https://macropaperwarehouse.com/authors/menaka-hampole/Menaka HampoleHugo -- gohugo.ioen-ushttps://macropaperwarehouse.com/papers/peer-effects-and-the-gender-gap-in-corporate-leadership-evidence-from-mba-students/https://macropaperwarehouse.com/papers/peer-effects-and-the-gender-gap-in-corporate-leadership-evidence-from-mba-students/<p>This paper investigates whether exposure to a larger share of female peers during an MBA program causally affects the gender gap in senior corporate leadership positions. The research question is motivated by the persistent underrepresentation of women in top management: in S&amp;P 1500 companies, women hold only 6% of CEO positions despite comprising 40% of the workforce.</p> <p>The authors merge administrative data from a top-10 U.S. business school (graduating classes 2000–2018, excluding 2009) with public LinkedIn profile data covering full employment histories, firm-level data from multiple sources including InHerSight crowdsourced female-employee ratings, and a 2023–2024 alumni survey of female graduates. Senior management is defined as Vice President, Director, Senior Vice President, or C-level executive, identified from exact job titles in LinkedIn CVs.</p>