A Q&A with Knauss School of Business Faculty Member Tara Ceranic
For many women in leadership, ethical challenges do not only show up in high-stakes decisions or moments of crisis. They appear in everyday interactions, like how authority is expressed, how credibility is judged and how belonging is negotiated inside organizations.
Tara Ceranic, a faculty member at the Knauss School of Business, studies leadership, ethics and organizational behavior with a particular focus on women’s experiences at work. Her research and teaching explore how organizational systems shape behavior and why ethical leadership requires more than individual good intentions.
In this interview, Ceranic shares insight into the ethical challenges women face in leadership, how ethical reasoning is evolving in a data-driven business environment and how graduate education at USD prepares students to lead with clarity, empathy and responsibility.
What ethical challenges are unique to women in leadership?
One challenge I often describe is “tightroping.” Tightroping captures how women and other historically marginalized groups constantly modulate their behavior to fit into professional environments that were not built by or for them. This can mean changing how you speak, lead, dress or show emotion in pursuit of belonging.
Over time, tightroping becomes a survival strategy. It can help women navigate the workplace and succeed. But it also creates an invisible burden that drains time, energy and talent. Instead of focusing fully on meaningful work and impact, women are managing perceptions.
Why should organizations view these challenges as structural and ethical issues rather than personal ones?
Leaders should want employees to focus on their work and contributions. Yet many corporate environments are filled with unspoken messages that women are somehow too much and too little at the same time. While men can experience pressure to conform, women encounter it with greater frequency and intensity.
All the energy spent tightroping limits what people can do and who they can become. These challenges are not personal shortcomings. They are structural issues embedded in organizational culture. Women cannot and should not be expected to fix them alone, especially since they did not create them.
Organizations have an ethical responsibility to examine the conditions that produce tightroping. That starts with an honest look at workplace culture and continues by asking all employees what support they need to feel successful. Creating inclusive environments is not just a diversity goal. It is an ethical leadership imperative.
How is ethical decision-making changing in today’s global, data-driven business environment?
Ethical complexity has increased alongside technological advancement and global interconnection. Moral frameworks such as consequentialism and formalism help leaders navigate that complexity by offering different lenses for decision-making.
A consequence-based approach focuses on outcomes. It asks whether a decision produces the desired result. But it can overlook what happens along the way, including who is affected and what rules may be compromised. A formalistic approach emphasizes process. It prioritizes fairness, rules and respect for individual rights even when the outcome is not ideal.
Understanding multiple ethical frameworks allows leaders to think more broadly. Rather than searching for a single “right” answer, they learn to evaluate trade-offs and consider stakeholder impact from multiple perspectives.
Why is ethical reasoning a core leadership skill for the future?
Ethical reasoning and leadership both rely on critical thinking. As organizations increasingly rely on AI and data-driven tools, the human ability to evaluate values, context and consequences becomes even more important. Technology can support decision-making but it cannot replace judgment, character or empathy.
Leadership is deeply personal. It reflects who you are and how you show up for others. Ethical frameworks give leaders tools to slow down, consider implications and make more thoughtful choices. That perspective-taking leads to better decisions and more trustworthy leadership.
How can business schools prepare students to lead ethically?
Ethics must be practiced, not just studied. Jobs are not theoretical and neither are the decisions leaders face. Theory provides a foundation but it does not prepare students for the nuance of real-world challenges on its own.
That is why case studies play such a critical role in business education. Cases allow students to wrestle with ethical dilemmas in a low-risk environment. By working through realistic scenarios, students develop the confidence and judgment they will need when similar situations arise in their careers.
How do courses on women in management and leadership create space for transformation?
Transformation begins with reflection. Students need time and space to understand who they are, what they value and where they want to go. Without that clarity, it is difficult to define success or take meaningful steps toward it.
Through reflection and assessment tools focused on strengths, values, character and personality, students gain insight into themselves. Many discover they have never fully paused to consider what drives them or what it will take to achieve their goals.
This self-awareness is powerful. It allows students to decide whether their current goals align with who they want to become and to imagine changes they want to make moving forward. With that understanding, they are better prepared to navigate both work and life with intention.
How does USD integrate ethics and inclusion into business education?
Ethics and leadership research is deeply embedded across the Knauss School of Business. Many faculty members engage in work connected to ethical leadership, organizational culture and inclusion. Graduate students are encouraged to explore faculty research and reach out directly when they see topics that resonate with them.
This openness is a defining feature of the Knauss experience. Faculty welcome collaboration and value student perspectives, whether through case writing, research projects or classroom dialogue.
At a broader level, USD is committed to being a “better way to business.” As a member of the United Nations Principles of Responsible Management Education, Knauss integrates the Sustainable Development Goals into coursework. Students are challenged to think about business not only as a driver of growth but as a force that shapes social and global impact.
Preparing students for the ethical challenges of the future means helping them balance innovation, responsibility and humanity. That is the kind of leadership the future of business demands.
Leading with Intention
Ethical leadership is not something that emerges only when a difficult decision appears. It is shaped every day by how leaders think, reflect and respond to the systems around them. For women in particular, understanding the structural forces at play in organizations is a critical step toward leading with greater agency and impact.
At the Knauss School of Business, ethics is not treated as a standalone topic. It is woven into how students learn to lead, collaborate and make decisions in complex environments. Through case-based learning, reflection and close engagement with faculty, graduate students develop the skills to navigate ambiguity, question assumptions and act with integrity.
For prospective students, this work begins in the classroom but extends far beyond it. The future of business needs leaders who are willing to examine not just what decisions are made, but how and why they are made. At USD, students are invited to become that kind of leader — thoughtful, ethical and prepared to shape a better way to business.
Explore graduate programs at the Knauss School of Business and learn how ethics, leadership and real-world experience come together to prepare you for what comes next.