No, Women Didn’t “Ruin the Workplace,” But Polarization Might

Key points

Human behavior is highly flexible and shaped by the interaction of nature and nurture.

A person's environment matters.

Online platforms amplify identity-based polarization and activate our coalitional psychology.

The New York Times ( NYT ) recently published an opinion piece that ignited debate and virality, and no matter which article you picked up—the original or the commentary that followed—fingers were pointed in every direction on who is to blame.

The piece argued that women are disrupting the workplace and grounded its claims in evolutionary theories of group dynamics. The point was simple: Because men historically engaged in direct conflict, they are supposedly better suited for modern work. Women, by contrast, were framed as biologically less suited because