What Really Drives Gender Bias in Leadership Evaluations | Dr. Aparna Joshi

In this episode of Business Talk, host Deepak Bhatt sits down with Dr. Aparna Joshi, Professor of Management and Organizations at the Stephen M. Ross School of Business, University of Michigan, Fellow of the Academy of Management, and recipient of the 2025 Academy of Management General Impact Award, to explore her landmark paper, "An Integrative Conceptual Review of Gender Bias in Leader Evaluations: An Observer-Focused, Motive-Driven Process Model." For decades, gender bias research has implicitly placed the burden of change on women, from unconscious bias training to the Lean In movement, asking them to navigate, adjust, and get it just right. Dr. Joshi makes a decisive pivot: rather than asking what women leaders should do differently, her research asks why different observers evaluate the very same woman leader so differently. At the heart of her model are three core observer motives, identity (rooted in either threat or affinity), value alignment (shaped by ideology and beliefs about merit), and resource dependence (which can lead to bias-by-proxy in multilateral settings), each revealing that bias is not simply a product of the leader's behaviour, but of the goals and motives the evaluator brings to the room. This conversation challenges organisations, managers, and scholars to stop targeting women and start targeting the systems and evaluators that shape these unequal outcomes. This podcast is brought to you by Global Management Consultancy. Disclaimer: 1. The background music incorporated in this video is the intellectual property of its respective developer and is protected under applicable copyright laws. Notwithstanding that it is a free-to-use version, Business Talk, Global Management Consultancy, and Deepak Bhatt do not own, and expressly do not claim, any rights, title, or interest in or to this music. 2. Dr. Aparna Joshi shared key insights from her fascinating research, “An Integrative Conceptual Review of Gender Bias in Leader Evaluations: An Observer-Focused Motive-Driven Process Model”, in an engaging episode of the Business Talk podcast. The uploaded video contains copyrighted content, so changing any graphics, music, or on-screen appearance of the author or host is not allowed.