Shortlisted for the Financial Times and McKinsey Business Book of the Year Award
A Financial Times Best Business Book of the Year
A Times Higher Education Book of the Week
Best Business Book of the Year, 800-CEO-READ

Gender equality is a moral and a business imperative. But unconscious bias holds us back, and de-biasing people’s minds has proven to be difficult and expensive. By de-biasing organizations instead of individuals, we can make smart changes that have big impacts. Presenting research-based solutions, Iris Bohnet hands us the tools we need to move the needle in classrooms and boardrooms, in hiring and promotion, benefiting businesses, governments, and the lives of millions.

“Bohnet assembles an impressive assortment of studies that demonstrate how organizations can achieve gender equity in practice…What Works is stuffed with good ideas, many equally simple to implement.”
—Carol Tavris, Wall Street Journal

“A practical guide for any employer seeking to offset the unconscious bias holding back women in organizations, from orchestras to internet companies.”
—Andrew Hill, Financial Times

"Impressive…What Works is stuffed with good ideas...The glory of this book is that Bohnet not only offers dozens of practical examples of how behavioral findings can be put to use but also demonstrates that moving toward equity need not be a zero-sum game in which as women gain, men lose…She makes trying out the new steps seem like an exhilarating project rather than an impossible one." - Wall Street Journal

"Right up to board level, companies should find in What Works not only food for thought [about gender bias], but a guide for effective practical action as well." - Financial Times

"Even when women do make it to the bargaining table, they often fare poorly…Bohnet examines data from a group of Swedish job seekers, among whom women ended up with lower salaries than their equally qualified male peers…When women act more like men, she suggests, they are often punished for it. Lean in, and you might get pushed even further back. Bohnet recommends that organizations explicitly invite women to negotiate, and train managers to counteract their biases." - New Yorker

"A refreshingly clear, meticulously researched manual for eliminating gender inequality in the workplace." - The Guardian

"Have you checked your boardroom and hallways lately? What do you see on the walls? Among the many interventions Iris Bohnet…proposes in order to achieve gender equality, one that you could implement pretty quickly is reviewing the photos hanging around your company. If after a quick inspection, you discover the portraits are mostly of past male CEOs, rethink your decor. It’s a simple idea that can work wonders." - Forbes

"Thoroughly evidence-based and intensely practical. This book will provide employers with ways to think about what changes they can and should be making to address unintentional discrimination in the workplace, and how such changes would benefit everyone." - Prospect

"Provides a useful introduction to all the available evidence showing there is a business, as well as moral, case for diversity. What Works speaks to CEOs in a language they will understand, taking the emotion out of the argument and making a pragmatic case for reshaping workplace norms to make women feel less alienated." - New Statesman

"This is a persuasive manual for anyone seeking to eliminate unconscious biases—in recruitment and management—that perpetuate imbalances between men and women. Bohnet offers invaluable, research-based guidance about how to design and run organizations that are not only fairer, but better." - Financial Times

"Despite so many improvements, gender equality in the workplace (let alone in other parts of life) often seems like a chimera: something that exists only in imagination and is not possible in reality…Bohnet presents the science; we no longer have to think that it is all in our imagination. Read the book. Act on it. Make gender equality a reality." - Business Record

"A handy manual about promoting gender in the workplace, which is up front about what works, and what doesn’t." - Management Today

"If you think you have no gender bias, you should read this book. It will surprise you. Bohnet uses hard evidence to show that complacency about gender equality is dangerous because bias in the workplace remains widespread, entrenched and destructive. Sometimes depressing, always compelling, this work makes it clear how much work has yet to be done." - Times Higher Education

"What Works is an out-of-the-box read. Full of facts, data and real-life evidence, it is a must read for those who want doable actions to ensure gender equality." - Governance Now

"Bohnet elegantly and expansively demonstrates how [subconscious] biases can be obstacles to gender equality. What sets her approach apart in an increasingly crowded field of gender-equality literature is her use of behavioral design to offer practical—and often intuitive—solutions…She leads through demonstration and design, leaving readers better equipped to find solutions that work, so we can each contribute to making a difference." - Finance and Development

"This book is easy to follow with helpful summaries and an inspiring finish. I would highly recommend that anyone who manages people gives it a go. It is stuffed with experiments and data drawn from all over the world…This is a must-have guide for anyone in charge of a diversity budget." - Management Today

"What Works is a fascinating and absorbing book, presenting dozens of research projects, case studies, and theories that address a wide range of gender equality problems…It offers thought-provoking (and empirically-researched) challenges to many of the mainstream notions and ideas that turn out to be rooted in bias, stereotypes, and other ‘mind bugs that affect our judgment.’" - PopMatters

"To blindly assume that sexism is a thing of the past is to fly in the face of the wealth of modern-day experimental evidence presented in this fascinating book…From the boardroom to the classroom, this book outlines a set of tools that we need to design organizations in a way that sets us free from unconscious gender bias…Bohnet’s book is a call to action—and it is one that organizations cannot afford to ignore." - Times Higher Education

"What Works serves both as a clear indication of where we currently stand and a guide as to how, institution by institution, we can nudge ourselves towards greater gender equality." - LSE Review of Books

"A practical guide for any employer seeking to offset the unconscious bias holding back women in organizations, from orchestras to internet companies." - Financial Times

"This in-depth exploration of gender bias offers practical examples of what you can do to ensure your business hires and retains the best talent." - HR Magazine

"[Bohnet’s] straightforward tools for designing inclusive and diverse workplaces and institutions are a boon to anyone who hopes to study, work, and live in an atmosphere of openness and civility." - Stanford Social Innovation Review