Bernstein Center for Leadership and Ethics

Prior to 2009, women made up only 8 percent of the directors of U.S. corporate boards. By 2019, the figure increased to 19 percent among public firms, but for private firms it was roughly unchanged. Despite mandates, goals, and rhetoric, progress toward board diversity is what commentators have referred to as "glacial." New research affiliated with the Reuben Mark Initiative for Organizational Character and Leadership under the auspices of the Bernstein Center for Leadership and Ethics at Columbia Business School examines a critical factor for achieving and sustaining a faster pace of change.

The gender pay gap is a hot topic among business leaders, policy makers and the public. The difference between men’s and women’s salaries is a clear-cut measure of gender equity. Yet, it doesn’t tell the whole story. A limited focus on pay excludes the value of non-pay job attributes, such as benefits, hours flexibility and other amenities. New research affiliated with the Reuben Mark Initiative for Organizational Character and Leadership under the auspices of the Bernstein Center for Leadership and Ethics at Columbia Business School explores these non-pay attributes, which are often valued differently by men and women in the labor force. Thus, policies that strive to improve gender equity in the workplace must include both pay and non-pay aspects of employment. However, measuring the relative importance of non-pay attributes in the labor market is notoriously challenging.

Digital media platforms such as Netflix, Facebook, and TikTok are under increasing scrutiny regarding the ethical implications of their personalized content recommendations. To combat bias and avoid skewed content suggestions, sophisticated algorithms can perform additional layers of analysis to ensure that recommendations give space to topics such as racial equity, sexuality, and political persuasion. However, doing this in real time with the conventional algorithmic approach would greatly increase page-load times and create a frustrating user experience. New research affiliated with the Bernstein Center for Leadership and Ethics sets out a new, faster method for applying ethical constraints to produce responsible content recommendations.

Policymakers and international organizations like the United Nations have suspected that local banks play a role in improving healthcare outcomes in developing countries. New research affiliated with the Bernstein Center for Leadership and Ethics takes a broad look at bank services in developing countries and uncovers surprising links between healthcare marketplaces and positive community outcomes.

Recently, some brands have chosen to take sides on controversial issues. However, this type of brand activism may aggravate social polarization without benefit. New research affiliated with the Bernstein Center for Leadership and Ethics at Columbia Business School suggests brands that choose a different path can play a unique and successful role decreasing the polarization of social and political attitudes.