This episode is from our friends at the podcast Wisdom From The Top, featuring our very own Stacey Vanek Smith! Stacey Vanek Smith has reported on business and the economy for over 15 years now, first for public radio's "Marketplace," and now as the host of Planet Money's daily podcast "The Indicator." Over that time, she's seen the same barriers blocking advancement for women in the workplace again and again. Recently, she's started to recognize that a lot of tools to move past those barriers can be found in the work of Italian philosopher Niccolò Machiavelli.

Debate rages around the pay gap, but an economist’s research suggests men would likely be equally as vociferous as women in calling for a narrowing of the gap if they found themselves in a world where they were holding the short end of the stick.

Should you let that comment slide, or address it head on? Is it more harm than it’s worth? We can help.

Ayanna Howard is a rarity: an African-American woman with an endowed engineering faculty chair at a major research university. Here's how she rocked it.