As we write this commentary in the late summer of 2020 in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, we are observing a world of work (and of unemployment) vastly different than it was six short months ago. In this commentary, we focus on the effects the coronavirus pandemic has had, and may continue to have, on gender equity issues in organizations and society. In particular, we consider how the reduced frequency of face-to-face communication in this time period, coupled with the potential for increased work-family conflict and weakened network ties, may be differentially impacting the careers of men and women. COVID-19 and Changes in the Nature of Work and Employment for Women The furloughs and job losses that occurred in 2020 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic disproportionately affected female workers, who were overrepresented in some of the hardest hit sectors of the economy, including retail, travel, childcare, and education. This has been a global pattern, with women making up 39 per cent of global employment but 54 per cent of pandemic-related job losses (Madgavkar et al., 2020). Higher female unemployment during the pandemic may have a long-term impact on gender equity as prior research has shown that gaps in employment can reduce lifetime earnings and hinder career progression.

Most innovation builds closely on existing knowledge and technology, delivering incremental advances on existing ideas, products, and processes. Sometimes, however, inventors make discoveries that seem very distant from what is known and well understood. How do individuals and firms explore such uncharted technological terrain? This paper extends research on knowledge networks and innovation to propose three main processes of knowledge creation that are more likely to result in discoveries that are distant from existing inventions: long search paths, scientific reasoning, and distant recombination. We explore these processes with a combination of a large and unique data set on outlier patents filed at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and interviews with inventors of outlier patents. Our exploratory analysis suggests that there are significant differences in the inventor teams, assignees, and search processes that result in outlier patents. These results have important implications for managers who wish to encourage a more exploratory search for breakthrough innovation.

Overt gender discrimination in the workplace is now less frequent since the passage of the Civil Rights Act; however, subconscious workplace gender biases persist. These subtle biases continue to contribute to gender inequality in the employment context, hindering women's ability to reach the top ranks of corporate leadership and their ability to achieve pay equity. To combat this inequity, in this article, we advance several suggestions. First, we urge states to pass legislation requiring paycheck fairness and urge firms to institute policies of salary transparency. Next, when there is a lack of women in the highest corporate ranks of the company, a presumption of discrimination should replace the current legal framework in the courts for disparate treatment analysis in Title VII cases of gender discrimination. We further suggest that firms would do well to improve mentoring and networking programs for women to help even the playing field and call on companies to offer implicit bias training for men. Finally, we urge firms to improve the environment for women in the workplace by adopting and sincerely promoting family-friendly policies. Not only would these recommendations be just, they would also likely increase productivity in the corporate world and help resolve the paradox surrounding the paucity of women in top leadership positions.

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