Readings and inspirations

Inspirational reading and other resources for female academics

On this page you'll find a curated collection of inspirational interviews, books, articles, stories, and blogposts around the general theme of gender in academia. On behalf of the CYGNA organizing team: enjoy!

Frontline IB interviews with female academics

Since January 2021 Ilgaz Arikan has been conducting interviews with senior scholars in the field of International Business in the Frontline IB Conversations series. The interviews are also available as podcasts on all services, including Spotify, Amazon, Google, Apple, Tune In, and iHeartRadio. There are about 50 interviews with female academics. In around 30 minutes, learn about about their personal backgrounds, their research, and their mentoring lessons for junior academics.

This little girl: stories by CYGNA members

This little girl is me is part of a campaign by Inspiring Girls International. Its aim is to raise young girls’ aspirations worldwide by encouraging women to share their childhood ambitions and inspire the next generation.

Several of our CYGNA members have participated. I hope many more will follow. Remember you don't have to be a full professor to share your story. Even PhD students have important stories to tell. Girls might relate even more to those closer to them in age.

Anne-Wil Harzing Karin Moser Lorena Blasco-Arcas

Doing research that matters

  • Adler, N.J. (2008). I am my mother's daughter: early developmental influences on leadership. European Journal of International Management, 2(1): 6-21. Available online...
  • Adler, N.J; Harzing, A.W. (2009). When Knowledge Wins: Transcending the sense and nonsense of academic rankings, The Academy of Management Learning & Education, 8(1): 72-95. Available online...
  • Adler, N.J., & Hansen, H. (2012). Daring to Care Scholarship that Supports the Courage of Our Convictions. Journal of Management Inquiry, 21(2): 128-139. Available online...

Write-ups of our CYGNA meetings

A story about perseverance and publication failures

What does CYGNA mean to its members?

At our 50th meeting we also asked members to share a few words about what CYGNA meant to them on a Padlet. The word-cloud below is a perfect summary of what CYGNA aims to be: a friendly, kind, inclusive, and supportive community, providing a safe space/place to exchange ideas, share experiences, provide advice, inspire, and learn. We think that's pretty amazing :-).

Blogsposts on gender in academia

CYGNA on Twitter

We do not yet have a dedicated CYGNA twitter account, but some CYGNA members tweet about gender related issues at #cygna_london

Watch a brief video on CYGNA at my YouTube channel

Interviews with inspirational female academics

Interviews with a range of inspirational female academics, all of whom have combined doing research that matters with a stellar academic career.

Interesting blogs, websites, books and articles

Related pages

Related video