Jasmijn Bol
Jasmijn Bol is the PwC Professor of Accounting at Tulane University, where she holds the prestigious Francis Martin Chair in Business. She is an accomplished author and keynote speaker with more than 20 years of experience in higher education. Her work focuses on operational risk management and performance management, and she is widely recognized internationally for her research contributions. Throughout her academic career, she has taught MBA students and shared her expertise at conferences worldwide, bridging rigorous scholarship with practical organizational insights.
A thought leader in the field of AI and organizational redesign, Dr. Bol is currently authoring a book on how organizations can restructure themselves in the era of AI. Her work emphasizes designing organizational systems from the ground up, ensuring that AI serves as a tool to enhance human creativity rather than replace it. She is passionate about helping leaders rethink work processes and structures to align with modern technological and societal changes, advocating for strategies that benefit both employees and organizations.
In addition to her work on AI, Dr. Bol conducts pioneering research on gender bias in the workplace. Her studies reveal that women are often assigned work that does not advance their careers and are rarely rewarded for it, while men performing similar tasks receive recognition and career benefits. By combining her research on operational performance, AI, and gender dynamics, she seeks to create more equitable and effective workplaces. Dr. Bol earned her MSc in International Business from Maastricht University and her PhD in Business Administration and Management from IESE Business School.
• IESE Business School - PhD
What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
My advice is really to protect your time and protect your passion. Don't let other people trick you into doing certain jobs that you're not interested in. It's okay to say no, and investigate and teach those things that you're passionate about, and you'll be very successful. There's lots of research, including some of my own, that shows that women are often pressured into doing service work that isn't very interesting, doesn't really help their career, doesn't give them face time with higher level people. And because it's the expectation, the female will do that, it takes a lot to say no. It's a lot harder when people have that expectation of you to say no than it is when they never have that expectation. I think it's very important for women who want to be ambitious and want to grow in their role to say no. I would also say, let go of this imposter syndrome. We shouldn't compare ourselves to others, but everybody is human. Everybody is working on balance. Everybody is emotional sometimes. Everybody has an off day sometimes. It's okay, you belong. You worked hard to get where you are, and you belong. You don't have to feel like you don't. It's very normal to not always be as confident, and it's good to fake it until you make it, but be kind to yourself. You're there for a reason. You have the right diplomas, somebody hired you, they have confidence in you, so have confidence in yourself that you belong.
What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
I think balance is very important, but I see balance as something that you strive for and that you constantly have to work at, not something that's just going to happen one day and won't go away. You really have to keep on checking in with yourself and not be mad at yourself when you don't have that balance, because I think balance is the hardest thing. It's really hard to be balanced, and be kind to yourself that it's something that you are hoping to achieve, and even if you get it, you have to work hard to keep that balance, because it will go away. Even if we feel one day, yes, I have it under control, something just has to happen and you're off balance, but that's okay. Then you just work towards that goal again of balance. So I don't really see balance as a final goal, but seeing it as something that is important to you and that you keep on working at every day. In my personal life, I love spending time with my kids and with my family and friends. Just finding things that we all enjoy. I love swimming with my kids and playing outside, and those are really the important moments, you know, before they grow up and are too old and don't want anything to do with you.