While it’s no secret that unconscious bias can adversely impact women’s career growth, not much is known about how this stereotyping is being preserved and perpetuated in modern organizations.

In her dissertation, Jodi Detjen, DBA ‘21, found that women were underrepresented in leadership positions because of a legacy of ‘masculine contest culture’ being passed down through generations of the firm. This culture shaped leadership styles of male executives and may influence promotions track and processes unfair to women.

Detjen urges executives to make promotions more transparent, objective and inclusive as a first step to changing the processes into which masculine contest culture is built.