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The Women and Public Policy Program’s faculty, research fellows, and students are committed to advancing women and gender equity globally. Through rigorous research, we offer gender insights into work, politics, and conflict that have the potential to reduce or eliminate barriers so all people can fulfill their life aspirations unconstrained by gender bias.

Spotlight

Advancing Women and Gender Equality in Peace Negotiations

WAPPP’s Fall 2023 Speaker Series brings together scholars and leaders in practice to explore how gender dynamics influence peace negotiation processes and the long-term implications of more gender-equitable participation in peace negotiations.

 

Three Ways to Incorporate DEI into Decision-Making

In their Harvard Business Review article, WAPPP co-director Iris Bohnet and co-authors suggest inequitable decision-making can be addressed by making DEI more immediately obvious, or salient, to managers immediately before they need to make consequential decisions.

Learn the three strategies
 

Six ways to use the Gender Action Portal

How can you use WAPPP's Gender Action Portal (GAP) to advance gender equity in your field? Explore six ways that GAP can be useful to researchers, policymakers, journalists, students, practitioners, and beyond. 

Explore GAP's intersectional research
 

Busting the Myth that Women Don't Negotiate Enough

In an episode of The Institute for Gender and the Economy's Busted podcast, WAPPP co-director Hannah Riley Bowles discusses how people of different social groups experience different responses when they try to negotiate—and how women negotiate in many different ways beyond just for pay. 

Listen to the episode

Research & Programs

Work and Gender Equity (WAGE)

The WAGE research initiative focuses on data-driven strategies organizations can use to "debias" their systems and create more inclusive workplaces, as well as interventions that enhance individuals’ agency in negotiating more gender-equitable work arrangements, including paid and unpaid labor.

WAGE

Gender and Politics

The Gender and Politics initiative aims to advance research on representative democracy and equitable participation in governments across the globe. Our "Oval Office" training program inspires and supports nontraditional candidates to run for public office. 

Gender & Politics

Gender and Conflict

The Gender and Conflict initiative unites faculty, students, and researchers at Harvard Kennedy School and beyond to study gender in non-violent and violent social movements and the social and institutional factors influencing the prevalence of gender-based violence.

Gender & Conflict

Gender Action Portal

The Gender Action Portal (GAP) serves as an online tool for decision-makers across sectors. The collection of research focuses on experimental approaches—both in the field and in the laboratory—and draws from multiple disciplines, including economics, psychology, and organizational behavior.

GAP

Research Fellowship Program

The mission of the fellowship is to support and advance academic and practitioner-scholars in their gender-related research. By conducting research and engaging with faculty and students at Harvard Kennedy School and beyond, the fellows enrich the intellectual life of the center.

Research Fellowship Program

Other Program and Initiatives

Explore all the programs, projects, and initiatives at the Women and Public Policy Program.

Other Research Initiatives
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Events
Here for the Right Reasons: The Selection of Women as Peace Delegates with Elizabeth Brannon, Indiana University Photo
Monday, October 2, 2023 | 03:00PM
Here for the Right Reasons: The Selection of Women as Peace Delegates with Elizabeth Brannon, Indiana University
Wednesday, October 4, 2023 | 12:00PM
"From Harvard Square to the Oval Office" Political Training Program Information Session
News
Working Moms Are Mostly Thriving Again. Can We Finally Achieve Gender Parity?
Why DEI Training Doesn’t Work—and How to Fix It
Elevate Your Leadership: Unveiling The Truths Of Social Status In The Workplace
Women at Work: Pay Transparency Leaves Us Guessing
Publications
Harvard Kennedy School Logo
Cross-Boundary Collaborations in Cities: Where to Start
The Patriarchs’ War on Women
“A Contingent ‘Yes’” Revisited
 
 
ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF LAND AND PEOPLE

The Women and Public Policy Program and the Harvard Kennedy School are located on the ancestral, traditional, and contemporary unceded homeland of the Massachusett people, the surviving descendants of the first people of Massachusetts and of the Neponset band of the Massachusett. We honor this tradition and work toward a gender equity agenda that addresses the needs of all women, including Indigenous women and Indigenous communities. For more information, please visit our GAP Land Acknowledgement resource page.

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