The Conversation: Cities with Black women police chiefs had less street violence during 2020’s Black Lives Matter protests
In this research brief, we summarize our research study, published in Journal of Management, in which we analyzed over 11,000 BLM protests and found that those in cities with Black women police chiefs were associated with less violence. “The study highlights the significance of having diverse leadership voices and the importance of recognizing and elevating individual identities. Despite a rise in the appointment of Black police chiefs over the past decade, Black women continue to be underrepresented in law enforcement leadership positions. This research highlights the value to society of including diverse perspectives and leadership approaches informed by the intersections of people’s identities.”
San Fransisco Chronicle: Cities with Black women police chiefs had less street violence at BLM protests
Our research brief on our study of police chief effectiveness during the 2020 BLM protests, written for The Conversation, was also picked up and published in the San Francisco Chronicle, as well as the Seattle Post, Yahoo News, Caledonian Record, and Skaget Valley Herald.
Ask an Expert: Should We Move To a Four-Day, 32-Hour Work Week?
“A recent study done in the U.K. compressed the regular work week into 32 hours across four days—and most of the participating companies plan on keeping it that way now that the trial is over. Alex Stajkovic, an associate professor of management and human resources at the Wisconsin School of Business, weighs in. Here is an excerpt from Alex: “This is an interesting topic on many levels. Culturally, here in the U.S., we’re a country obsessed with work. We get a lot of our self-worth—and of course our financial worth—from our work. I was a guest recently on Wisconsin Public Radio where I talked at length about the U.K. study, so I’ll reiterate some of those thoughts here. I have concerns about the reliability of the study. First of all, 4 Day Week, the British advocacy group behind the study, likely has a vested interest in promoting the concept of a four-day week, so it raises questions about the independence of the study. It was not peer reviewed, and the data was not made publicly available, at least that I could find. That would be a red flag given the way we operate in the peer-review world of academia. But for me, the biggest issue with the pilot study is one of measurement. The independent variable of a “meaningful reduction in work time” was undefined: Companies took different approaches during the study in terms of hours and how they were structured. So even though it’s being portrayed as a four-day week of eight hours each day, that’s not what was actually done. ” Navigate to the full article to continue reading.
Wisconsin Public Radio: Invited Guest on ‘Central Time’ with Rob Ferrett
Recent pilot studies of four-day work weeks in the United Kingdom have produced positive results for employees and employers. Prof. Alex Stajkovic talks with host, Rob Ferrett, and Wisconsin Listeners about the benefits and drawbacks to the potential change. In his conversation with Rob Ferrett and Wisconsin listeners on ‘Central Time,’ Alex offers a nuanced analysis of the UK study’s limitations and emphasizes key considerations that companies need to address before implementing a four-day workweek. He provides insights into industries where this model may not work. This 20-minute segment offers a thought-provoking and informative discussion on the potential implications of a shorter work week.
A Record-Breaking Number of Women Were Elected Governor in 2022 – Here are 7 Things to kNow About How That Happened
The Conversation is an independent, nonprofit news organization dedictated to unlocking the knowledge of experts for the public good. They publish informative articles written by academic experts for the general public. In this article, the authors discuss seven things they found out about the record number of recently elected women to governorships in the U.S. The 7th item discussed is the difference in men and women governors’ COVID policies. Here, the article discusses the findings from our 2020 JAP on women governors: ” researchers found that women governors were associated with fewer deaths early in the pandemic. In states where women governors issued early stay-at-home orders, these orders were notably more effective in limiting deaths than in states in which male governors issued early stay-at-home orders. In the same research, women governors also were found to be more empathetic and more confident in their messaging during briefings.”
7 Things to Know About the Record-Breaking Number of New Women Governors
This January 2023 article discusses the importance of women in government, hurdles to be overcome, and references differences in outcomes between male and female governors. In doing so, it references our 2020 JAP study on women governors, “At the same time, researchers found that women governors were associated with fewer deaths early in the pandemic. In states where women governors issued early stay-at-home orders, these orders were notably more effective in limiting deaths than in states in which male governors issued early stay-at-home orders. In the same research, women governors also were found to be more empathetic and more confident in their messaging during briefings.”
CNBC: When Women Lead
In this CNBC episode, Julia Boorstin discusses successful tactics of women leaders. In doing so, she references our 2020 JAP study on women governors: “There’s some really interesting data around the financial crisis, but also around the pandemic about how female governors outperformed their male counterparts in very similar states. Even if they had the same policies, the female-led states minimized death to a greater degree.”
Ms. Magazine: The Reality of Running for Governor as a Woman
More women are running for governors in the 2022 election cycle than ever before. This article discusses the critical role that governors play in creating long lasting change at the state level. In doing so, it references our 2020 JAP article: “The recent crisis of the COVID-19 pandemic is a great illustration of the necessity of women governors. A study conducted by the Wisconsin School of Business found states with women governors had fewer COVID-19 deaths than states with men governors, due to early stay-at-home orders coupled with women governors expressing greater empathy and confidence in the future.”
Harvard Business Review: We Can’t Fight Climate Change Without Fighting for Gender Equity
Our research on women’s leadership during the COVID-19 crisis in the United States was referenced in conjunction with research published in Nature on women’s leadership during COVID-19 that examined effectiveness across 91 countries confirmed our findings: “Women have been demonstrated to be more effective leaders both in normal times and during crises such as the Covid-19 pandemic (in the U.S. and across 91 countries), and the data suggests this advantage extends to the climate crisis as well.”
#48 on 100 Best Organizational Psychology Books of All Time
World Economic Forum: Why female leadership is crucial to tackle climate change and other crises
Our research was referenced in this article on leadership published by the World Economic Forum. The article discusses how female leadership differs from male leadership in core competencies – making women better equipped to deal with certain challenges.
The Boston Globe: The ‘Empathy Advantage’ of Great Women Leaders
This article discusses how vulnerability can be a strength when women lead. It references our 2020 JAP article: “Leadership style can even make a lifesaving difference. A 2020 paper on female governors, also in The Journal of Applied Psychology, found that women’s leadership during COVID-19 was associated with fewer deaths. “States with women governors had fewer COVID-19 deaths than states with men governors, and when governors issued an early stay-at-home order, states with women governors were more responsive, as borne out by fewer COVID-19 deaths,” the authors wrote. “The qualitative analysis indicated a potential mechanism for that effect may be that women governors were more empathetic and confident, as shown in their briefings.”
Forbes: Women Leaders Have Shone Through the Pandemic: Men, Take Notice
This article summarizes research to suggest that women leaders have generally handled the pandemic differently than male leaders. It cites our 2020 JAP article on women governors, “A US analysis even indicated States with female governors had fewer Covid-related deaths than those with male governors. “
Ask an Expert: How Do Different Types of Goals Affect Employee Motivation?
Wisconsin School of Business Forward Thinking Faculty Blog featured my latest work on cognitive automation by posting the question, “How do different types of goals affect employee motivation?” Here is an excerpt, click the link above to read the full article. “As employees repeatedly pursue a conscious goal in a similar context, they encode associations with the goal, environment, and behaviors. These associations gradually turn automatic in the subconscious. When the same environment is re-encountered, it primes the stored goal, which triggers behaviors that were associated with the goal in the past. This process—from priming to behavior—is automatic, unfolding without awareness of the context-goal-behavior associations.”
R&E Search For Evidence: Are Women Leaders a Better Fit for the COVID-19 Response?
R&E Search for Evidence writes about new evidence and approaches for research and evaluation for human development. This article discussed the findings from our publication on women’s leadership during the COVID-19 crisis. Here is an excerpt: “Sergent and Stajkovic (2020) use a mixed-methods approach with data on death tolls, stay-at-home orders and governor briefings to analyze whether women’s leadership is associated with fewer COVID-19 deaths in U.S. states. In their quantitative analysis, the authors use analysis of covariance to estimate the relationship of COVID-19 deaths and the timing of statewide stay-at-home orders to governor sex. …. Their analysis shows states governed by women had fewer COVID-19 deaths than those governed by men. This finding aligns with previous research findings that women are better during a time of crisis.”
Reuters: What Happens When Women Run the Economy?
This article was motivated by our findings on women’s leadership during COVID-19. “The limited measures available suggest women have a better track record of managing complicated institutions through crisis….A study by the American Psychological Association showed that U.S. states with female governors had fewer COVID-19 deaths than those led by men…”
The Star: Are Women Better at Saving Lives Than Men?
Canada’s largest daily newspaper, the Toronto Star, wrote an article that featured the findings from our research on women governors during COVID-19: “We all know about Jacinda Ardern, Angela Merkel and Tsai Ing-wen’s remarkable successes in New Zealand, Germany and Taiwan, but, did you know that in America, states with women governors are better off, COVID-wise, than those who elected men?
Forbes: Data Shows Women Make Better Leaders
Our paper on women governor’s exemplary leadership during the COVID-19 crisis was referred to in this Forbes article: “You can try and debunk the claim…. But a more recent study adds ammunition. American states ran by women governors lost fewer of their people to Covid.”
The Washington Post: Women’s Leadership Research Cited
Our study on women governors was described in this Washington Post article on gender differences in organizations. “And researchers have found that in the early months of the pandemic, covid mortality rates were lower in countries with female leaders and U.S. states with female governors. Of course, there are exceptions, but on average women introduced lockdowns sooner and faced less resistance — in part because they were more likely to acknowledge people’s fears and express compassion for their pain.”
Bloomberg: Study on Women’s Leadership Cited
This Bloomberg Business article referenced our study on women’s leadership for United States Governors. “Within the U.S., research further showed that states with female governors had fewer Covid-related deaths than states with male governors. What was the difference? Using a computer program to qualitatively analyze the content of 251 briefings between April 1, 2020 and May 5, 2020 the authors found that women showed greater empathy and support for followers’ welfare. When people feel that leaders are taking care of them, they become more willing to comply with requests to social distance and wear masks. It is basically the norm of reciprocity.”
Covid Monologues: Research-Based Theater by Johns Hopkins University
Our 2020 study published in Journal of Applied Psychology on women’s leadership was one of seven monologues selected by researchers at Johns Hopkins University to be included in their project: Covid Monologues. This project received a grant from the U.S. Citizen’s Diplomacy Action Fund, sponsored by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. The project brings together theater artists and scientists to translate, humanize and disseminate scientific findings from academic research on COVID-19 to lay audiences and policymakers. For each study chosen, a summary of major themes, key messages, and qualitative interview scripts is provided to the playwrights who create the monologues. The virtual performance is on February 26th, tickets (free) click here.
Inc. Magazine: Women Leaders Performed Better During COVID-19 Crisis
Our study on women’s leadership during COVID-19 was mentioned in this article on Inc.com. The online version of this magazine receives 33 million monthly page views. Here is the excerpt: ” When they dug deeper into the data to explore exactly why women had seen this spike in their ratings, their findings boiled down to a simple conclusion: Women leaders are seen as more empathetic. “Female leaders expressed more awareness of fears that followers might be feeling, concern for well-being, and confidence in their plans,” they write, noting that another recent study of governors came to very similar conclusions.”
The BBC: Why Do We Still Distrust Women Leaders?
Our study on United States Governors leadership during early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic was featured in this BBC News article. In the section on the “COVID-19 effect” the article discusses our findings and provides a link to our article. “Women heads of government have won plaudits for decisive leadership during the pandemic, including New Zealand’s Ardern and Taiwan’s Tsai Ing-wen. And in the US, states with women governors initially had fewer deaths from Covid-19 than states with male governors.”
Harvard Business Review: Women Are Better Leaders During a Crisis
Our study on women’s leadership during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic was highlighted in a recent Harvard Business Review article about women’s leadership in a crisis. “During the Covid-19 crisis, we’ve heard anecdotally about women leaders doing a better job and new research backs that up. One study found that outcomes related to Covid-19, including number of cases and deaths, were systematically better in countries led by women. Another looked at governors in the U.S. and similarly found that states with female leaders had lower fatality rates.”
Greater Baton Rouge Business Report
Research on women governor’s mentioned in the Greater Baton Rouge Business Report. Article discussed several analysis, including our Journal of Applied Psychology article, that have found women to be more effective leaders than men during the COVID-19 crisis.
Becker’s Hospital Review
Our Journal of Applied Psychology article on women’s leadership in a crisis was mentioned in the “Leadership & Management” section of Becker’s Hospital Review.
Research Promoted by Bestselling Author, Prof. Adam Grant of Wharton
Adam Grant’s tweet about our study had 7.6k likes, 3.4k retweets on Twitter, and generated over 127 comments. Similarly, his LinkedIn post about our article garnered over 9.2k likes with over 250 comments.
The Hindu: Featured in India’s #2 Most Circulated Newspaper
Our study on women governors during the COVID-19 crisis was mentioned in this article, “Weighing in on the Efficacy of Female Leadership,” published in The Hindu. The Hindu is the second most circulated English-language newspaper in India, after The Times of India. The Hindu is published from 21 locations across 11 states of India. This demonstrates the global reach of our findings related to women’s leadership in a crisis. “Much along the same lines, a detailed recent study by researchers in the United States reports that States which have female governors had fewer COVID-19 related deaths, perhaps partly because female governors acted more decisively by issuing earlier stay-at-home orders. The authors of the study conclude that women leaders are more effective than their male counterparts in times of crises.”
I/O At Work: The Benefits of Female Leadership During the Pandemic
“The COVID-19 pandemic has shocked the United States and has tragically led to thousands of deaths across the country. Additionally, COVID-19 has drastically affected the country’s economy and left many people without work. Several public officials have compared the nation’s fight with COVID-19 to a war. Clearly, there is a need for effective leadership during this crisis. New research (Sergent & Stajkovic, 2020) examines if and why the gender of a state’s governor may be associated with that state’s amount of reported deaths during the COVID-19 pandemic. The authors argue that the female tendency to display more empathy and confidence compared to males may be associated with greater voluntary compliance of orders among followers, and in turn, fewer deaths.”
WorkrBeeing Podcast: Who Is Leading Through COVID-19 Successfully?
Our research was featured by WorkrBeeing. “What types of leaders are handling the COVID-19 crisis better? Some recent research suggests that women leaders are more effective in leading governments through the current situation. Want to learn more? Listen in as we break down this preliminary study on women leaders and COVID-19.”
Character & Context Blog: Society for Personality and Social Psychology
SPSP invited Prof. Sergent and I to write a blog describing our latest paper in Journal of Applied Psychology on Women’s Leadership in a Crisis. “Rapid escalation of COVID-19 created unprecedented levels of uncertainty. As the crisis unfolded, governors across the United States were forced to make drastic decisions that carried rare personal costs to their residents. This included social distancing measures, mandated use of face masks, business shutdowns, and school closures. In research conducted between April and May 2020, we found that the gender of governors in the United States was associated with the most important consequence of COVID-19—death rates: States with female governors had fewer COVID-19 deaths than states with male governors.”
WebMD News Briefs
My study on women’s leadership was featured by WebMD New Briefs. “The researchers analyzed public data on U.S. governors and COVID-19 deaths. . . . The researchers took into account factors such as the governor’s age, state population, face mask mandates, travel bans and ventilator numbers. Even among states with early stay-at-home orders, those with a female governor still had fewer deaths. This could suggest that “residents perhaps responded differently depending on whether a man or woman governor issued this order,” they wrote.”
Interview with PsyPost News
PsyPost interviewed us about our latest research paper published in Journal of Applied Psychology on women’s leadership during the COVID-19 crisis. “The authors of the study, Kayla Sergent of Edgewood College and Alex Stajkovic of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, were inspired by previous research that had indicated women tend to be favored for leadership roles during periods of crisis . . . The findings underscore the need to value different leadership voices and build a culture of inclusion in which varied voices are heard and valued. In the absence of women governors or women organizational leaders during a crisis, effort can be put forth to diversify leadership teams with individuals who show empathy and confidence.”
Interview with Wisconsin Public Radio
Wisconsin Public Radio (WPR) aired a story covering our latest research findings published in Journal of Applied Psychology on women’s leadership during the COVID-19 crisis. “Existing literature in the field of applied psychology suggests women tend to be more successful than men at managing crises, said Dr. Alexander Stajkovic of the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He and Dr. Kayla Sergent of Edgewood College decided to look at how states led by men and women stacked up in terms of coronavirus response, which has largely been managed by governors. Not only did they find states led by women had fewer coronavirus deaths, but also that women governors showed more optimism and empathy during the pandemic.”
iKnow Politics World News
Our research on women governors during the COVID-19 Crisis was covered by iKnowPolitics in their “World News” section. “Having a woman as governor of a U.S. state is associated with fewer COVID-19 related deaths, according to new research published in the Journal of Applied Psychology. The study also found that women governors exhibited greater empathy and confidence during their public briefings, which may help explain the association.”
Featured by The Global Women’s Leadership Network
The WSB Blog detailing the findings of our research on women’s leadership during the COVID-19 crisis was featured on the Global Women’s Network webpage. For more details about the findings and the blog, read the post below, “Research Featured by The Wisconsin School of Business.”
In the News: Featured in the UW-Madison National News Tipsheet
The coronavirus disease that emerged in 2019 (COVID-19) spotlights the need for effective leadership in a crisis. COVID-19 was an exogenous shock that dramatically affected individuals, organizations, and societies. Prof. Sergent and I published research on women’s leadership during the COVID-19 crisis. She focused on United States governors for they face extraordinary leadership trials during the COVID-19 pandemic. The findings were featured by the University of Wisconsin – Madison National News Media Group.
Research Featured by The Wisconsin School of Business
Together with my co-author,Prof. Sergent, we used the COVID-19 life-and-death pandemic to examine a growing question in the literature—whether women are more effective leaders than men in a crisis. We found that states with women governors had fewer COVID-19 related deaths compared to states with male governors. In addition, there was a significant interaction between governor gender and issuance of an early stay-at-home order: states with women governors who issued an early stay-at-home order had fewer COVID-19 deaths compared to states with men governors who issued the same order. To investigate why this might be, we next analyzed over 250 of the governors’ COVID-19 related briefings (about 1.2 million words). Compared to men governors, we found that women governors displayed greater empathy by relating to their followers’ feelings and concerns and expressed more confidence to get through the crisis.
Research Featured by the Fisher College of Business
Fisher Leadership Initiative of The Ohio State University featured a write-up summarizing Kayla’s publication in Journal of Applied Psychology, “Women’s Leadership Is Associated With Fewer Deaths During the COVID-19 Crisis: Quantitative and Qualitative Analyses of United States Governors.”
Cutting-Edge Research Colloquium
Cutting-edge Research Colloquium on our latest book, Cognitive Automation. New business realities have placed a premium on employee cognitive processing to fulfill complex jobs. But conscious cognitive capacity is limited, making it nearly impossible for employees to keep up without being overloaded. Stajković and Sergent refute the common assumption that technological automation is the only way forward. Instead, they tackle the issue of employee cognitive overload by proposing an alternative solution.
New York Times: 3 Professors Shaping the Future of Business
“Acclaimed faculty at the Wisconsin School of Business at the University of Wisconsin-Madison are producing pioneering research to discover what makes businesses more creative, equitable and successful. Their findings influence businesses of all sizes, from large publicly traded companies to startups, and help prepare future business leaders in the Wisconsin School of Business M.B.A. programs. And not many in the business community seriously considered how confidence can predict performance, until Wisconsin School of Business Prof. Alex Stajkovic analyzed nearly 47,000 studies to prove it can affect employee productivity and attitude.”
Stajkovic Named Most Influential Textbook Author
WSB featured me for a reference in a recent study that analyzed the most cited textbook authors. I placed in both the “most-cited articles in organizational textbooks” and “most-cited articles in general management textbooks” categories.
WSB Faculty Blog: How to Predict Academic Achievement
This short blog summarizing my research on the relationships between self-efficacy and the Big Five personality traits as they relate to academic achievement. “What qualities do high-achieving students have in common? Many college admission offices focus on test scores and assessments of students’ personality, but there is a third, often-overlooked factor that is essential to predicting academic achievement: self-efficacy.”
EMBA 2019: Core Confidence Stories
Students in my EMBA course on Organizational Behavior shared personal and professional examples of how core confidence has helped them achieve career success. This is a summary of their confidence stories.
WSB Faculty Blog: How to Predict Employee Performance
This blog summarizes the findings of my research on how core confidence predicts employee performance and job and life satisfaction. “What qualities do high-performing employees have in common? Many leaders in organizations measure employees’ skills and motivation as predictors of their performance, but there is a third, often-overlooked factor that is essential to predicting both job performance and satisfaction: confidence.”
Biz Ed Magazine: All Facets of Faculty
A student submitted a write-up featuring my teaching in programs at UW-Madison. It was featured in “Putting Faculty in the Limelight” in the 2016 November issue of Biz Ed. Here is an excerpt: “I have been deeply moved by his ability to inspire, ignite, and transform the minds of his students. He not only devotes his life to improving the world through academic research, but also inspires real changes n the lives of others through his transformational teaching in the classroom.”
Madison.com: Morgridge gift grows
“Alex Stajkovic, a professor in the UW-Madison School of Business, has seen the endowment for his faculty chair grow to #3 million from $2 million thanks to a record gift from John and Tashia Morgridge that drew donations from many others.”
Elle Magazine: Ain’t No Mountain High Enough
