Rutgers Center for Women in Business

06/23/2026

As AI transforms the workplace, women may already possess many of the leadership capabilities organizations need most.

Skills like communication, adaptability, emotional intelligence, and relationship building — have long been labeled as “soft” skills and today are proving to be mission critical.

Recent research in a Forbes article analyzing 12 million U.S. job postings noted "growing demand for AI-complementary skills such as teamwork, resilience, and analytical thinking alongside technical capabilities.”

At CWIB, our research reinforces this shift. In addition, we see that caregivers, both men and women, often develop these capabilities at a high level, from empathy to anticipating needs and navigating complexity in real time.

In a rapidly digitizing environment, technical skills alone are no longer enough. Human centered skills drive effective leadership, especially in times of change.

Read More Here: https://www.forbes.com/sites/kimmeninger/2026/06/09/women-may-be-more-prepared-for-the-ai-workplace-than-we-realize/

Much of the conversation about women and AI has focused on risk. But women may be more prepared for leadership in this moment than the conversation suggests.

06/18/2026

Fear at work isn’t always obvious. It often shows up as internal “noise” that can cloud your thinking and decision making.

In this clip, Dr. Jena Booher emphasizes that fear is simply a sign, not something to avoid or suppress. The real work is learning to manage the noise around it so you can think clearly, stay grounded, and respond with intention.

Watch the full webinar for a deeper dive into the different types of noise and practical ways to reduce them: https://youtu.be/AMFfVo1KEZc

Thank you to our moderator Laura DuPoux, MBA, and sponsor Sanofi for supporting this important conversation.

06/17/2026

The boundary between work and home is no longer clear: 70% of working parents handle parenting tasks while working, 59% handle work while with their children, and 54% say balance is difficult.

But the strain is not equal when 62% of moms report difficulty balancing work and family compared to 47% of dads, and in most dual income households, moms still take on more parenting responsibilities.

The gap extends beyond work. Women are significantly more likely to lack time for rest, exercise, and self-care, reinforcing a persistent life and leisure gap.

This mirrors what we see in our research at the Rutgers Center for Women in Business. Even as women advance professionally, they continue to carry disproportionate invisible labor at home, shaping wellbeing and career outcomes.

If we want more equitable workplaces, we have to address what happens outside of them.

Read More Here: https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2026/06/16/for-working-parents-the-boundary-between-work-and-family-is-often-blurred/

Parents – especially moms – often carry the mental load that comes with trying to balance what their families need with what their job demands. And with so many obligations, it’s not surprising that working parents sometimes feel like they can’t give 100% at home or at work.

06/09/2026

Empathy is one of the most celebrated traits in leadership, but who is paying for it?

In a recent MIT Sloan Management Review article, Colleen Ammerman and Deepa Purushothaman speak to a powerful concept that they call the “empathy tax.”

It is the invisible emotional toll many leaders, especially women, pay when they perform “care” duties including supporting colleagues, mentoring team members, navigating interpersonal challenges, and sustaining workplace culture.

“The challenge is not whether empathy belongs at work. It is whether organizations are willing to recognize and share the labor required to sustain it.” - Ammerman & Purushothaman

At the Center for Women in Business, we strongly agree that empathy is a critical leadership skill, and that care labor should be measured, recognized, rewarded, and ultimately compensated.

Too often, those carrying the heaviest emotional load are expected to do so quietly, with little impact on their career growth.

It is encouraging to see this conversation gaining momentum. Elevating the value of emotional labor is a critical step toward more equitable and sustainable workplaces.

Read More Here: https://sloanreview.mit.edu/article/the-empathy-tax-female-leaders-pay/

In the past year, emotional labor at work grew for nearly 59% of women. It’s taking a toll on them and their employers.

06/05/2026

Much has been written about the Great Wealth Transfer, an unprecedented amount of wealth that is transferring from one generation to the next.

What is especially noteworthy is how much of that wealth is expected to move into women’s hands.

As a recent Forbes article notes "$120 trillion is expected to move from one generation to the next, with roughly $30 trillion going to women.”

As women gain greater control over financial resources, there is tremendous potential for a broader range of founders, ideas, and priorities to receive support. Women invest in alignment with their values, and this shift may direct more capital toward the change they want to see.

For leaders, this is an important reminder: the people making decisions shape which ideas move forward, which businesses grow, and which priorities receive attention.

At CWIB, we look forward to a future shaped by more diverse perspectives — where leadership decisions create opportunities for everyone to thrive.

Read More Here: https://www.forbes.com/sites/committeeof200/2026/05/19/what-happens-when-women-control-30-trillion-in-wealth/

The “Matriarch Economy” explores how the growing wealth transfer to women may shape business, healthcare, philanthropy, and leadership.

06/02/2026

Fortune recently published its 2026 Most Powerful Women in Business list, offering an opportunity to celebrate women leaders who are reshaping business at the highest levels. This year’s No. 1 honoree, Citigroup CEO Jane Fraser, stands out for her remarkable record of leadership under pressure, her candidness about the demands of parenthood (she worked part-time as a partner at McKinsey), and her empathetic approach to leadership. (In a recent interview, she explained, “Empathy is not being nice; It’s being thoughtful about the other side of the table.”)

When Fraser became CEO in March 2021, she made history as the first woman ever to lead a major U.S. bank. At the time, some observers saw the conditions for a potential “glass cliff”: a term used to describe the elevation of women when organizations face serious, seemingly insurmountable, challenges. Fraser inherited an institution facing severe, chronic underperformance and intense regulatory pressure.

But Fraser did not step off a glass cliff. She soared.

She engineered a historic corporate turnaround. Through her disciplined leadership, Citi recently reported its highest quarterly revenue in a decade, and its stock is up over 80% since Fraser took over as CEO.

At the Rutgers Center for Women in Business, we celebrate Jane Fraser’s success as a powerful example of what happens when women lead at the highest levels with empathy, clarity, courage, and resilience.

Read about Citi’s 5-Year comeback here: https://fortune.com/2026/05/27/most-powerful-women-citigroup-ceo-jane-fraser-turnaround-big-banks-wall-street/ and the Full List of 2026 Most Powerful Women Here: https://fortune.com/ranking/most-powerful-women/2026/

05/28/2026

As corporate parental benefits quietly shrink across industries, forward thinking leaders are choosing a different path.

A recent Fortune article highlights how Rosewood Hotel Group is expanding its global parental leave policy to 16 weeks of fully paid leave for all employees, regardless of gender or path to parenthood. At a time when some companies are reducing benefits, this decision signals a clear commitment to people and culture.

At the Rutgers Center for Women in Business, we see comprehensive and inclusive family leave as an essential pillar of workplace equity, not a benefit to be scaled back. We commend Rosewood for recognizing that investing in families strengthens long term business resilience.

Read More Here:
https://fortune.com/2026/05/25/rosewood-16-week-paid-parental-leave-asia-birth-rate-slump/?utm_content=list_content_0_also_in_the_headlines&j=126773&sfmc_sub=18265823&l=1227_HTML&u=9687149&mid=546014653&jb=153&utm_source=sfmc&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=NL_mpw-daily_2026-5-26_126773&utm_term=mpw-daily&sfmc_id=18265823

The Hong Kong-based hotel chain hopes to shift attitudes towards caregiving, and "drive business resilience in the long-term."

05/26/2026

This recent Forbes article captures something central to our work at the Center for Women in Business:

Creating workplaces that work better for women creates workplaces that work better for everyone.

Within the article, Catalyst's framework of "earned universalism” is likened to the "old adage that rising tides lift all boats, but with an intentional eye on who has been left out”.

This is not an either/or approach. It is a both/and.

When workplaces remove barriers, expand flexibility, build inclusive cultures, and design systems where women can thrive, the impact extends across teams, leaders, families, and entire organizations.

And despite the current noise, the case for inclusion has never been stronger. Catalyst’s new research shows that 74% of employees are more likely to apply for a job at a company that reaffirms its support for inclusion.

Top talent wants to work for organizations that stand by their values — not just when it’s easy, but when it matters.

At CWIB, we remain committed to helping build workplaces where women advance, organizations grow stronger, and everyone benefits.

Read More Here: https://www.forbes.com/sites/juliekratz/2026/05/20/why-real-allyship-is-going-underground-and-thats-a-good-thing/

Catalyst's newest allyship research reveals that allyship is evolving through quiet pivots and earned universalism to build resilient, inclusive workplaces.

05/21/2026

For many women, work does not begin when the meeting starts.

It begins with anticipating reactions, managing perceptions, softening language, remembering birthdays, navigating office dynamics, and carrying the invisible emotional and cognitive labor that keeps workplaces functioning.

This “mental load” is often discussed in the context of caregiving and home life, but it also exists at work shaping burnout, advancement, leadership visibility, and employee well-being.

At CWIB, we are exploring how the mental load influences women’s workplace experiences and working towards quantifying the mental load.

Read More Here: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/rethinking-rivalry-competition-and-collaboration/202605/the-mental-load-the-second-job-women

The mental load for women is often discussed in the context of home and motherhood. Less attention is given to how it extends into their workplace experiences.

05/19/2026

Quietly, paid family leave is starting to disappear.

A recent The New York Times Upshot piece highlights how some employers are scaling back leave as the labor market cools and cost pressures rise.

But cutting family leave has long-term costs—hurting retention, employee engagement, and the employer's brand.

At the Rutgers Center for Women in Business, we see family leave as essential—not optional—to building equitable workplaces and sustaining long-term success.

Read More Here: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/11/upshot/family-leave-cuts-deloitte-zoom.html?utm_content=list_content_0_also_in_the_headlines&j=116676&sfmc_sub=33526032&l=1227_HTML&u=9488855&mid=546014653&jb=166&utm_source=sfmc&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=NL_mpw-daily_2026-5-15_116676&utm_term=mpw-daily&sfmc_id=33526032