What Works Quotes

“Controlling for a large number of additional variables, they found that firms with at least one woman among the first hires were more successful and stayed longer in the market than all-male start-ups.”
― Iris Bohnet, What Works: Gender Equality by Design

“Indeed, this is the very promise of behavioral design; it can change behavior by changing environments rather than mindsets.”
― Iris Bohnet, What Works: Gender Equality by Design

“In their otherwise depressing review of the efficacy of diversity training programs, Frank Dobbin and colleagues found accountability to be one of the most important mechanisms related to the diversity of the labor force. Assigning responsibility for managing diversity to taskforces, diversity officers, or some similar committee was strongly associated with an increase in workforce diversity, including in the fraction of women.”
― Iris Bohnet, What Works: Gender Equality by Design

“While the macro- and the micro-evidence hold the promise of a business case, gender equality is not a magic bullet automatically leading to economic progress. This is why, at the end of the day, the case of gender equality must rest on a moral argument. It just is the right thing to do. Full stop.”
― Iris Bohnet, What Works: Gender Equality by Design