When it comes to venture capital (meaning, private equity provided by a group of investors), women may not seek venture capital (VC) financial support because, historically, they’ve been less likely to receive it and because VCs, in general, exhibit little gender diversity.[16] In other words, women may not seek funding from formal, external sources for a variety of reasons, many of which overlap and are reinforced by their own experiences and the experiences of other women.

    This brings us to the supply vs. demand debate in the literature.[17] While some researchers argue women don’t seek funding (there’s no supply of women entrepreneurs), others argue investors are unwilling to invest in women entrepreneurs (there is no demand to invest in women’s entrepreneurship). This debate speaks to a dynamic sociological and economic phenomenon that is often difficult to tease apart, but recent research suggests that both factors are at play.[18] However, what we do know from the research is that, historically, the deck has been stacked against women seeking funding, particularly when it comes to biases held by gatekeepers.

    Investors evidence biases against women entrepreneurs.

    Investors evidence biases that impact their decisions to fund (or not fund) women. For example, a series of studies have found that investors are less likely to invest in women-led start-ups even when factors like start-up quality, sector focus, and risk were similar.[19],[20],[21] Furthermore, some research suggests investors ask different things of women entrepreneurs than of their male counterparts. According to one study, investors involved in TechCrunch Disrupt New York City from 2010 to 2016 consistently asked men how they would succeed and women how they would avoid failure.[22] And it isn’t only that investors ask men and women different kinds of questions during pitches; they also use different kinds of language to describe men and women entrepreneurs. For example, Malmstrom and colleagues (2017) recorded the conversations governmental VCs in Sweden had about both men and women entrepreneurs and found that, overwhelmingly, VCs described women in a way that undermined their credibility, knowledge, trustworthiness, and experience.[23]

    It appears that these effects may differ by sector. Evidence from France shows that women entrepreneurs are less likely to use external equity in male-dominated sectors but more likely to use external equity in female-dominated sectors.[24] Unfortunately, most sectors are male-dominated, which leaves women with access to financing in a much smaller part of the economy. Because the bar is higher for women in male-dominated sectors, this same study showed that—conditional on receiving funding—women-led businesses outperform their male counterparts in these male-dominated sectors.

    Bank lenders also evidence biases against women-led businesses.

    Investors aren’t the only stakeholders who enact biases against women entrepreneurs. Studies find loan officers also evidence gender biases that negatively impact women seeking start-up capital. However, this bias plays out in ways that are more complicated than the gender of the individual bank lender. That is, researchers have found that both men and women loan officers perceive women entrepreneurs as more risk-averse and less autonomous than men.[25] Furthermore, the processes by which loan officers make decisions—including the protocols and practices they use—can reinforce gender norms and stereotypes, further excluding women.[26],[27]

    Women entrepreneurs are more likely to rely on informal networks for funding.

    Given the findings noted above, it’s perhaps unsurprising women entrepreneurs often seek financial support from informal networks.[28] Overall, women are more likely to rely on credit cards, personal savings, and/or “love” money (meaning, capital provided by family and friends) than men.[29] Other research suggests that women—particularly those in traditionally male-dominated sectors such as technology— may benefit more from crowdfunding (e.g., through Kickstarter) than men do because of activist women investors on those platforms.[30],[31]

    Race and class inequalities shape women entrepreneur’s experiences.

    In the past several years, businesses founded, owned, and operated by women of color, newcomer and immigrant women, and women with low socioeconomic status (SES) have grown significantly. However, too often research about women entrepreneurs presents a homogenized view of “female entrepreneurs” as though every woman’s experience is the same. We know this isn’t true.[32] Intersectionality—the interconnected nature of social categorizations such as race, class, and gender and how they create overlapping and interdependent systems of discrimination—means that race and class inequalities radically shape women entrepreneurs’ experiences of seeking and securing funding. For example, a study of women entrepreneurs in the Southern United States found that Black women starting their own businesses are more likely than their white counterparts to depend on a “multiplicity of resources,” combining public and private sources of capital and drawing on family members to provide free labor.[33] Similarly, a study of women entrepreneurs in Sweden found immigrant women were more likely to rely on loans from family members than their native-born counterparts.[34]

    To date, research about ethnic entrepreneurship and intersectionality has been undertaken largely by scholars outside of disciplines traditionally associated with business (e.g., anthropology, sociology).

    Women entrepreneurs in developing countries have different experiences.

    Recent research about how context impacts entrepreneurship has resulted in a wave of emerging work about women entrepreneurs in developing countries where they have even less access to capital.[35] Microfinancing (meaning, small collateral-free loans generally provided to unemployed or low SES individuals) has been championed as a way to help women establish their own businesses thereby facilitating their empowerment and subsequently reducing poverty. In some cases, microfinancing women entrepreneurs seems to have proven successful.[36],[37] In others, microfinancing has failed largely due to unacknowledged cultural realities. For example, a study of microfinance in Ethiopia revealed that, due to gender dynamics in families (e.g., decision making, the division of household labor), women who receive microloans often don’t have access to the funds and become even more overworked.[38]

    Funding is only one of the challenges women face in the entrepreneurship ecosystem.

    Women continue to be at a disadvantage in the larger entrepreneurship ecosystem.[39] Funding and financing, though significant, is only one of the challenges women face. Women entrepreneurs also face a lack of role models, gendered cultural expectations regarding what it means to be an entrepreneur and work-life balance, and, at times, blatant sexism and harassment.[40],[41] Women of color, newcomer and immigrant women, and women with low SES face additional hurdles including, but not limited to, racism, classism, language barriers, and the long-term effects of discrimination. Many of these challenges compound women’s access to financial capital as they start and as they grow their businesses.[42]

    What we still don’t know about women entrepreneurs and funding

    As noted above, research about women and entrepreneurship is relatively new, and much of it has leveraged what’s called a deficit model—asking why women entrepreneurs can’t be more like men.[43] But these limitations provide ample opportunities for future work. As Leitch and colleagues write in their introduction to a 2018 recent special issue of Venture Capital devoted to research about women entrepreneurs, despite a decade of research, “we do not seem to have progressed far […] in either theoretical development or in understanding the challenges which women continue to face in accessing entrepreneurial finance.”[44] For example, how does the underrepresentation of women in the financial sector impact women entrepreneurs’ access to funding? What alternatives to microfinance exist for women starting businesses in non-Western settings? How do national and international financial crises impact women entrepreneurs? How are women financing the increasing “sidepreneurship” endeavors they’re pursuing?[45] What kinds of structural interventions best address the persistent gender gap in entrepreneurial funding? And, perhaps most provocative, if women entrepreneurs have the same access to financial capital as their male peers, what will happen?

    Addressing barriers to funding and financing for women entrepreneurs

    Given the challenges of funding and financing for women entrepreneurs, what’s the best way to overcome the unique hurdles women face? Although many of the challenges women entrepreneurs face are the by-products of institutionalized sexism—a problem that is nearly impossible to solve due to its social complexities and interdependencies—research suggests the following practices are reasonable first steps:

    • Ask women entrepreneurs what they need most. As noted above, there is still much we don’t know about women entrepreneurs in general and about women entrepreneurs and funding more specifically. The bulk of research in the past few decades has focused primarily on traditional models of entrepreneurship, reifying dichotomies and, at times, reinforcing stereotypes. To move forward, we need to ask women entrepreneurs what they need most and understand how they define what it means to be an entrepreneur.
    • Challenge stereotypes. Entrepreneurship is often equated with heterosexual masculinity, and this conflation can perpetuate insidious stereotypes.[46] Instead of positioning women as in a deficit relative to men, we can imagine women’s entrepreneurship on its own terms, offering alternative models for business creation and economic growth.[47] One way we can challenge these stereotypes is to build awareness of women entrepreneurs’ successes and promote them as role models. Here, representation matters. For example, we can consider illustrating content about entrepreneurship with images of women or conducting case studies about women-owned firms—not as an exception but as a rule.
    • Pay attention to context. Because the research shows that access to finance will differ based on the type of finance, the sector, and the country context, research and practical recommendations will need to take into account these differing circumstances.
    • Create networks. Decades of research find that entrepreneurs of all genders benefit from strong networks.[48] By creating networks for women, non-binary, and transgender entrepreneurs, we can support people who may not identify with the ways in which entrepreneurship has been historically and conventionally construed. These networks, however, should be gender inclusive and supported by allies as women-only networks have proven to be problematic given women already have limited access to financial capital.[49]
    • Redefine innovation. Current definitions of “innovation” are narrow, favoring technological advancements and, subsequently, prioritizing the technology sector where women are already underrepresented. As a result, investors often overlook the kinds of radical innovations women entrepreneurs introduce in the marketplace, including in the services and retail sectors.[50]
    • Support inclusive policies and practices. Women and other historically marginalized entrepreneurs benefit from policies and practices that recognize and seek to redress institutionalized bias and discrimination in material and instrumental ways. Initiatives like the Government of Canada’s first ever Women Entrepreneurship Strategy—which has funded more than 50 projects—can effect substantial change by supporting women entrepreneurs with immediate access to capital, expertise, and networks.

    __________________________

    Research overview prepared by:

    Dr. Amanda Menking, under the supervision of Professor Sarah Kaplan, Director, Institute for Gender and the Economy at the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management.

    The preparation of this research overview was supported by the Government of Canada’s Women Entrepreneurship Knowledge Hub (WEKH).

    Cite as:

    Menking, Amanda (2020), “Shattering the second glass ceiling: Financing women’s entrepreneurial ventures,” Institute for Gender and the Economy, https://www.gendereconomy.org/shattering-the-second-glass-ceiling/.

    References

    [1] Hinchliffe, E. (2019, January 28). Funding for female founders stalled at 2.2% of VC dollars in 2018. Fortune. Retrieved https://fortune.com/2019/01/28/funding-female-founders-2018/

    [2] Bosse, D.A., & Taylor, P.L. (2012). The second glass ceiling impedes women entrepreneurs. The Journal of Applied Management and Entrepreneurship, 17(1), 52-68.

    [3] Women Entrepreneurship Strategy. (n.d.). Government of Canada. Retrieved from https://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/107.nsf/eng/home

    [4] Entrepreneur. (n.d.). Online etymology dictionary. Retrieved from https://www.etymonline.com/word/entrepreneur#etymonline_v_8748

    [5] Jennings, J. E., & Brush, C. G. (2013). Research on women entrepreneurs: Challenges to (and from) the broader entrepreneurship literature? The Academy of Management Annals, 7(1), 663-715.

    [6] Ahl, H. (2006). Why research on women entrepreneurs needs new directions. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 30(5), 595-621.

    [7] Drawing on subject terms and author keywords from seminal studies and meta-reviews (e.g., Jennings & Brush, 2013), we used Business Search Premier to search top tier journals (e.g., Academy of Management Journal, Administrative Science Quarterly, Strategic Management Journal, Organization Science, Journal of Finance, Journal of Financial Economics, Journal of Management) without date delimiters using the following key phrases and variations thereof: women, female, gender, female entrepreneurs, female entrepreneurship, women entrepreneurs, women entrepreneurship, gender + entrepreneurs, gender + entrepreneurship, gender gap + funding, women entrepreneurs + capital, women entrepreneurs + funding, women entrepreneurs + financing, women-owned business enterprises, and businesswomen. In total, across these publications and search terms, we found only 10 articles relevant to the topic of women entrepreneurs and funding.

    [8] We located one study based on evidence from Viet Nam (Pauline Oosterhoff & Tu-Anh Hoang (2018) Transgender employment and entrepreneurialism in Vietnam, Gender & Development, 26:1, 33-51) and a few conference papers such as Ruebottom, Trish & Madeline Toubiana (2017), Biographical Opportunities: How Entrepreneurship Creates Pride in Alterity in Stigmatized Fields, Academy of Management Proceedings, https://doi.org/10.5465/AMBPP.2017.12168abstract.

    [9] Coleman, S. (2000). Access to capital and terms of credit: A comparison of men-and women-owned small businesses. Journal of Small Business Management, 38(3), 37.

    [10] Coleman, S., & Robb, A. (2012). Capital structure theory and new technology firms: Is there a match? Management Research Review, 35(2), 106-120.

    [11] Becker-Blease, J.R., & Sohl, J. (2008). Confidence and angel investors: Does gender matter? Frontiers of Entrepreneurship Research.

    [12] Kon, Y., & Storey, D.J. (2003). A theory of discouraged borrowers. Small Business Economics 21(1), 37-49.

    [13] Mijid, N. (2014). Why are female small business owners in the United States less likely to apply for bank loans than their male counterparts? Journal of Small Business & Entrepreneurship, 27(2), 229-249.

    [14] Kwapisz, A., & Hechavarría, D.M. (2018). Women don’t ask: An investigation of start-up financing and gender. Venture Capital, 20(2), 159-190.

    [15] Naegels, V., Mori, N., & D’Espallier, B. (2018). An institutional view on access to finance by Tanzanian women-owned enterprises. Venture Capital, 20(2), 191-210.

    [16] Brush, C., Greene, P., Balachandra, L., & Davis, A. (2018). The gender gap in venture capital-progress, problems, and perspectives. Venture Capital, 20(2), 115-136.

    [17] Fernandez-Mateo, Isabel & Sarah Kaplan (2018), Gender and Organization Science, Organization Science, 29(6): 1229–1236.

    [18] Guzman J, Kacperczyk A (Olenka) (2019) Gender gap in entrepreneurship. Research Policy 48(7):1666–1680.

    [19] Ewens, M., & Townsend, R. R. (2019). Are early stage investors biased against women? Journal of Financial Economics.

    [20] Brooks AW, Huang L, Kearney SW, Murray FE (2014) Investors prefer entrepreneurial ventures pitched by attractive men. PNAS 111(12):4427–4431.

    [21] Bigelow, L., Lundmark, L., McLean Parks, J., & Wuebker, R. (2014). Skirting the Issues: Experimental Evidence of Gender Bias in IPO Prospectus Evaluations. Journal of Management, 40(6), 1732–1759.

    [22] Kanze, D., Huang, L., Conley, M. A., & Higgins, E. T. (2018). We ask men to win and women not to lose: Closing the gender gap in startup funding. Academy of Management Journal, 61(2), 586-614.

    [23] Malmström, M., Johansson, J., & Wincent, J. (2017). Gender stereotypes and venture support decisions: How governmental venture capitalists socially construct entrepreneurs’ potential. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 41(5), 833-860.

    [24] Hebert, Camille, The Minority Effect: Gender Stereotypes and Entrepreneur Financing (December 1, 2019). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3318245 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3318245

    [25] Buttner, E. H., & Rosen, B. (1988). Bank loan officers’ perceptions of the characteristics of men, women, and successful entrepreneurs. Journal of Business Venturing, 3(3), 249-258.

    [26] Carter, S., Shaw, E., Lam, W., & Wilson, F. (2007). Gender, entrepreneurship, and bank lending: The criteria and processes used by bank loan officers in assessing applications. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 31(3), 427-444.

    [27] Eddleston, K. A., Ladge, J. J., Mitteness, C., & Balachandra, L. (2016). Do you see what I see? Signaling effects of gender and firm characteristics on financing entrepreneurial ventures. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 40(3), 489-514.

    [28] Nancy Carter, Candida Brush, Patricia Greene, Elizabeth Gatewood & Myra Hart (2003) Women entrepreneurs who break through to equity financing: The influence of human, social and financial capital, Venture Capital, 5:1, 1-28

    [29] Manolova, T. S., Manev, I. M., Carter, N. M., & Gyoshev, B. S. (2006). Breaking the family and friends’ circle: Predictors of external financing usage among men and women entrepreneurs in a transitional economy. Venture Capital, 8(02), 109-132.

    [30] Marom, D., Robb, A., & Sade, O. (2016). Gender dynamics in crowdfunding (Kickstarter): Evidence on entrepreneurs, investors, deals and taste-based discrimination. Investors, Deals and Taste-Based Discrimination.

    [31] Greenberg, J., & Mollick, E. (2017). Activist choice homophily and the crowdfunding of female founders. Administrative Science Quarterly, 62(2), 341-374.

    [32] Neumeyer, X., Santos, S. C., Caetano, A., & Kalbfleisch, P. (2019). Entrepreneurship ecosystems and women entrepreneurs: A social capital and network approach. Small Business Economics, 53(2), 475-489.

    [33] Inman, K. (2000). Women’s Resources in Business Start‐Up. A Study of Black and White Women Entrepreneurs. Garland Publishing.

    [34] Abbasian, S., & Yazdanfar, D. (2013). Exploring the financing gap between native born women-and immigrant women-owned firms at the start-up stage: Empirical evidence from Swedish data. International Journal of Gender and Entrepreneurship, 5(2), 157-173.

    [35] Poggesi, S., Mari, M., & De Vita, L. (2016). What’s new in female entrepreneurship research? Answers from the literature. International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, 12(3), 735-764.

    [36] Estapé-Dubreuil, G., & Torreguitart-Mirada, C. (2010). Microfinance and gender considerations in developed countries: The case of Catalonia. Management Research Review, 33(12), 1140-1157.

    [37] Hussain, J., Mahmood, S., & Scott, J. (2019). Gender, Microcredit and Poverty Alleviation in a Developing Country: The Case of Women Entrepreneurs in Pakistan. Journal of International Development, 31(3), 247-270.

    [38] Geleta, E. B. (2016). Microfinance and women’s empowerment: an ethnographic inquiry. Development in Practice, 26(1), 91-101.

    [39] Aidis, R., & Weeks, J. (2016). Mapping the gendered ecosystem: The evolution of measurement tools for comparative high-impact female entrepreneur development. International Journal of Gender and Entrepreneurship, 8(4), 330-352.

    [40] Thébaud, S. (2015). Business as Plan B. Administrative Science Quarterly60(4), 671–711.

    [41] Jones, K., & Clifton, J. (2018). Rendering sexism invisible in workplace narratives. A narrative analysis of female entrepreneurs’ stories of not being talked to by men. Gender, Work & Organization25(5), 557–574.

    [42] Yang, T., & del Carmen Triana, M. (2019). Set up to fail: Explaining when women-led businesses are more likely to fail. Journal of Management, 45(3), 926-954.

    [43] Marlow, S., & Swail, J. (2014). Gender, risk and finance: Why can’t a woman be more like a man? Entrepreneurship & Regional Development, 26(1-2), 80-96.

    [44] Leitch, C., Welter, F., & Henry, C. (2018). Women entrepreneurs’ financing revisited: Taking stock and looking forward: New perspectives on women entrepreneurs and finance. Venture Capital, 20(2), 103-114.

    [45] Hannon, K. (2019, October 24). Sidepreneurship: The booming trend for women. Forbes. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/nextavenue/2019/10/24/sidepreneurship-the-booming-trend-for-women/#597e5a943fc1

    [46] Bruni, A., Gherardi, S., & Poggio, B. (2004). Doing gender, doing entrepreneurship: An ethnographic account of intertwined practices. Gender, Work & Organization, 11(4), 406-429.

    [47] Ahl, H., & Marlow, S. (2012). Exploring the dynamics of gender, feminism and entrepreneurship: advancing debate to escape a dead end? Organization, 19(5), 543–562.

    [48] Malecki, E. J. (2019). Entrepreneurs, Networks, and Economic Development Revisited, Reflections and Extensions on Key Papers of the First Twenty-Five Years of Advances. Emerald Publishing Limited. Publisher Emerald Publishing Limited Copyright, 117-126.

    [49] McAdam, M., Harrison, R. T., & Leitch, C. M. (2019). Stories from the field: Women’s networking as gender capital in entrepreneurial ecosystems. Small Business Economics, 53(2), 459-474.

    [50] Beckton, C., McDonald. J., & Marquis-Bissonnette. (2018). Everywhere, every day innovating: Women entrepreneurs and innovation. Report. Retrieved from https://carleton.ca/creww/?p=1393

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    Research summary prepared by

    Amanda Menking

    Published

    November, 2020

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  • The rise of femtech

    The rise of femtech

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    The Rise of Femtech cover             

    Overview

    In the last decade, we have seen a rise in businesses leveraging technology to offer products and services dedicated to “improving” women’s health. This new market segment has been dubbed femtech, and, according to Frost & Sullivan, it has the potential to reach $50B by 2025.[1] Because femtech is relatively new, there is little empirical research about it. However, the topic has received a great deal of attention from the popular press, and we can also learn from prior work in other cognate areas (e.g., gender diversity and innovation). This research overview provides a brief history of femtech and a summary of the existing academic work and industry research. Below, we begin by defining femtech, describing the importance of this new term—including backlash to it—and discussing what femtech signals about entrepreneurship, technology, and women’s health more broadly.

    What counts as femtech?

    When people talk about femtech, they are referring to a subset of medical technology (or medtech) products and services addressing issues historically and conventionally associated with the reproductive health of cisgender women.[2] That is, the vast majority of femtech addresses issues like contraception and fertility, pregnancy and post-pregnancy, breastfeeding, menstruation and period care, pelvic health, menopause, hormonal disorders (e.g., polycystic ovary syndrome), and sexual wellness. Some femtech companies—such as Maven, a virtual clinic for women—also address women’s health in general.

    Examples of femtech products and services include:

    • Clue. A mobile menstrual health app created by Berlin-based BioWink GmbH, a company co-founded by Ida Tin in 2013. As of 2019, Clue has raised $29.7M.[3]
    • Glow. A mobile fertility app created by a data science company of the same name, co-founded in 2013 by Max Levchin, former co-founder of PayPal. As of 2019, Glow has raised $23M.[4]
    • Natural Cycles. The first FDA approved fertility tracking app created by CB Rank, co-founded in 2013 by CERN physicist Dr. Elina Berglund and her husband Dr. Raoul Scherwitzl. As of 2019, Natural Cycles has raised $37.5M.[5]
    • Ava. Established in 2014 by Lea von Bidder, Pascal Koenig, Peter Stein, and Philipp Tholen, Ava is a bracelet that monitors five “physiological signals of fertility” and then displays the real-time data via a mobile app. As of 2019, Ava has raised $42.4M.[6]
    • Lola. Established in 2014 by co-founders Alexandra Friedman and Jordana Kier, Lola offers a subscription service for menstrual products (e.g., pads, tampons, essential oil for menstrual cramps) and sexual health products (e.g., condoms, lubricant). As of 2019, Lola has raised $35.2M.[7]
    • Lia offers the first biodegradable and flushable at-home pregnancy test. Co-founded by Bethany Edwards and Sarah Rottenberg in 2015, as of 2019, Lia has raised $2.6M.[8]
    • Co-founded by Eric Dy and Julien Penders in 2014, Bloomlife is a wearable tracking device that monitors contractions, displaying real-time data via a mobile app. As of 2019, Bloomlife has raised $14.4M.[9]
    • Creators of a Kegel trainer and breast pump, Elvie was co-founded in 2013 by Alexander Asseily and Tania Boler and has, as of 2019, raised $53.8M.[10]

    Who’s behind femtech?

    Ida Tin, a Danish entrepreneur and the co-founder and CEO of Clue, coined the term femtech in 2016 to describe the proliferation of women’s health products she’d noticed in the market and to mitigate men’s discomfort with discussing issues like incontinence and menstruation. As Tin explained during a 2018 Geekettes panel: “Then, investors can say, ‘I have four FemTech companies in my portfolio’ instead of ‘I have a company for women peeing in their pants.’ That’s hard for a male investor to say.”[11]

    The origins of the word femtech tell us several things. First, the advent of femtech signals unmet needs and corresponding opportunities in the marketplace. Second, Tin’s coining of femtech signals the female anatomy continues to be stigmatized[12] and women’s health continues to suffer from sexism.[13] [14] Relatedly, Tin’s reasoning (“That’s hard for a male investor to say”) signals the majority of investors who have the capital to fund start-ups continue to be men.

    Canadian femtech start-ups like Eve Medical, Damiva, Elvie, and Knix Wear—all of which were started by women—have also become prominent players in the femtech space. Although there’s a lot of speculation (and a growing amount of evidence) that femtech companies are more likely to be founded and funded by women, to date there has been very little academic research about femtech products, services, and entrepreneurs. Important exceptions include Sarah Fox’s 2018 dissertation in which she “examines recent industry and policy initiatives aimed at extending menstrual resources,” briefly touching on the work of social entrepreneurs in the menstrual product space.[15] However, a few femtech founders have published books about their experiences as women entrepreneurs. For example, Miki Agrawal, the controversial co-founder and former CEO of THINX, published DO COOL SH*T: Quit Your Day Job, Start Your Own Business and Live Happily Ever After in 2013 and DISRUPT-HER: A Manifesto for the Modern Woman in 2019.

    Critiques of femtech products and services

    Early critiques of femtech include Maggie Delano’s 2015 Medium article entitled “I tried tracking my period and it was even worse than I could have imagined.”[16] Delano describes how—as a queer woman with irregular periods who is not interested in having children—she felt “erased” by the apps she tried. Since 2015, the backlash against femtech has become more widespread with others echoing Delano’s observations[17], asking whether the term femtech pigeonholes women’s health[18] and essentializes women to reproductive biological functions while simultaneously excluding non-binary and trans users.[19] Critics have also asked why there is no “MenTech”—that is, why are cisgender men considered the “average user” for any given technology? Consider that menstrual tracking apps were created largely in response to Apple’s initial failure to include menstruation in HealthKit (now known simply as Health).[20] Finally, feminists and practitioners alike have expressed concerns about how femtech products exploit women’s anxieties and fears for profit.[21] For example, in her 2019 book The Vagina Bible, Jen Gunter, an OB/GYN and pain medicine physician, argues Kegel trainers and vaginal steams not only reinforce “vagina shame,” they are also unnecessary and potentially dangerous.[22] 

    What the academic research says about femtech

    Academic research about femtech has primarily fallen outside of traditional management scholarship, being dominated by those in the human computer interaction (HCI) field.

    Experimental designs and protypes

    In the past five years, a small group of human computer interaction (HCI) researchers and designers have begun to design and build femtech prototypes solely for research purposes. For example, Almeida and colleagues created Labella, “an augmented system that supports intimate bodily knowledge and pelvic fitness in women” via a pair of underwear and a mobile phone[23] while Schneider and colleagues created and tested a prototype of a fertility tracking app (FTA) to explore how technology might handle uncertainty without negative emotional effects.[24] In general, these experimental designs and prototypes have been vehicles for exploring concepts (e.g., self-knowledge, uncertainty, data practices) relevant to HCI in general. [25],[26]

    Critiques of existing femtech products

    Other HCI researchers have interrogated and critiqued existing femtech products on the market to ask how well these products meet users’ needs. In their survey and interview-based study with users of period tracking apps, Epstein and colleagues found apps were ineffective when it came to predicting cycles and that designs of apps can create feelings of exclusion for some users. [27]  Similarly, in a heuristic evaluation of 17 menstrual tracking apps, Eschler and colleagues found the majority of apps they tested did not account for users experiencing menarche and menopause. [28]

    Concerns about data security, privacy, and surveillance

    Sociologists and legal scholars have also critiqued existing digital health technologies marketed to women, asking how they reinforce gendered norms and offer ways for the body to be subject to surveillance. [29],[30],[31] For example, Karen Levy writes about different kinds of intimate surveillance including fertility tracking, noting that some fertility apps (i.e., Glow) encourage partners to set up “mirror” apps so that they can monitor moods and even provide “objective” readings of dispositions.[32] Similarly, Deborah Lupton has written about the “caring dataveillance” enacted by mothers who use tracking technologies to monitor their pregnancies and, later, their children.[33]

    Questions about whether femtech products and services improve health-related outcomes

    Finally, HCI and health informatics researchers have asked whether digital femtech products are based on evidence-based medical practices and can actually improve health-related outcomes. Lee & Kim argue that the results of their double-blind randomized control trial of two different menstrual tracking apps indicate that some such apps may result in the “possibility of behavioral and cognitive changes in dysmenorrhea and PMS management.” [34] To date the adoption, use, and efficacy other kinds of femtech products and services have been understudied.

    Gender diversity and innovation

    One of the questions researchers across disciplines have asked is whether gender diversity impacts innovation.[35],[36] For example, a study of 1,648 Danish firms found firms with more balanced gender compositions were more likely to innovate than firms with a higher concentration of one gender.[37] We know from prior work—and from industry examples like Apple’s failure to include menstruation in its earliest versions of Health—that gender is often not a factor explicitly considered during product design.[38],[39] We also know that when gender has been considered, design choices have reinforced stereotypes: for example, the “shrink it and pink it” phenomenon.[40] Some press pieces argue that men—rather than women—design the products and applications dominating femtech.[41] However, as noted above, there has yet to be any academic research done in this space.

    What industry research says about femtech

    Industry research about medtech indicates healthcare is becoming more “consumer-centric” in general.[42] While femtech has received less attention from industry researchers, many of the general observations about medtech also hold true for femtech. However, reports about femtech tend to consider more specific markets. For example:

    • I See Africa, “a content hub of curated, informative, relevant information” about trends in Africa, released a report in 2019 about the ways in which femtech in Africa is addressing menstrual equity, pregnancy care, and sexual wellness.[43]
    • Modern Fertility, Her, and researcher Mere Adams released a report based on survey data about the state of “LGBTQ+ fertility” in 2019. In it, they note the fertility information gap and subsequent use of social media to address this gap, challenges with traditional healthcare, enthusiasm towards at-home fertility tests, and the anxiety triggered by fertility concerns.[44]

    In summary, the modest amount of industry research available about femtech indicates that some products and services may be able to address the needs of consumers who have historically been marginalized by mainstream markets, medical institutions, and practices.[45]

    What we still don’t know about femtech

    Because the rise of femtech is such a recent phenomenon, there is still much we do not know. Future academic research might ask questions about:

    • The demographics and motivations of femtech founders and investors. Who are femtech founders and what motivates them to start companies in this space? What kinds of barriers do they face and how do they overcome these barriers? How does entrepreneurship in this space compare to entrepreneurship in other industries and market segments? Are women more likely than men to start and/or invest in femtech ventures?
    • The role of gender diversity in innovation. How is gender diversity important in this space? Are women more likely to create innovative products that address women’s health concerns? Does one need to be a woman to disrupt women’s health?
    • The role of social entrepreneurship in femtech. Are femtech founders more likely to make social good a key part of their businesses as some popular media pieces have assumed?[46] If so, how does this impact their business strategies and their success?
    • Global femtech markets and consumers. How do femtech solutions for girls and women in poorer countries compare to those in wealthier countries? Do femtech markets and consumers differ across the globe? If so, how and why?
    • The design and execution of femtech products and services, particularly with regard to evidence-based medical practices. How do femtech products and services incorporate evidence-based medical practices? Do femtech products and services improve health-related outcomes?
    • Femtech and health disparities. What kinds of conceptualizations of the body do femtech founders employ in the design and execution of their products and services? How do femtech products and services contribute to existing health disparities? Relatedly, do they create new ones?
    • The necessity and efficacy of femtech products and services. Is femtech truly radical, or yet another way to “shrink it and pink it”? If the femtech market becomes dominated by women entrepreneurs, investors, and designers, will we see new innovations that break with old stereotypes?

    Returning to the question we posed above regarding whether femtech is an innovative and disruptive space for women’s health or simply a buzzword, the answer is clear: femtech is more than a buzzword. But it is too early for us to understand how much more. We do not yet know all of the potential promises—and pitfalls—of technologies designed, produced, and marketed to “improve” women’s health. This, then, is an area for ample future work across a range of scholarly disciplines.

    __________________________

    Research overview prepared by:

    Dr. Amanda Menking, under the supervision of Professor Sarah Kaplan, Director, Institute for Gender and the Economy at the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management.

    The preparation of this research overview was supported by the Government of Canada’s Women Entrepreneurship Knowledge Hub (WEKH).

    Cite as:

    Menking, Amanda (2020), “The Rise of Femtech,” Institute for Gender and the Economy, https://www.gendereconomy.org/the-rise-of-femtech.

    References

    [1] Femtech: Time for a digital revolution in the women’s health market. (2018, January 31). Frost & Sullivan. Report. Retrieved from https://ww2.frost.com/frost-perspectives/femtechtime-digital-revolution-womens-health-market/

    [2] There has been little to no attention or research on how these concerns are relevant for transgender men.

    [3] Clue. Crunchbase. Retrieved from https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/clue

    [4] Glow. Crunchbase. Retrieved from https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/glow

    [5] Natural Cycles. Crunchbase. Retrieved from https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/naturalcycles

    [6] Ava. Crunchbase. Retrieved from https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/ava-3

    [7] Lola. Crunchbase. Retrieved from https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/lola

    [8] Lia. Crunchbase. Retrieved from https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/lia-diagnostics

    [9] Bloomlife. Crunchbase. Retrieved from https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/bloom-technologies

    [10] Elvie. Crunchbase. Retrieved from https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/chiaro-technology-ltd

    [11] Weiss, S. (2018, April 16). What is FemTech? 5 things to know about the new industry. Bustle. Retrieved from https://www.bustle.com/p/what-is-femtech-5-things-to-know-about-the-new-industry-8792289

    [12] Braun, V., & Wilkinson, S. (2001). Socio-cultural representations of the vagina. Journal of Reproductive and Infant Psychology, 19(1), 17-32.

    [13] Hughes, F., & Bernstein, P. S. (2018). Sexism in obstetrics and gynecology: not just a “women’s issue”. American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, 219(4), 364-e1.

    [14] Homan, P. (2019). Structural sexism and health in the United States: a new perspective on health inequality and the gender system. American Sociological Review, 84(3), 486-516.

    [15] Fox, S. (2018). Maintaining the Menstruating Body: Feminist Interventions on Care Resources. Dissertation. DOI: http://hdl.handle.net/1773/42879

    [16] Delano, M. (2015, February 23). I tried tracking my period and it was even worse than I could have imagined. Medium. Retrieved from https://medium.com/@maggied/i-tried-tracking-my-period-and-it-was-even-worse-than-i-could-have-imagined-bb46f869f45

    [17] Tiffany, K. (2018, November 16). Period-tracking apps are not for women. Vox. Retrieved from https://www.vox.com/the-goods/2018/11/13/18079458/menstrual-tracking-surveillance-glow-clue-apple-health

    [18] Kleinman, Z. (2019, October 8). Femtech: right time, wrong term? BBC News. Retrieved from https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-49880017

    [19] Goldhill, O. (2019, April 3). “FemTech” is not and should not be a thing. Quartz. Retrieved from https://qz.com/1586815/why-femtech-is-a-sexist-category/

    [20] Duhaime-Ross, A. (2014, Sept. 25). Apple promised an expansive health app, so why can’t I track menstruation? The Verge. Retrieved from https://www.theverge.com/2014/9/25/6844021/apple-promised-an-expansive-health-app-so-why-cant-i-track

    [21] Altman, A. (2019, January 14). Mommy and data. The New Republic. Retrieved from https://newrepublic.com/article/152693/femtech-companies-alleviate-exploit-female-anxiety

    [22] Gunter, J. (2019). The Vagina Bible: The Vulva and the Vagina: Separating the Myth from the Medicine. Citadel Press.

    [23] Almeida, T., Wood, G., Comber, R., and Balaam, M. 2016. Interactivity: looking at the vagina through Labella. In Proceedings of the 2016 CHI Conference Extended Abstracts on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI EA ’16). ACM, New York, NY, USA, 3635-3638. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1145/2851581.2890261

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    [25] Fox, S., Howell, N., Wong, R., & Spektor, F. (2019, June). Vivewell: speculating near-future menstrual tracking through current data practices. In Proceedings of the 2019 on Designing Interactive Systems Conference (pp. 541-552). ACM, New York, NY, USA, 541-552. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1145/3322276.3323695

    [26] Bardzell, J., Bardzell, S., Lazar, A. & Makoto Su, N. (2019). (Re-)framing menopause experiences for HCI and design. In Proceedings of the 2019 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI ’19). ACM, New York, NY, USA, Paper 115, 13 pages. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1145/3290605.3300345

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    [28] Eschler, J., Menking, A., Fox, S., & Backonja, U. (2019). Defining menstrual literacy with the aim of evaluating mobile menstrual tracking applications. CIN: Computers, Informatics, Nursing, 37(12), 638-646.

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    [32] Levy, K. E. (2014). Intimate surveillance. Idaho Law Review, 51(3), 679-694.

    [33] Lupton, D. (2019). Caring dataveillance: women’s use of apps to monitor pregnancy and children. The Routledge Companion to Digital Media and Children. Abingdon-on-Thames: Routledge.

    [34] Lee, J., & Kim, J. (2019). Can menstrual health apps selected based on users’ needs change health-related factors? A double-blind randomized controlled trial. Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association, 26(7), 655-666.

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    [36] Díaz-García, C., González-Moreno, A., & Jose Sáez-Martínez, F. (2013). Gender diversity within R&D teams: its impact on radicalness of innovation. Innovation, 15(2), 149-160.

    [37] Østergaard, C. R., Timmermans, B., & Kristinsson, K. (2011). Does a different view create something new? The effect of employee diversity on innovation. Research Policy, 40(3), 500-509.

    [38] Dray, S.M., Busse, D.K., Brock, A.M., Peters, A.N., Bardzell, S., Druin, A., Burnett, M.M., Churchill E.F., Williams, G., Holtzblatt, K., & Murray, D. (2014). Perspectives on gender and product design. In CHI ’14 Extended Abstracts on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI EA ’14). ACM, New York, NY, USA, 53-56. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1145/2559206.2559218

    [39] Metaxa-Kakavouli, D., Wang, K., Landay, J.A., & Hancock, J. (2018). Gender-inclusive design: sense of belonging and bias in web interfaces. In Proceedings of the 2018 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI ’18). ACM, New York, NY, USA, Paper 614, 6 pages. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1145/3173574.3174188

    [40] Van Tilburg, M., Lieven, T., Herrmann, A., & Townsend, C. (2015). Beyond “pink it and shrink it” perceived product gender, aesthetics, and product evaluation. Psychology & Marketing, 32(4), 422-437.

    [41] Ayers, R. (2019, September 26). The rise of “menstrual surveillance” and the fight for data privacy in women’s health. Dataconomy. Retrieved from https://dataconomy.com/2019/09/the-rise-of-menstrual-surveillance-and-the-fight-for-data-privacy-in-womens-health/

    [42] Betts, D. & Korenda, L. (2019, November 21). A consumer-centered future of health. Deloitte. Retrieved from https://www2.deloitte.com/us/en/insights/industry/health-care/global-health-care-trends-survey.html

    [43] FemTech: eHealth for women. (2019). I See Africa. Report. Retrieved from http://iseeafrica.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/fem-tech-final-report.pdf

    [44] Modern state of LGBTQ+ fertility 2019. (2019). Modern Fertility. Report. Retrieved from https://modernfertility.com/lgbtq-fertility-survey-2019/

    [45] Bird, J. (2019, November 28). ‘Femtech’ adapted to benefit women and girls in poorer countries. Financial Times. Retrieved from https://www.ft.com/content/a7a79e1e-f630-11e9-bbe1-4db3476c5ff0

    [46] Jones, N. (2018, November 8). Women’s health start-ups bloom with no blushes. Financial Times. Retrieved from https://www.ft.com/content/de0f5b8c-dec0-11e8-b173-ebef6ab1374a

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    Research summary prepared by

    Amanda Menking

    Published

    November, 2020

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  • Anti-sexual harassment training: does it work?

    Anti-sexual harassment training: does it work?

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    What is anti-sexual harassment training?

    Organizations have been conducting anti-sexual harassment training for decades. However, with the rise of the #MeToo movement in 2017, conversations about preventing sexual harassment in workplaces have come to the forefront of attention for media and organizations. One Canadian poll found that 43% of women and 12% of men have been subject to sexual harassment at work.[1] Another study discovered that 64% of women and 53% of men believe that sexual harassment happens at their workplace.[2] Today, anti-sexual harassment training is a common method to spread awareness and mitigate this widespread problem. In fact, in the United States, anti-sexual harassment training in workplaces is a USD 10 billion industry[3], and five states legally require employers to provide harassment prevention training to employees.[4] Further, in one survey conducted by the Canadian government in 2017, 43% of survey respondents indicated that they have received training on their workplace’s sexual harassment policy.[5]

    The goals of anti-sexual harassment training are to increase awareness and accuracy of recognizing sexual harassment, as well as to educate employees about the organization’s processes for handling complaints (e.g., the procedures for filing a complaint, as well as organizational responses to complaints). It also aims to sensitize employees to the illegality and offensiveness of sexual harassment, and how it is damaging to employees and the workplace. Training comes in all shapes and sizes: it can be experiential, and can include video, games, group discussions or lectures; training times vary vastly in length, and may even involve multiple sessions.[6] Since anti-sexual harassment training is diverse in its methods and delivery, it should not be characterized uniformly. Nevertheless, considering the popularity of training, it remains important to question what its impacts are. Are anti-sexual harassment training programs useful and effective tools for reducing sexual harassment at work?

    To debate this question, scholars gathered at the Institute for Gender and the Economy’s Research Roundtable at the Rotman School of Management. In the Oxford-style debate, Professors Ivona Hideg (Lazaridis School of Business and Economics, Wilfrid Laurier University) and Rachel Ruttan (Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto) argued in favour of the effectiveness of anti-sexual harassment training, while Professors Laura Derksen (University of Toronto, Mississauga) and Heidi Matthews (Osgoode Hall Law School, York University) argued against it. Below is a summary of the insights generated from the debate.

    Why anti-sexual harassment training may be effective.

    Research suggests that anti-sexual harassment training can be a useful complement to other anti-sexual harassment measures, particularly in providing education and awareness for employees.

    • It increases knowledge about sexual harassment: Often, employees may be uncertain about what counts as sexual harassment. Training can be useful in that it puts everyone on the same page about what constitutes harassment, while also giving people the language and tools to address it. This is especially important in diverse work environments where employees may come from different cultures and backgrounds. Indeed, research shows that sexual harassment training increases the propensity to identify sexually harassing behaviour, particularly for men.[7] In one study, employees who received training were more likely to indicate that unwanted sexual gestures, touching, and pressure for dates are sexual harassment.[8] Recognizing what counts as sexual harassment is an important first step to changing behaviour.
    • It can result in increased reporting and reduced victim blaming: Evidence indicates that the number of sexual harassment complaints at companies increases after training, suggesting that complainants are more willing to come forward.[9] This should not be seen as a sign that the training is not working, but rather that it is creating a more comfortable space for complainants to speak up without the fear that they may be judged negatively. Moreover, research has found that anti-sexual harassment training is associated with decreased victim-blaming beliefs.[10]
    • It may be most effective in mobilizing bystanders: Although many people may think the goals of anti-sexual harassment training are to decrease perpetrators’ behaviours and increase targets’ willingness to report complaints, research shows that anti-sexual harassment training may function most effectively through bystander effects. Bystander intervention training can increase bystander intentions to intervene, confidence about intervening, as well as their actual rates of intervention.[11] [12] Bystander interventions also mitigate victim blaming and circumvent the potential backlash if targets report harassment themselves.[13] Anti-sexual harassment training for bystanders is thus a crucial tool for supporting people who are targeted with harassment.

    In one study, employees who received training were more likely to indicate that unwanted sexual gestures, touching, and pressure for dates are sexual harassment. Recognizing what counts as sexual harassment is an important first step to changing behaviour.

    • It can produce feelings of safety for employees: Beyond the benefits of the training content itself, offering anti-sexual harassment training may also have the symbolic effect of signalling to employees that they work in an environment where it is safe to come forward, and that the organization is not tolerant of harassment.[14] This can create feelings of inclusivity for employees, particularly women. While anti-sexual harassment training may not be a perfect preventative measure, not having it may also signal a lack of care about a serious workplace issue.

    Why anti-sexual harassment training may not be effective.

    While anti-sexual harassment training has its benefits, other evidence suggests it does not stop sexual harassment and may even create undesirable consequences.

    • It ignores structural problems such as power dynamics and discrimination: Anti-sexual harassment training is often done without parallel interventions in the power dynamics and sex- and gender-based discrimination that comes hand-in-hand with sexual harassment.[15] Without any substantial intervention on power and discrimination, training that focuses only on sexual harassment addresses a small part of a bigger problem, and is less likely to be effective. Indeed, some studies have shown that such training is not effective in changing harassing behaviours or reducing incidents of harassment.[16] [17] Moreover, anti-sexual harassment training has even been shown to entrench problematic gender norms. For instance, one study showed that training reinforced traditional and paternalistic gender stereotypes, because it associated men and women with traditional gender roles.[18]
    • It may be more symbolic than real: Researchers have suggested that anti-sexual harassment training is symbolic, rather than a real effort. Although there is little evidence anti-sexual harassment training actually reduces harassment, companies continue to undertake it, often as a box-checking or compliance exercise.[19] This is because anti-sexual harassment training can be an “easy out” to avoid financial or reputational losses, and the company still looks like it is acting in good faith.[20]

    For example, it is often overlooked that anti-sexual harassment training programs were developed as litigation defense for companies if or when targets might file claims. In the United States under Equal Employment Opportunity law, anti-sexual harassment practices like training can be used to demonstrate a lack of discrimination in the organization, regardless of the content or quality of the training. That is, companies can avoid litigation simply by showing that they have invested in this preventative measure. As a result, training does not directly address the problem of sexual harassment, nor is there an incentive for it to do so. [21][22][23]

    • It can lead to backlash: Anti-sexual harassment training may lead to backlash, especially from men. For example, after training, men may fear making mistakes and become deterred from working with junior women. In turn, this stops men from establishing working relationships with women that could have benefitted women’s career advancement. Further, one study found that men had a reduced willingness to report sexual harassment after anti-sexual harassment training, which may have been a mechanism of self-preservation in the face of a perceived attack on their gender.[24] Other research has shown that employee training on sexual harassment results in decreased numbers of women managers, possibly due to feelings of group threat and backlash from men.[25]
    • It may give wrong ideas about sexual harassment and violence: Anti-sexual harassment training can be viewed as part of a bureaucratic regulation of sex, which some scholars have argued may be counterproductive to addressing sexual violence and sexual harassment because it also regulates “ordinary sex.” That is, definitions of sexual harassment and consent used in workplaces and other institutions tend to be broader than legal definitions, which may in turn flatten complex issues of desire and sex by suggesting that almost any sexual interaction is impermissible, and therefore punishable. It is possible this occurs at the expense of focusing on what sexual harassment and violence entail. By focusing on sexuality and not on power dynamics, the training could veer in unhelpful directions. Evidence suggests that this may result in the targeting of racial minorities who have been and continue to be stereotyped as overly sexual.[26]

    How can organizations conduct anti-sexual harassment training effectively?

    The debate suggested that some anti-sexual harassment training can be more effective than others. Although these training programs may not be perfect right now, the debate also shed light on how they may be improved on in the future. Some insights from research include the following:

    • Be immersive and extensive. Like other training programs, effective anti-sexual harassment training should be in-person and involve interactive experiences or group exercises. This will create more long-term impact than individual training based on, for example, reading company policies or watching a video online.[27] [28] Further, training has been found to be more effective if it is at least four hours long, allows for feedback, and is situationally specific to industries, companies and departments.[29]
    • Recognize that discrimination and power dynamics play a role: Training that fails to take into account how sexual harassment is influenced by discrimination and power dynamics will not fully educate employees on harassment. It should be made clear that sexual harassment is an expression of gender-based discrimination and is used as a means to enforce social and workplace power hierarchies.[30] It should also be emphasized that not only women are targets of sexual harassment, and that men and people who do not identify within the gender binary are also affected. The goal of training should thus be to create a safe environment for everyone.
    • Receive leadership support: Those in power can play an important role in setting the tone. If management constantly shows support for, and reinforces, anti-sexual harassment training, they signal that the training’s message matters to them, and that they will hold harassers accountable. Training should suggest that harassment is everyone’s problem, not just the targets’.[31] [32]
    • Include clear goals, follow-up, and measurement: Training should have clear goals and ensure that intended outcomes are well-defined. Further, discussion and self-assessment around the problem of sexual harassment should be frequent and continuous. Organizations can achieve this by having follow-up or “booster” sessions for their anti-sexual harassment training. Over the long-term, companies can keep track of their progress on these milestones and measure incidences of harassment, making note of changes.[33]

    What else can organizations do to prevent sexual harassment?

    Although anti-sexual harassment training is the most common way to prevent sexual harassment, it is not the only way. Beyond training, the debate suggested that organizations should ensure other processes are in place to prevent sexual harassment and provide support for their employees, such as through the following actions:

    • Create an anti-sexual harassment policy and follow through with it: An anti-sexual harassment policy is important to convey an organization’s commitment to a harassment-free work environment, and the organization’s plans and procedures for handling complaints. It is also crucial that organizations follow through with the policy when complaints arise. This will signal to employees that managers are serious about anti-sexual harassment and will hold harassers accountable.

    Further, research shows that anti-sexual harassment training is more effective when there is a higher representation of women managers, and power is more equally distributed amongst men and women.

    • Provide mental and emotional support for employees: Ensuring that targets have access to crucial services, such as trauma counselling and therapy, can help employee wellbeing while also showing that organizations value their employees.
    • Cultivate a more inclusive workplace culture: Workplaces can make their organizational culture more inclusive outside of anti-sexual harassment training. For example, they can train employees on how to be an ally, reward bystander intervention, and show zero-tolerance for any sexist, racist, or otherwise discriminatory behaviour in day-to-day activities.
    • Change power dynamics: Sexual harassment can arise from exploiting power relationships. Hiring and promoting more women can help transform these dynamics by making the hierarchy more balanced. Further, research shows that anti-sexual harassment training is more effective when there is a higher representation of women managers, and power is more equally distributed amongst men and women.[34]

    Organizations face a legal, moral and business imperative to prevent sexual harassment of their employees. What is debatable is whether anti-sexual harassment training is the right tool with which to do so. On the one hand, conducting training could be effective in educating employees and helping support targets. On the other hand, it is troubling that anti-sexual harassment training does not address the power dynamics and discrimination that cause sexual harassment in the first place, and can simply be lip service for an organization. This debate highlighted good practices for training programs while also demonstrating potential problems organizations should be aware of as they strive to reduce sexual harassment at work.

    __________________________

    Research summary prepared by:

    Carmina Ravanera, Research Associate and Joyce He, Ph.D. Candidate, Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management, Rotman School of Management, U of T

    References

    [1] Angus Reid Institute (2014). Three-in-ten Canadians say they’ve been sexually harassed at work, but very few have reported this to their employers. Retrieved on December 4, 2019 from http://angusreid.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/2014.12.05-Sexual-Harassment-at-work.pdf

    [2] Anderson, B. (2017). Sexual harassment of women is widespread in Canada. Abacus Data. Retrieved on December 4, 2019 from https://abacusdata.ca/sexual-harassment-of-women-is-widespread-in-canada/

    [3] Roehling, M.V. and Huang, J. (2018). Sexual harassment training effectiveness: An interdisciplinary review and call for research. Journal of Organizational Behaviour 39, 134-150.

    [4] Green, J. (14 October, 2019). Sexual harassment training now required for 20 per cent of U.S. workers. Canadian HR Reporter. Retrieved on November 19, 2019 from https://www.hrreporter.com/workplace-law/41292-sexual-harassment-training-now-required-for-20-per-cent-of-us-workers/

    [5] Employment and Social Development Canada (2017). Harassment and Sexual Violence in the Workplace: Public Consultations. Retrieved on November 19, 2019 from https://www.canada.ca/en/employment-social-development/services/health-safety/reports/workplace-harassment-sexual-violence.html

    [6] Magley, V.J. et al. (2013). Changing Sexual Harassment within Organizations via Training Interventions: Suggestions and Empirical Data. In R.J. Burke and C.L. Cooper (Eds.), The Fulfilling Workplace: The Organization’s Role in Achieving Individual and Organizational Health (pp. 225-246). London, UK: Routledge.

    [7] Blakely, G.L. et al. (1998). The Effects of Training on Perceptions of Sexual Harassment Allegations. Journal of Applied Social Psychology 28(1), 71-83.

    [8] Antecol, H. and Cobb-clark, D. (2003). Does Sexual Harassment Training Change Attitudes? A View from the Federal Level. Social Science Quarterly 84(4), 826-842.

    [9] Magley, V.J. et al. (2013). Changing Sexual Harassment within Organizations via Training Interventions: Suggestions and Empirical Data. In R.J. Burke and C.L. Cooper (Eds.), The Fulfilling Workplace: The Organization’s Role in Achieving Individual and Organizational Health (pp. 225-246). London, UK: Routledge.

    [10] Lonsway, K.A. et al. (2008). Sexual Harassment Mythology: Definition, Conceptualization, and Measurement. Sex Roles 58(9-10), 599-615.

    [11] Orchowski, L.M. et al. (2018). Evaluations of Sexual Assault Prevention Programs in Military Settings: A Synthesis of the Research Literature. Military Medicine 183, 421-428.

    [12] Dobbin, F. and Kalev, A. (2019). The promise and peril of sexual harassment programs. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 116(25), 12255-12260.

    [13] Hart, C.G. (2019). The Penalties For Self-Reporting Sexual Harassment. Gender & Society 33(4), 534-559.

    [14] Brown, K. G., & Sitzmann, T. (2011). Training and employee development for improved performance. In Z. Sheldon (Ed.), APA Handbook of Industrial and Organizational Psychology: Selecting and developing members for

    the organization (Vol. 2) (pp. 469–503). Washington, DC, US: American Psychological Association.

    [15] Pina, A., Gannon, T. A., and Saunders, B. (2009). An overview of the literature on sexual harassment: Perpetrator, theory, and treatment issues. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 14, 126-138.

    [16] Magley, V.J. et al. (2013). Changing Sexual Harassment within Organizations via Training Interventions: Suggestions and Empirical Data. In R.J. Burke and C.L. Cooper (Eds.), The Fulfilling Workplace: The Organization’s Role in Achieving Individual and Organizational Health (pp. 225-246). London, UK: Routledge.

    [17] Roehling, M.V. and Huang, J. (2018). Sexual harassment training effectiveness: An interdisciplinary review and call for research. Journal of Organizational Behaviour 39, 134-150.

    [18] Tinkler, J., Gremillion, S. and Arthurs, K. (2015). Perceptions of Legitimacy: The Sex of the Legal Messenger and Reactions to Sexual Harassment Training. Law & Social Inquiry 40(1), 152-174.

    [19] Grossman, J.L. (2003). The Culture of Compliance: The Final Triumph of Form Over Substance in Sexual Harassment Law. Harvard Women’s Law Journal 26, 3-75.

    [20] Bisom-Rapp, S. (2018-2019). Sex Harassment Training Must Change: The Case for Legal Incentives for Transformative Education and Prevention. Stanford Law Review Online, 71, 60-73.

    [21] Edelman, L.B. (2016). Working Law: Courts, Corporations, and Symbolic Civil Rights. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

    [22] Tippett, E.C. (2018). Harassment Trainings: A Content Analysis. Berkeley Journal of Employment and Labour Law 39, 481-526.

    [23] Krieger, L.H., Best, R.K. and Edelman, L.B. (2015). When “Best Practices” Win, Employees Lose: Symbolic Compliance and Judicial Inference in Federal Equal Employment Opportunity Cases. Law & Social Inquiry 40(4), 843-879.

    [24] Bingham, S.G. and Scherer, L.L. (2001). The Unexpected Effects of a Sexual Harassment Educational Program. The Journal of Applied Behavioral Science 37 (2), 125-153.

    [25] Dobbin, F. and Kalev, A. (2019). The promise and peril of sexual harassment programs. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 116(25), 12255-12260.

    [26] Gerson, J. and Suk, J. (2016). The Sex Bureaucracy. California Law Review 104(4), 881-948.

    [27] Potter, S.J. et al. (2016). Conveying campus sexual misconduct policy information to college and university students: Results from a 7-campus study. Journal of American College Health 64(6), 438-447.

    [28] Perry, E. L., Kulik, C. T., & Schmidtke, J. M. (1998). Individual differences in the effectiveness of

    sexual harassment awareness training. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 28, 698–723.

    [29] Kalinoski, Z.T., et al. (2012). A meta-analytic evaluation of diversity training outcomes. Journal of Organizational Behavior 34(8), 1076-1104.

    [30] Pina, A., Gannon, T. A., & Saunders, B. (2009). An overview of the literature on sexual harassment: Perpetrator, theory, and treatment issues. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 14, 126-138.

    [31] Dobbin, F. and Kalev, A. (2019). The promise and peril of sexual harassment programs. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 116(25), 12255-12260.

    [32] Buchanan, N.T. et al. (2014). A Review of Organizational Strategies for Reducing Sexual Harassment: Insights from the U.S. Military. Journal of Social Issues 70(4), 687-702.

    [33] Buchanan, N.T. et al. (2014). A Review of Organizational Strategies for Reducing Sexual Harassment: Insights from the U.S. Military. Journal of Social Issues 70(4), 687-702.

    [34] Dobbin, F. and Kalev, A. (2019). The promise and peril of sexual harassment programs. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 116(25), 12255-12260.

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    Research summary prepared by

    Carmina Ravanera, Research Associate and Joyce He, Ph.D. Candidate, Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management, Rotman School of Management, U of T

    Published

    November 27, 2019

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