Uploaded April 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
“Things we’ve assumed to be advantageous in the workplace are actually costly in our interpersonal lives,” says Ashley Martin, an associate professor of organizational behavior at Stanford GSB, on the If/Then #podcast.
In her recent work, Martin has been examining how traits associated with masculinity — stoicism, risk-taking, aggression, self-reliance, ambition, and dominance — are simultaneously organizationally rewarded even as they’re personally harmful to men.
“By not seeing men as compassionate and emotional, we’re actually denying them the fundamental human traits and capacities that are really important for people,” Martin says.
“Things we’ve assumed to be advantageous in the workplace are actually costly in our interpersonal lives,” says Ashley Martin, an associate professor of organizational behavior at Stanford GSB, on the If/Then #podcast.
In her recent work, Martin has been examining how traits associated with masculinity — stoicism, risk-taking, aggression, self-reliance, ambition, and dominance — are simultaneously organizationally rewarded even as they’re personally harmful to men.
“By not seeing men as compassionate and emotional, we’re actually denying them the fundamental human traits and capacities that are really important for people,” Martin says.
