From fiction to reality: Can art reduce bias against women leaders?

Keywords: gender norms, social influence, leadership, behavioral change

Can artworks that challenge gender norms reduce bias against women leaders?

Across cultures and over time, women remain underrepresented in leadership roles. The bias against women leaders is sustained by detrimental gender norms that are resistant to change. Can artworks that challenge these norms reduce bias against women leaders? I advance a new model that explains how, when, and why norm-violating artworks reduce real-world bias. I test the model using experimental techniques that manipulate the content of artworks in collaboration with artists from different genres (e.g., dance, film, photography). My methodology combines lab, online, and field studies involving behavioral, physiological, longitudinal, and cross-cultural data.

Other partners:
University of California at Berkeley, Stanford, University of Vienna

Other researchers:
Dacher Keltner, Michele Gelfand, Matthew Pelowski