Rewriting the Imprint: How #MeToo Led CEOs From Male-Dominant Cultures to Increase Gender Equality

Abstract

This paper examines how CEOs’ cultural imprints shape women’s representation in corporate leadership and how social movements can alter these effects. Building on imprinting theory, we argue that transformative social movements, such as the #MeToo movement, can create secondary sensitive periods during which deeply ingrained imprints are revisited and reinterpreted. Using a difference-in-differences design in the U.S. information and communications technology sector, we find that, before #MeToo, firms led by CEOs from male-dominant cultures employed fewer women in senior management. After the movement’s emergence, however, these CEOs increased women’s representation more strongly than their peers from more gender-egalitarian cultures. The effect persisted through 2024, was concentrated in male-typed roles, and was strongest among younger CEOs, consistent with intrinsic rather than purely extrinsic motives. Complementary analyses of employees’ career trajectories, employee reviews, and CEO speech suggest that these changes reflect shifts in promotion dynamics, organizational culture, and CEOs’ emphasis on integrity and respect. Together, the findings show that social movements can prompt lasting behavioral change among leaders whose cultural imprints are most directly challenged.