Women and racialized CEOs may outperform their peers because they face tougher barriers to the top

Women remain underrepresented in corporate leadership, even as research finds that those who reach the top often perform strongly. (Unsplash) Every so often, a headline declares that women make better leaders. A widely cited 2019 Harvard Business Review analysis, for instance, found women outscored men on most leadership competencies. But if women really do outperform men at the top, what explains the difference? A 2005 review of 46 meta-analyses found relatively few consistent psychological…