International organizations including international financial institutions (IFIs) play a significant role in shaping economic policy, development priorities, and global norms, and women’s leadership within these institutions matters for both internal governance and external impact. CGD’s research shows a clear and consistent pattern: women are hired into technical and junior professional roles at or near parity, but they are not promoted into leadership at the same rate. This “clogged pipeline” cannot be explained by a lack of qualified women. Instead, it points to institutional processes, cultures, and career structures that shape who rises into leadership, particularly during periods of reorganization, decentralization, or rapid change, when gender parity gains are most vulnerable to backsliding.
This conference will convene researchers, practitioners, and institutional leaders to examine why promotion systems that are nominally meritocratic fail to deliver equitable leadership outcomes—and why that failure matters for institutional performance. Evidence from IFIs, international organizations, and the status of women in the economics profession shows that women’s presence in decision-making roles influences policy priorities, the quality of implementation, and investments in social sectors critical for long-term growth. By integrating new quantitative and qualitative evidence on current trends and barriers to women’s career’s progression, and research on what works to address these barriers, this conference aims to identify concrete, testable reforms that can strengthen leadership pipelines, prevent backsliding during institutional transitions, and ensure that institutions charged with promoting inclusive growth are governed by leadership that reflects and serves the populations they affect.
Opening Session: Why Women’s Leadership Matters |
Session I: The Benefits of Women in Leadership |
Session II: Regional Perspectives from Latin America and the Caribbean |
Fireside Chat with Eliana La Ferrara |
Session III: Barriers to Women’s Leadership |
Session IV: What Works—Evidence on Solutions |
Closing Discussion: What’s Next for Women’s Leadership? |
Alan Benson, University of Minnesota
Amen Jalal, London School of Economics
Ana Maria Muñoz Boudet, World Bank
Apurva Bamezai, University of Notre Dame
Danila Serra, Texas A&M
Eeshani Kandpal, Center for Global Development
Eliana La Ferrara, Harvard University
Gabriella Conti, University College London
Henrietta Asiamah, Statistics Canada
Kelsey Harris, Center for Global Development
Nicolò Fraccaroli, World Bank
Noor Kumar, Princeton University
Olaitan Ogunnote, University of British Columbia
Pascaline Dupas, Princeton University
