<b>Vantage point:</b> Insights from cutting-edge research

Women less likely to apply for executive roles if rejected before

Women were much less likely to apply for a job if they had been rejected for a similar job in the past, according to a study of over 10,000 senior executives who were competing for top management jobs in the UK. The study, conducted by London Business School academics Raina Brands and Isabel Fernandez-Mateo, who published an article in Harvard Business Review, noted that men were also less likely to apply if they had been rejected, but the effect was 1.5 times stronger for women.
 
The implications here are not trivial, because rejection is a routine part of corporate