Advancing Gender Equity and Diversity in the Workplace: The Role of Allyship and Leadership

Addressing inequity is a pressing societal concern. For example, numerous studies have provided consistent evidence for gender inequities as well as barriers and adverse workplace experiences women face. In this symposium, we aim to shed light on factors that can help accelerate social progress in the domain of gender and leadership. The papers in this symposium showcase how leaders can effectively facilitate women’s leadership advancement (Bajet Mestre & Gloor; Lyubykh, Alonso, & Turner) and help manage team diversity (Yang, Li, van Knippenberg, & Pieterse), offer a psychometrically robust scale to measure leader allyship (Mercer et al.), and explore how female leaders navigate tensions between gender expectations and leadership expectations (Khattab & Hentschel). We will conclude with a discussion (Hideg) to suggest directions for future research a well as takeaways for leaders, organizations, and policymakers.