But Reena A. Jadhav, a serial entrepreneur who graduated the Business School’s MBA program in 1998, said that the school still lags in drawing from its robust female alumnae network for its case studies. She cited a lack of outreach by faculty and researchers to female graduates like herself.

“When we talk about bringing in more female-centered cases,” said Jadhav, who has been involved in the founding of four startups since her departure from the Business School, “I think that it’s just a matter of reaching out to more HBS women that are out there—that are having these incredible experiences, but have not yet been contacted to get their stories into cases.”

While a goal of 20 percent representation may seem too low some—according the article in Poets & Quants, attendants of Monday’s event let out an audible sigh at Nohria’s promise, thinking it was not ambitious enough—the objective is laudable, Jadhav said.

“I’m a very firm believer in the butterfly effect,” she said. “I really believe that all of these little things will together add up to create a positive change for women at work. I think it needs to happen at every level, because nobody talks about this.”

In terms of the process of case study production, Knoop said, Nohria’s announcement might lead to more referrals both to and from female industry leaders interested in the case development process—and in sharing the hurdles and triumphs that they have faced in their careers.

—Staff Writer Alexander H. Patel can be reached at alexanderpatel@college.harvard.edu.