The Lit Review: An AMJ Podcast | Modupe Akinola (S1E3)

The guest this episode is Modupe Akinola, the Barbara and David Zalaznick Professor of Business at Columbia Business School. 

In this episode we talk about the decisions that firms make about diversity initiatives. While progress has been made in regard to diversity in organizations, the persistence of underrepresentation remains salient.  What explains this state of affairs? In a recent AMJ paper, Modupe and her co-authors propose a simple but profound premise: what if “lack of diversity” is not based on any objective analysis, but instead on social norms?  The results of this paper provide good insight about why diversity efforts often stall within organizations.

Modupe also shares some insights about her research looking at how men and women approach delegation in the workplace and why everyone can benefit from giving honest feedback.