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Karmini Sharma on how empathy-led training can curb sexual harassment in India

Karmini Sharma — Tue, 25 Feb 2025 10:39:25 +0000

Karmini Sharma on how empathy-led training can curb sexual harassment in India

Karmini Sharma Tue, 25/02/2025 - 10:39

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How did your research on sexual harassment training come about?

I come from Delhi, which is known to be an unsafe city for women. It was clear that women's everyday lives, especially their mobility, were severely restricted because of this issue. For example, after 19.30, you rarely see women outside the home because it isn't safe for them to move around freely. So, women's safety and mobility have always been issues that I have been concerned about.

I was working on my PhD around the same time that the #MeToo movement started in India, so there was a lot of information on sexual harassment. I already had a strong interest in this topic, so I read up on existing research and started formulating my questions on how sexual harassment could be effectively addressed through awareness training. While there was some literature on the effects of sexual harassment on economic outcomes, we knew next to nothing about what can help prevent sexual harassment.

The timing was perfect because large funders started to pivot resources towards projects on sexual harassment. I partnered with Safecity, an NGO that has pioneered the study of sexual harassment. They helped develop the training materials and, as an established organisation, were also helpful in connecting me with universities to deliver the training.

How does your study contribute to or innovate beyond the existing literature on sexual harassment training?

There have been a few social psychology papers that have looked at the impact of various trainings on attitudes to sexual harassment, but none, to my knowledge, study the effects of such training on actual sexual harassment, so that's where this paper innovates over existing literature.

After providing the training to the men, I asked the women in their classes about incidents of sexual harassment from men in their classes/peer groups. I was then able to connect the training with actual outcomes of sexual harassment from those men, as experienced by the women, rather than relying on the men's self-reported changes in attitude or awareness, which is what the rest of the literature has been doing.

Another key innovation of the paper was an empathy-led approach to delivering the training. I wanted the men to have a deeper understanding of the impact sexual harassment has on women. It's not just a joke or simple brush against a woman's body, but has far-reaching effects that can affect their everyday lives, like mental health, mobility, and perception of sexual harassment risk.

I collected anonymised stories from the women in the same classes as the men who received the training, asking them to share in their own words their experiences of sexual harassment and how it affected them in the long term.

Safecity then shared these stories with the men during the training and facilitated discussion.

Sharing women's experiences made the men more receptive to the training, as they connected the training with real-life experiences of the women in their class.

How did this empathy-led awareness training cause a reduction in reported incidences of sexual harassment?

Men's awareness of sexual harassment increases in the short term, three to four months after the training, and remains high in the long term, two to three years after the training.

But the most powerful factor that reduced reported incidences of sexual harassment as a result of the training was men's perception of their peers. Seeing how their peers talked about and engaged with the topic of sexual harassment enabled them to update their own beliefs and behaviours (what we call second order beliefs) about others. I find that they were more likely to think that their peers will more likely support a victim and call out "inappropriate behaviours" after the training. This was persistently the case in the short and long run.

Although awareness is still critical in reducing sexual harassment, the potential of men's social environment remains an important factor in bringing about real change in their behaviour. A lot of focus groups and talking to men later confirmed this hypothesis as well.

And this doesn't just apply to sexual harassment; it can be for homophobia, racism, bullying or any other form of harassment.

How has the training benefited the women's career opportunities and engagement with the labour market?

The paper was not designed to examine the impact on the labour market outcomes, but I saw that women were more likely to search for a job after the training than to go on to further education. Why this was the case is still an open question; it could be that they felt more empowered due to the training, but further research is needed. The next step in the study is to follow up with the women, examine their presence on online labour market platforms, and see what kinds of companies they work for. In fact, this is exactly what I am doing now.

How are your research findings advancing the conversation around sexual harassment training?

Yes, it definitely has. This paper is proof that empathy-led awareness training can effectively reduce the incidence of sexual harassment and provides insights into what mechanisms make it work. The paper has been recognised by Institute for What Works to Advance Gender Equality (IWWAGE) and also received the best student paper award at the Australian Gender Economics Workshop 2021.

I'm making the case for organisations to make more effort in delivering sexual harassment training with care. Leading with empathy to build awareness ensures its effectiveness rather than merely treating it as a check-box exercise.

This Q and A discusses findings from Karmini Sharma’s working paper on Tackling Sexual Harassment: Short and Long-run Experimental Evidence from India (September 2024), funded by JPAL (Crime and Violence Initiative, formerly Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and University of Warwick).

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Q and A with Karmini Sharma, Assistant Professor in Economics and Public Policy, Imperial Business School, on transforming harassment training through empathy and evidence

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'Boomerasking': How to break the annoying habit hurting your workplace relationships

Michael Yeomans — Wed, 15 Jan 2025 12:14:02 +0000

'Boomerasking': How to break the annoying habit hurting your workplace relationships

Michael Yeomans Wed, 15/01/2025 - 12:14

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The road to hell, as the saying goes, is paved with good intentions. This is as true for interpersonal relationships as it is for any aspect of life; setting out to build a connection is no guarantee of a meaningful bond, and some actions even have the opposite effect.

Such is the case with "boomerasking", which recent research from Harvard Business School and ��ý identifies as the act of asking someone a question, briefly letting them answer, and then answering it yourself.

The boomerasker's intention tends to be to start a conversation with a positive connection before sharing something on their side, rather than leading with information about themselves. Indeed, the researchers found that around 83 per cent of respondents thought boomerasking would help them make a better impression than launching into what they wanted to say without an initial question.

In fact, the effect is to appear egocentric and disinterested; the study found that people prefer conversation partners who more straightforwardly talk about themselves, and find boomeraskers less sincere and less likeable.

This is due to the importance of "conversational uptake": the natural pattern of building on the contributions of the other person in a conversation, including through listening, asking follow-up questions and paraphrasing. Boomerasking shows interest in the first two stages, through asking a question and listening to the response, but then fails at the third stage when the response is ignored and the conversation becomes self-focused.

As we are all constantly evaluating whether people’s motives are selfish or selfless in conversation, when someone asks us a question, we hope they really care about the response. With that in mind, it’s easy to see how going to the trouble of sharing something, only to have the other person ignore it and talk about themselves instead, can be particularly jarring.

Poor communication is lowering job satisfaction, increasing stress, and eroding trust in leadership

Lessons for leaders

There’s obviously an important lesson here for managers and business leaders, who may be especially keen to boost team morale or help colleagues feel included. In this context, team members might be particularly put off by a boss who, for example, arranges meetings only to brush over people’s feedback to tell everyone their own thoughts, or asks colleagues about their weekends and then proceeds to tell them about their own time off rather than engaging with the response.

This type of chronic boomerasking comes across as cold and self-interested, which is particularly relevant as remote and hybrid roles come to be the norm across sectors. Digital communication – where listening behaviours are more visible than they might be in person – are becoming a cornerstone of workplace productivity.

In line with this, a 2023 study found that poor communication is lowering job satisfaction, increasing stress, and eroding trust in leadership. Staff that feel this way, with a lack of voice, are more likely to disengage, increasing employee turnover and "quiet quitting".

It’s possible that there is a generational element to this as well. Previous generations may have been more ready to accept a hierarchical dynamic in which a manager’s opinions simply mattered more, but we know those who make up the workforce of the future value authentic engagement and meaningful connection. This means boomerasking is likely to be a more damaging habit now than in previous decades, and leaders need to curb it as part of a move towards recognising the type of communication younger colleagues prioritise.

Breaking the habit

Fortunately, following these simple tips can help leaders to train themselves out of the boomerasking habit:

Practice self-awareness – realise you’re asking questions and then dismissing, or failing, to listen to the response is the first step to improving.

Show real interest: practice asking follow-up questions or comments that show you’ve understood what someone has said.

Stay focused for one more round: when you feel the impulse to talk about yourself, let the conversation take one more round of turns, focusing on the other person.

Ask questions you can’t answer: leading with a question you can’t answer yourself can help curb the urge to turn the conversation back to you, e.g. asking someone about their pets if you don't have any.

Spark a broader culture shift: encourage a culture of curiosity, in which staff at all levels are encouraged to learn from one another and are rewarded for it.

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Who decided what ambition looks like?

Poornima Luthra — Wed, 15 Jan 2025 12:14:02 +0000

Who decided what ambition looks like?

Poornima Luthra Wed, 15/01/2025 - 12:14

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Article at a glance

Women do not lack ambition. Dr Poornima Luthra explains that workplaces are still structured in ways that make career progression hard to sustain.

As a result, women are redefining ambition on their own terms, with many turning to entrepreneurship rather than climbing the corporate ladder.

The sheer volume of women leaving their jobs should serve as a wake-up call.
Businesses must rethink how “ambition” and “success” are defined by evaluating their workplace systems and cultures to make sure talent is not being lost due to poorly designed systems.

"Ambition” and “success” need redefining

Women do not lack ambition, as the 2025 Women in the Workplace McKinsey & Company report concludes. But there is a cost to success which has prompted many women to leave the workforce. Ambition is about growth and challenge; it's a personal driver which reflects our individuality.

A recent CNN Business report found that almost half a million women had left their jobs in the US between January and October in 2025 for reasons ranging from poor work-life balance, the cost and challenges of accessing childcare and toxic workplace cultures.

These pressures reflect a deeper structural issue: many workplaces were not designed with diverse career paths or life circumstances in mind.

As a result, many women are turning to entrepreneurship. Women are now starting nearly half of the businesses in the US, according to a recent article in Forbes magazine. A 2024 Wells Fargo Impact of Women-Owned Business Report cites the number of women-owned businesses increasing at nearly double the rate of male-owned businesses between 2019 and 2023. Choosing entrepreneurship doesn’t signal lower ambition. It often signals the opposite — ambition on one’s own terms.

When organisations fail to support diverse forms of ambition, they risk losing talented employees.

Why is this a business problem

The sheer volume of women leaving their jobs should serve as a wake-up call to business leaders. Many organisations are still largely run by men, and gender biases, both subtle and explicit, continue to shape workplace culture. When organisations fail to support diverse forms of ambition, they risk losing talented employees.

How business leaders can redefine ambition and success

We need to make both cultural and organisational changes, with a long, hard look at what ambition and success should look like. Business leaders must redefine these constructs for the workforce and next generation:

On the systems side, leaders must revisit hiring, promotion criteria, pay structures and performance evaluation. If we define ambition solely as vertical progression, we will continue to reproduce inequality and risk losing talented employees.

On the cultural side, leaders must model sustainable success. That means realistic expectations, visible boundary-setting, and rejecting the idea that heroic sacrifice equals commitment.

All leaders and team members should have the agency to challenge bias in their own teams.

Conversations about equity of opportunity must start early, in classrooms and around dining tables, as we speak to young people about success.

Before we question women’s ambition, we need to question the systems we’ve built. If the goal isn’t desirable, the cost is too high and the support isn’t there, disengagement cannot be named as a lack of ambition. It’s simply a rational response to inappropriately designed systems.

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Redesigning work: how everyday nudges can transform decision-making

Shamita Harsh — Wed, 15 Jan 2025 12:14:02 +0000

Redesigning work: how everyday nudges can transform decision-making

Shamita Harsh Wed, 15/01/2025 - 12:14

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Drawing on insights from her latest book Can I Say That? Dr Luthra offers a research-driven exploration of fear as an under-examined force shaping organisational behaviour. Recognised by Thinkers50 in its Top 10 Best New Management Books for 2025, the book is a go-to guide on how to navigate difficult conversations at work and nurture inclusive cultures.

Recognising the many faces of fear at work

Across more than two years of research on resistance and backlash, Dr Luthra has identified fear as the central, often unspoken, force inhibiting inclusion efforts. But fear, she emphasises, is not monolithic. It takes multiple forms: fear of change, fear of discomfort, fear of saying or doing the wrong thing, fear of personal cost, and fear of not making progress.

“Many of us are fearful of fear itself,” she notes. “Workplaces lean toward positive emotions, and difficult emotions are pushed aside. But without understanding what holds us back, we cannot move forward.”

These fears quietly distort decision-making: leaders rely on familiar hiring patterns to avoid risk and organisations double down on symbolic gestures instead of confronting root causes.

A multigeneration approach to decision making

Yet global markets now demand a fundamentally different approach. Customer bases are shifting rapidly, particularly across the Global South, where younger demographics are driving new consumer expectations. “Luxury fashion houses, for example, cater increasingly to young customers in India, China and parts of Africa,” she notes. “These groups want something very different from previous generations.”

To respond, many organisations have introduced “shadow boards” to bring younger talent into decision-making, ensuring leaders stay attuned to emerging trends.

Practices such as reverse mentoring, cross-generational representation in hiring and strategy discussions and transparent decision-making will reframe difference as strategic value.

As Dr Luthra emphasises, “Inclusion is not charity, it’s a business imperative. It yields better innovation, better market alignment and better decisions and outcomes for organisations ready to evolve.”

How employment processes need redesigning and not retrofitting

Amid increasing global resistance to EDI, many organisations feel pressure to reduce visibility or retreat entirely. Dr Luthra advises a different approach.

“This is the time to go under the radar; not to retreat, but to become more strategic,” she says. “Change the terminology if needed. Call it inclusion, belonging, well-being. But do the hard work.”

That hard work includes redesigning employment processes, implementing systemic nudges to mitigate the influence of bias, and equipping teams with tools to make equitable decisions.

“Zero-sum thinking emerges when people feel threatened,” she notes. “Systemic and cultural change reduces that threat by making inclusion feel fair, not imposed.”

Beyond fear, Dr Luthra’s upcoming research turns to a broader organisational challenge: growing polarisation.

“It’s not just EDI,” she notes. “Organisations are divided over remote work, AI adoption, sustainability targets. We are becoming stuck in debate rather than dialogue.”

Hiring for likeability is at the expense of innovation

In today’s world, traditional leadership models built on predictability and control no longer serve organisations. “We still operate in systems designed for the first and second Industrial Revolutions,” Dr Luthra explains. Under pressure to deliver short-term results, leaders often default to hiring for “fit,” reinforcing sameness at the expense of innovation.

Kenji Yoshino’s idea of “covering” refers to the unspoken need for people to “fit” in and integrate into structures and systems that were originally not built for them. Dr Luthra discusses how one can instil microaffirmations to indicate value, respect and build inclusion. This can often look like inviting people whose voices and perspectives have not been heard or whose efforts have not been made visible in the context of contributing to a business.

If there is one message Dr Luthra hopes readers take away from Can I Say That? it is deceptively simple: do not let fear hold you back. She observes: “Fear is human. But progress requires understanding it, naming it and learning to let it go.”

In a world where uncertainties multiply and systems strain under competing expectations, this mindset shift may be the foundation not only for more inclusive workplaces, but for more resilient, adaptive leadership.

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New behavioural research from Dr Poornima Luthra shows how targeted, everyday workplace behaviours can reduce bias, improve decision-making and strengthen organisational performance.

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Tobias Kretschmer on research in strategy and technological change

Shamita Harsh — Wed, 15 Jan 2025 12:14:02 +0000

Tobias Kretschmer on research in strategy and technological change

Shamita Harsh Wed, 15/01/2025 - 12:14

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Tobias Kretschmer has joined Imperial Business School as Professor of Strategy, Technology & Organisation at the Department of Management & Entrepreneurship. With a research career spanning global leading institutions, his work examines how technology and organisation design interact to drive competitive advantage in the digital economy.

Professor Kretschmer’s research focuses on platform markets and the digital transformation of firms, investigating how technology reshapes strategic decision-making, value creation, and organisational performance. His recent work explores how increasingly large and influential complementors are challenging long-held assumptions about dominance in digital ecosystems.

Professor Kretschmer also contributes to the field through several editorial and leadership roles, serving as Senior Editor at Strategy Science, Vice Chair of the Organization Design Community, and as part of the leadership team for the Academy of Management’s Technology & Innovation Management Division. He was Panel Chair for the European Research Council’s SH1 Starting Grants in 2024 and is currently a Research Fellow in Organisational Economics at the Centre for Economic Policy Research, London.

How technology reshapes competition and collaboration

Across his research portfolio, Professor Kretschmer combines theory and empirical evidence to explore how digital change impacts organisations and markets. In his paper “Anonymity and Peer Feedback in Crowdsourcing”, he studies how anonymity affects the quality and tone of feedback in digital collaboration environments, offering insights into the design of more effective crowdsourcing systems.

In “First-Party Complements in Platform Markets: The Role of Competition”, he investigates how platform owners decide whether to release their own complementary products, uncovering strategic patterns that depend on the intensity of user and complementor competition.

His paper “Protected but Punished?”, examines how whistleblower protection laws influence wage dynamics—revealing that while stronger protections enhance transparency, they can also trigger unintended wage adjustments within firms.

Other recent journal publications include analyses of news aggregators and media competition, game wikis and community-driven innovation (both Strategic Management Journal), and the impact of GDPR on data-driven business models (Marketing Science).

His research has been published in Strategic Management Journal, Organization Science, Management Science, American Economic Review and Information Systems Research.

Prior to joining Imperial, he was Professor of Strategy, Technology & Organisation at LMU Munich School of Management, where he led the Institute for Strategy, Technology & Organisation. He holds a PhD in Economics from London Business School and an MSc in Strategy from the University of St. Gallen. Professor Kretschmer has also held full-time positions at London School of Economics and Political Science and INSEAD, and visiting positions at Bocconi University, University College London and NOVA School of Business & Economics.

Discussing his move to Imperial, Professor Kretschmer said: “I’ve been studying new technologies for my entire career. Being at Imperial gives me a chance to learn in depth how these technologies work and to understand the strategic implications of technological change (and vice versa).”

At Imperial, he looks forward to deepening cross-disciplinary collaboration. He is eager to work with scholars in strategy, technology and data science to better understand how firms can navigate digital disruption and design organisations that thrive in it.

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Dr Poornima Luthra on advancing equity, diversity and inclusion in business and society

Shamita Harsh — Wed, 15 Jan 2025 12:14:02 +0000

Dr Poornima Luthra on advancing equity, diversity and inclusion in business and society

Shamita Harsh Wed, 15/01/2025 - 12:14

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Creating inclusive workplaces is no longer just a moral imperative but a business necessity. For Dr. Poornima Luthra, incoming Principal Lecturer of People, Culture & Inclusion and Deputy Head of Department (Teaching) at Imperial Business School, the challenge lies in bridging rigorous academic research with practical tools that enable organisations to foster equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI).

An award-winning author, speaker and educator, Dr. Luthra has spent nearly two decades building expertise in talent management and inclusive leadership across Europe and Asia. Her books Can I Say That? (2025), Leading Through Bias (2024), The Art of Active Allyship (2022) and Diversifying Diversity (2021) have positioned her as one of the foremost global voices on DEI. She is also a contributor to Harvard Business Review and a trusted advisor to global organisations including Deloitte, L’Oréal, Carlsberg, Novo Nordisk and Médecins Sans Frontières.

The School continues to strengthen the belief that the future of business leadership is deeply rooted in inclusion and Dr Luthra is excited to contribute to shaping future leaders with diverse representation and adaptability.

“I am thrilled to join Imperial Business School as it offers a dynamic environment at the forefront of global business education and research,” she says. “The School’s strong commitment to innovation, interdisciplinary collaboration and real-world impact aligns perfectly with my vision for advancing knowledge and nurturing future leaders.”

Carving a space with global recognition and impact

Dr. Luthra’s contributions to rethinking inclusion have earned her widespread recognition. In 2023, Thinkers50 named her among the world’s 30 up-and-coming management thinkers and listed her books The Art of Active Allyship and Can I Say That? among the top 10 management books of 2023 and 2025. The same year, she won the Nordic Blaze Inclusion Awards in the Trailblazer category, further underlining her impact as a thought leader shaping inclusive business practices worldwide.

As a keynote and TEDx speaker, she creates transformative learning experiences that empower individuals to recognise bias, practice allyship and embed inclusive leadership in their everyday work. Through her consultancy, TalentED, she supports organisations in making sustainable changes to culture and practice, ensuring diversity is not only celebrated but embedded in business strategy.

At Imperial, Dr. Luthra brings this global expertise into the classroom, equipping ��ý and future leaders with the skills to lead inclusively in complex, international contexts. Her work demonstrates how rigorous research, when paired with practical application, can shift organisational mindsets that enable real change.

With her mix of global perspectives and practical insight, Dr. Luthra is charting a new course for how business schools and businesses alike approach talent and inclusion in the 21st century.

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Sustainable consumption: What’s holding us back and what can be done about it

Eduardo B. Andrade — Wed, 15 Jan 2025 12:14:02 +0000

Sustainable consumption: What’s holding us back and what can be done about it

Eduardo B. Andrade Wed, 15/01/2025 - 12:14

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The global ‘consumer class’ is predicted to reach 5.7 billion within the next decade. As the demands on the planet’s natural resources continue to grow, this group—especially the wealthier segments—has a key role to play in mitigating climate change and environmental degradation through sustainable consumption.

To date, however, this has proved challenging – people have genuine environmental concerns, but frequently fail to translate these into sustainable, environmentally friendly consumer habits. Our latest research explores why this is the case and how we can address the problem, identifying a range of barriers to sustainable consumption and ways for consumers, businesses and policymakers to overcome them.

Mapping the problem

To understand the obstacles, it’s useful to break them down into three main categories: market, individual and societal. Market obstacles relate to products and services themselves, including price, availability and perceived quality. Individual obstacles are rooted in people’s motivations and beliefs, including awareness, biases and understanding of impact. Societal obstacles relate to influences that arise from the social environment, such as norms, political identity and socioeconomic status.

Within each of these categories, barriers can be overcome in two ways. They can be directly removed or reduced through targeted interventions (minimisation). And when structural constraints make barriers too entrenched to minimise, they can be worked around with creative solutions (circumvention).

Market obstacles

Differences in the availability of a product or action, or how visible or convenient it is, can influence consumers’ decisions. Sustainable options and practices often suffer in this regard – recycling and repair take more effort than throwing things away or replacing them, while eco-friendly options can be outnumbered by plastic-wrapped rival products, for example. The sustainability premium that sees eco-friendly choices cost more is another barrier to sustainable consumption, while consumers may also view some of these products as lower-quality.

Policymakers can reduce the visibility advantage of unsustainable products by, for example, banning single-use plastics and taxing companies for excessive packaging, while making environmental benefits clearer through mandating consistent sustainability messaging on products, packaging and ads. Right-to-repair laws, meanwhile, can trigger the growth of a repair-and-reuse infrastructure.

Alternatively, retailers could further increase the availability and salience of second-hand options, which often happen to be more sustainable and cheaper than the conventional alternatives. Manufacturers and shops could bundle unsustainable and eco-friendly options together, giving consumers the opportunity to at least try more sustainable options.

Marketing campaigns that attach sustainability perceptions to manufacturers as a whole, rather than to individual product features, provide an opportunity to boost overall perceived quality and link quality and sustainability in consumers’ minds.

Individual obstacles

Sustainable choices are strongly impacted by the extent to which consumers spontaneously think of sustainability when considering their options, and the perceived impact that an eco-friendly choice might have. Common biases towards wanting to own items or preferring the default option, meanwhile, are strong drivers of waste and overconsumption.

Education can help, both by more entrenching sustainable principles in consumers’ minds and by teaching them about the environmental impact of ownership and choices. At the same time, it can also be helpful to embed sustainability into product attributes people already prioritise, for example, focusing on the health impacts of microplastics to encourage eco-friendly packaging choices.

On a simpler level, changing the narrative by presenting sustainable options as the status quo (rather than the alternative) can help circumvent biases by relying on inertia rather than engagement. Research has found this to be effective in normalising renewable energy, reducing meat consumption, and boosting sustainable investing. It may also help overcome the tendency to own a product rather than to rent it.

Societal obstacles

In much of modern life, unsustainable consumption has become the norm, including in transport, household energy and nutrition. People’s political views and class perception can strengthen these norms and set them against change. Socioeconomic differences exacerbate the damage this causes, with the wealthiest responsible for the most environmental damage, and the least wealthy worst affected by the consequences.

Messaging is key to overcoming these barriers. For example, sustainability communication that is more in line with one’s political identity is more likely to be effective. If these messages are delivered by a body or an individual with existing standing among a particular group, they can be even more impactful.

Similarly, messaging or events that deliberately or spontaneously signal a green norm can help change behaviours. Consumers are more likely to install solar panels or heat pumps if they see their neighbours doing so. Gamifying sustainable habits, e.g. by offering points and rewards for eco-friendly choices, can also help to reset norms by activating alternative motivational pathways.

Future potential

Our research sets out the primary obstacles to sustainable consumption, some proven and promising ways to minimise or circumnavigate them, and – critically – the gaps where further research could explore new or more impactful solutions. In this way, it can serve as a roadmap for developing our understanding of environmentally friendly consumption and how to promote it, which will be vital as we move towards an ever more consumer-driven global society.

This article draws on findings from “Obstacles and Opportunities for Sustainable Consumption: A Comprehensive Conceptual Model, Literature Review, and Research Agenda” by Eduardo B. Andrade (��ý) and Yan Vieites (FGV-EBAPE (Escola Brasileira de Administração Pública e de Empresas))

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Patrick Schneider on household finance and the legacies of institutions

Shamita Harsh — Wed, 15 Jan 2025 12:14:02 +0000

Patrick Schneider on household finance and the legacies of institutions

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10 October 2025

Patrick Schneider has joined the Imperial Business School as Assistant Professor of Economics. Specialising in the intersection of macroeconomics, household finance and public economics, Dr Schneider’s work highlights how policies designed to stabilise the economy affect different groups across society.

His current research investigates unconventional macroeconomic stabilisation policies, including the economic and behavioural impacts of early access to retirement savings. Dr Schneider’s work combines rigorous empirical analysis with policy relevance, contributing to a deeper understanding of fiscal interventions and household financial decision-making in dynamic economic environments.

Patrick earned his PhD at the London School of Economics (LSE) where his research focused on how households and firms respond to liquidity constraints and behavioural frictions. His recent work includes “Household Liquidity Policy” (with Patrick Moran), which examines how early access to retirement accounts works as an alternative to conventional stimulus, and how the two differ in their long-term implications.

Translating real-world economic challenges into classroom insights

Before his academic career, Patrick worked as an economist at the Bank of England (2015–18), contributing to high-level policy debates on Brexit and the UK productivity slowdown. He has also held roles in management consulting and the financial sector, and more recently as a macro research intern at Eisler Capital. His policy insights are reflected in publications such as “Market Power and Monetary Policy” (Bank of England Working Paper).

One of his working papers “Decomposing Differences in Productivity Distributions” sheds light on the UK productivity puzzle. Dr Schneider utilised a new decomposition method to show the puzzle is accounted for by a composition effect - workers moving into firms with less productive characteristics - and that this effect is concentrated in the top end of the distribution.

Another more recent paper for the Centre for Economic Performance, “Disunited Kingdom? Brexit, Trade and Scottish Independence” was co-authored with Hanwei Huang and Thomas Sampson and looks at the impact of independence and rejoining the EU for Scottish trade and incomes.

A committed teacher, Patrick has taught widely across economics and public policy at LSE, earning an LSE Class Teacher Award in 2024 for excellence in teaching.

Dr Schneider is keen to equip the next generation of entrepreneurs and said: “I’m most excited to work with our ��ý. Understanding economics is essential to functioning in today’s world, and I want to help our ��ý tool up for their futures.”

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From household liquidity to UK’s productivity, Dr Schneider brings a unique voice in the research landscape

Main image: Patrick M. Schneider

2 minute read

The language of diversity: A guide to navigating inclusion

Sankalp Chaturvedi — Wed, 15 Jan 2025 12:14:02 +0000

The language of diversity: A guide to navigating inclusion

Sankalp Chaturvedi Wed, 15/01/2025 - 12:14

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Language is powerful, a mechanism that fulfils a human need to communicate. It connects and unites us, promoting love and compassion. It adds nuance to a blunt statement, paints a picture where none exists, and evokes emotion in a way that's hard to replicate.

It also divides us, sometimes unintentionally through misuse or misunderstanding, and other times deliberately as a tool for manipulation by those in power (such as in politics). This can significantly change the direction of a discussion or its outcome, with significant consequences.

Language is shaped over time by societies to express thoughts, emotions, and shared realities, and inevitably translates into behaviour. Historically or etymologically, language has carried lasting biases, seen in male-assumed job roles of chairman, workman, businessman, fireman, postman, salesman, craftsman – the list is endless. Ask young people to name prominent leaders or famous scientists and the majority will be male, even today.

Addressing embedded bias: the challenge

It is biases like these that have led to the need for equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) policies across all organisations. However, intentions that are meant to initiate and celebrate uniqueness can potentially result in the opposite. By singling out disadvantaged or unrepresented groups we often end up creating yet more division. International Women’s Week events continue to draw mainly female audiences. In a similar vein, although Black History Month has a long-established history, the death of George Floyd in 2020 brought a renewed urgency to initiatives aimed at addressing racial inequality and celebrating communities of colour. But are these motivations engaging everyone? Those who are self-aware and passionate about inclusion will always engage in the ongoing debates around diversity and inclusivity, but it is those who don't believe there's a problem, or don't see it as their problem that we really need to reach if we are to create significant and lasting change to celebrate inclusivity for all.

There are other dimensions to this too. Uncertainty can breed fear, fuelling divisive rhetoric and reinforcing biases – especially in politics through social media. With the influence of social media, narratives are also spreading much faster than ever before. Once again, we find language being used for divisive purposes, encouraging the biases we are trying so hard to eradicate, with invisible forces creating the potential for yet more division.

Ensuring language unifies rather than divides

So we are fighting not only historical, cultural and social norms, but a growing narrative that is designed to further divide us. How do we counter this?

We must address these biases through our education system. Creating early touch-points with children to use language to unite rather than divide can promote compassion and community. This can shape the next generation with a different mindset, guided by what we call ACT: awareness, consideration and taking action.

To quote Henry Ford: "If you always do what you always did, you will always get what you always got". The defaults in both language and process need to change if we are going to create a new mindset. The real-world application of this framework has been instrumental in shaping culture and inclusion at Imperial Business School.

We must reframe EDI to focus on inclusion for everyone. We need to appreciate what makes us all unique – that we are individuals, with different learning styles, motivations and passions. We need to dispense with "additional needs" and concentrate on "individual needs". Recruitment and admissions processes should aim to identify every candidate's individual needs (to achieve their own version of success), without any reference to what is "normal". Only then can we ensure that everyone's needs are met without creating specific "disadvantaged" groups.

We need to measure progress in inclusivity without relying on checkboxes. A renewed focus on intersectionality is essential if we are to move beyond initiatives that, by isolating specific groups, risk entrenching the divisions they seek to overcome. Can a student with Indian heritage who grew up in Africa apply for a bursary for African ��ý? How can individuals truly embrace their identity when they are still expected to fit into predefined categories?

In the United Kingdom, there is definite progress to make organisations become truly inclusive. The recommendations of the UK’s Governments Inclusion at Work Panel must be turned into actionable change; working beyond theory towards actionable processes that bring meaningful impact in the near future, for everyone.

The Equality Act, which serves as the foundation for several UK policies, is now 15 years old and overdue an update. Should it evolve into a more modern Inclusivity Act? What would such an act look like in today's world—one shaped by shifting demographics, digital transformation, and AI—where narratives and meanings spread faster than ever?
Global organisations like the AACSB have amended their accreditation scheme to adapt to a changing narrative around EDI. It will be interesting to follow how it brings together the conflicting narratives from around the world, particularly from the US. Importantly, do mixed signals help unify or divide everyone?

Bias and division can hurt us all, so it is in our interests to understand, promote and expect inclusivity throughout our lives. This will require changing the defaults, celebrating individuality and using language to unite rather than divide.

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From bias to belonging: The role of language in building inclusion

Main image: VictoriaBar / iStock via Getty Images Plus

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Women do not lack ambition. Dr Poornima Luthra explains that workplaces are still structured in ways that make career progression hard to sustain.

As a result, women are redefining ambition on their own terms, with many turning to entrepreneurship rather than climbing the corporate ladder.

The sheer volume of women leaving their jobs should serve as a wake-up call.

Businesses must rethink how “ambition” and “success” are defined by evaluating their workplace systems and cultures to make sure talent is not being lost due to poorly designed systems.

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