Katherine B. Coffman

Katherine Coffman is the Piramal Associate Professor of Business Administration in the Negotiations, Organizations & Markets unit. Before joining HBS, she was an assistant professor of economics at The Ohio State University and a visiting assistant professor of economics at Stanford University.

In her research, Professor Coffman uses experimental methods to study individual, team, and managerial decision making, with a focus on the role of gender stereotypes in shaping beliefs. Her work has been published in Management Science, the American Economic Review, the Quarterly Journal of Economics, and Social Choice and Welfare. She is an associate editor of Management Science and the Journal of Political Economy: Microeconomics.

Professor Coffman holds a PhD in economics from Harvard University and a BA in mathematics and economics from Williams College.

Journal Articles

• Gino, Francesca, and Katherine Coffman. "Unconscious Bias Training That Works." Harvard Business Review 99, no. 5 (September–October 2021): 114–123. View Details
• Bordalo, Pedro, Katherine Baldiga Coffman, Nicola Gennaioli, Frederik Schwerter, and Andrei Shleifer. "Memory and Representativeness." Psychological Review 128, no. 1 (January 2021): 71–85. View Details
• Coffman, Katherine B., Christine L. Exley, and Muriel Niederle. "The Role of Beliefs in Driving Gender Discrimination." Management Science 67, no. 6 (June 2021). View Details
• Coffman, Katherine B., Clio Bryant Flikkema, and Olga Shurchkov. "Gender Stereotypes in Deliberation and Team Decisions." Games and Economic Behavior 129 (September 2021): 329–349. View Details
• Coffman, Katherine B., and David Klinowski. "The Impact of Penalties for Wrong Answers on the Gender Gap in Test Scores." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 117, no. 16 (April 21, 2020): 8794–8803. View Details
• Bordalo, Pedro, Katherine Baldiga Coffman, Nicola Gennaioli, and Andrei Shleifer. "Beliefs about Gender." American Economic Review 109, no. 3 (March 2019): 739–773. View Details
• Baldiga, Nancy R., and Katherine Baldiga Coffman. "Laboratory Evidence on the Effects of Sponsorship on the Competitive Preferences of Men and Women." Management Science 64, no. 2 (February 2018): 888–901. View Details
• Coffman, Katherine Baldiga, Lucas C. Coffman, and Keith M. Marzilli Ericson. "The Size of the LGBT Population and the Magnitude of Anti-Gay Sentiment Are Substantially Underestimated." Management Science 63, no. 10 (October 2017): 3168–3186. View Details
• Bordalo, Pedro, Katherine Baldiga Coffman, Nicola Gennaioli, and Andrei Shleifer. "Stereotypes." Quarterly Journal of Economics 131, no. 4 (November 2016): 1753–1794. View Details
• Coffman, Katherine Baldiga. "Representative Democracy and the Implementation of Majority-Preferred Alternatives." Social Choice and Welfare 46, no. 3 (March 2016): 477–494. View Details
• Coffman, Katherine Baldiga. "Evidence on Self-Stereotyping and the Contribution of Ideas." Quarterly Journal of Economics 129, no. 4 (November 2014): 1625–1660. View Details
• Coffman, Katherine Baldiga. "Gender Differences in Willingness to Guess." Management Science 60, no. 2 (February 2014): 434–448. View Details
• Baldiga, Katherine A., and Jerry R. Green. "Assent-maximizing Social Choice." Social Choice and Welfare 40, no. 2 (February 2013): 439–460. View Details

Working Papers

• Bordalo, Pedro, Giovanni Burro, Katherine B. Coffman, Nicola Gennaioli, and Andrei Shleifer. "Imagining the Future: Memory, Simulation and Beliefs about COVID." NBER Working Paper Series, No. 30353, August 2022. View Details
• Coffman, Katherine B., Paola Ugalde Araya, and Basit Zafar. "A (Dynamic) Investigation of Stereotypes, Belief-Updating, and Behavior." NBER Working Paper Series, No. 29382, October 2021. View Details
• Bordalo, Pedro, Katherine B. Coffman, Nicola Gennaioli, and Andrei Shleifer. "Older People Are Less Pessimistic About the Health Risks of COVID-19." NBER Working Paper Series, No. 27494, July 2020. View Details
• Coffman, Katherine B., Manuela Collis, and Leena Kulkarni. "Whether to Apply." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 20-062, November 2019. (Revised June 2021.) View Details
• Coffman, Katherine B., Manuela Collis, and Leena Kulkarni. "Stereotypes and Belief Updating." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 19-068, January 2019. (Revised June 2021.) View Details
• Coffman, Katherine Baldiga. "Experimental Evidence on Policies Aimed at Closing the Gender Gap in Willingness to Guess on Multiple-Choice Tests." Working Paper, August 2016. View Details

Cases and Teaching Materials

• Coffman, Katherine, and Tom Quinn. "Inclusion and Diversity at Mars Petcare." Harvard Business School Case 923-005, January 2023. View Details
• Coffman, Katherine, and Olivia Hull. "Inclusive Innovation at Mass General Brigham." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 922-014, March 2022. View Details
• Coffman, Katherine Baldiga, and Olivia Hull. "Inclusive Innovation at Mass General Brigham." Harvard Business School Case 921-006, May 2021. View Details
• Coffman, Katherine B., Jeffrey J. Bussgang, Kathleen L. McGinn, Julia Kelley, Amy Klopfenstein, and Katherine Chen. "Chief." Harvard Business School Teaching Plan 920-033, June 2020. View Details
• Coffman, Katherine B., Alison Wood Brooks, Judith A. Clair, Katherine Chen, Manuela Collis, and Kathleen L. McGinn. "The Boss Has the Wrong Idea." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 920-053, March 2020. View Details
• Gino, Francesca, and Katherine B. Coffman. "Starbucks: Reaffirming Commitment to the Third Place Ideal." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 920-031, December 2019. (Revised March 2020.) View Details
• Coffman, Katherine B., Jeffrey J. Bussgang, Kathleen L. McGinn, Julia Kelley, and Katherine Chen. "Scaling at Chief." Harvard Business School Case 920-021, November 2019. View Details
• Gino, Francesca, Katherine B. Coffman, and Jeff Huizinga. "Starbucks: Reaffirming Commitment to the Third Place Ideal." Harvard Business School Case 920-016, November 2019. (Revised February 2020.) View Details
• Coffman, Katherine B., Jeffrey J. Bussgang, Kathleen L. McGinn, Katherine Chen, and Julia Kelley. "Chief: Role for Carolyn Childers." Harvard Business School Case 920-019, November 2019. View Details
• Coffman, Katherine B., Jeffrey J. Bussgang, Kathleen L. McGinn, Julia Kelley, and Katherine Chen. "Chief: Role for Lindsay Kaplan." Harvard Business School Case 920-020, November 2019. View Details
• Coffman, Katherine, Kathleen McGinn, Judith A. Clair, and Katherine Chen. "The Boss Has the Wrong Idea: Confidential Role Material for Lee Clancy." Harvard Business School Case 920-024, November 2019. View Details
• Coffman, Katherine, Kathleen McGinn, Judith A. Clair, and Katherine Chen. "The Boss Has the Wrong Idea: Confidential Role Material for Julia Smith." Harvard Business School Case 920-023, November 2019. View Details
• Coffman, Katherine Baldiga, Andrew Wasynczuk, and Karim Sameh. "Road Rage at the DMV." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 920-014, August 2019. (Revised November 2019.) View Details
• Exley, Christine L., Katherine B. Coffman, and Joshua Schwartzstein. "Legal Time Case – Video Short 2." Harvard Business School Multimedia/Video Supplement 920-704, September 2019. View Details
• Exley, Christine L., Katherine B. Coffman, and Joshua Schwartzstein. "Legal Time Case – Video Short 1." Harvard Business School Multimedia/Video Supplement 920-703, September 2019. View Details
• Exley, Christine L., Katherine B. Coffman, and Joshua Schwartzstein. "Legal Time - Confidential Information for the Prosecution (AUSA Prescott)." Harvard Business School Supplement 920-012, August 2019. View Details
• Exley, Christine L., Katherine B. Coffman, and Joshua Schwartzstein. "Legal Time - Confidential Information for the Defense Attorney (Drew Davis)." Harvard Business School Supplement 920-011, August 2019. View Details
• Exley, Christine L., Katherine B. Coffman, and Joshua Schwartzstein. "Legal Time Case." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 920-013, August 2019. (Revised September 2019.) View Details
• Exley, Christine L., Katherine B. Coffman, and Joshua Schwartzstein. "Legal Time Case." Harvard Business School Case 920-010, August 2019. View Details
• Coffman, Katherine Baldiga, Andrew Wasynczuk, and Karim Sameh. "Road Rage at the DMV - Robert Hull Remarks." Harvard Business School Multimedia/Video Supplement 920-702, March 2020. View Details
• Coffman, Katherine B., and Christine Exley. "BulkWhiz: Negotiating as a Startup Founder in the UAE." Harvard Business School Multimedia/Video Supplement 920-701, September 2019. View Details
• Coffman, Katherine B., and Christine Exley. "BulkWhiz: Negotiating as a Startup Founder in the UAE." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 920-004, August 2019. (Revised October 2019.) View Details
• Coffman, Katherine, Christine Exley, and Alpana Thapar. "BulkWhiz: Negotiating as a Startup Founder in the UAE." Harvard Business School Case 919-004, October 2018. (Revised July 2019.) View Details
• Brooks, Alison Wood, and Katherine B. Coffman. "Harvard Men's Soccer." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 918-029, January 2018. View Details
• Wasynczuk, Andrew, Katherine Baldiga Coffman, and Karim Sameh. "Road Rage at the DMV." Harvard Business School Case 918-013, February 2018. View Details
• Brooks, Alison Wood, and Katherine Coffman. "Harvard Men's Soccer." Harvard Business School Case 918-011, September 2017. View Details

Research Summary

Overview

Professor Coffman studies the sources of gender gaps in economically-important contexts. Her work focuses on the role of beliefs: how do stereotypes bias the beliefs that individuals hold about themselves (and others), and how do these biased beliefs shape decision-making?

Much of her work is related to the observation that good ideas and good candidates are only valuable when they are put forward. A student who is unsure of an answer on a test can only answer correctly if he is willing to submit his best guess rather than skip the question. An expert can only improve a corporate board’s decision if she is willing to speak up with her opinion about the best path forward. A firm can only promote the best candidate if she applies for the opening. Thus, being willing to assert one’s self and one’s ideas, particularly in the face of uncertainty, is a critical factor in determining outcomes at the individual, team, and firm level. Her work has shown that beliefs are the key ingredient in these decisions, and that these beliefs are often biased.

Professor Coffman is an experimental researcher, who draws insights from field data and practitioners to form research questions that she analyzes in the controlled setting of the laboratory. Through careful experimental design, she aims to isolate the forces that underlie these interesting field phenomena, to quantify the impact of these forces on the efficiency and equity of outcomes, and to test a variety of potential policy interventions. Her work provides valuable insights for managers and policy-makers looking to design more equitable, and efficient, processes for evaluating, recruiting, and promoting talent.

Keywords: Gender; Stereotypes; Diversity Management; Experiments

Additional Information

• Curriculum Vitae

• Personal Website

In The News

In The News

• • 22 Jan 2018
  • HBS Working Knowledge

  When Gender Discrimination Is Not About Gender
• • 26 Jan 2018
  • Quartz

  Employers don’t discriminate against women just because they’re women
• • 11 Sep 2017
  • HBS Working Knowledge

  Why Employers Favor Men
• • 02 Jun 2017
  • Boston Globe

  Who’s gay? Depends on who’s asking