Harvard University psychologist Steven Pinker explains why women leaders are less likely to go to war: “Over the long sweep of history, women have been and will be a pacifying force. Traditional war is a man’s game: tribal women never band together to raid neighboring villages.”

Amy Astley has become a force at Conde Nast — and in the magazine industry at large — for transforming Teen Vogue into a pretty amazing global brand. But she didn’t get there by having big staff meetings. She learned that the hard way.

Sampat Pal, the ruler of the “Pink Vigilantes” in India, a group that targets wife-beaters and corrupt policemen (with wooden clubs, by the way), explains why she’s running for local office in Uttar Pradesh: “We have tremendous support on the ground because of our reputation. Women make up half the population and yet have so little political power. That’s why I need to get elected and set things right… I’ll continue working for the poor women of this area as I’ve always done.”

Sylvia Ann Hewlett, the head of Columbia University’s Gender and Policy Program, told to Jezebel why she thinks Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg’s “message of self-reliance” isn’t realistic for all women in business: “I think she’s had a golden path herself, and perhaps does not more readily understand that the real struggles are not having children or ambition. Women are, in fact, fierce in their ambition, but they find that they’re actually derailed by other things, like they don’t have a sponsor in their life that helps them go for it.”

Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg is among the most visible women in business. But just because she’s a top exec at Facebook doesn’t mean the social media giant is a titan of gender diversity. In fact, the company has zero women on its seven-person board of directors. And former Xexox Chairman and CEO Anne Mulcahy blasted Facebook for its all-male cadre of directors in Bloomberg today.

Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg addressed an audience at Davos last week, where she noted the hurdles that women executives face — at WEF and everyday. She also argued that women in power need to get over being ‘likable’: “Little girls are called bossy. Anyone at Davos who as a girl was called bossy? If you got to Davos you were that. I was. Success and likeability are positively correlated for men and negatively correlated for women.”

Need more reasons to invest in women? A fascinating piece today from Newsweek (a must-read) shows why women entrepreneurs are essential to the global economy. And it invokes a statement from Secretary of State Hillary Clinton that’s eminently repeatable: “There is no doubt that the increasing numbers of women in the economy… has helped fuel significant growth everywhere. And economies that are making the shift more effectively and rapidly are dramatically outperforming those that have not.”

Davos might have instituted a new quota system for delegates two years ago, but the conspicuous lack of women at the epic economic forum this week is still at the tip of everyone’s tongue. We talked with Fox Business reporter Liz Claman about the issue (by her estimate just 17 percent of delegates to the forum last year were female). And, just days later, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon was weighing in on women’s empowerment. Now, the World Economic Forum founder himself, Klaus Schwab, is sharing his two cents, arguing that Davos reflects a poor representation of women in business.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon addressed a crowd of business leaders at the World Economic Forum in Davos today, advocating for more investment in women’s health and education: “Investing in the health of women and girls is the right thing to do and the smart thing to do for national economies and global stability. The business community can help. Your partnership is crucial in preventing unnecessary suffering for women and girls everywhere… The private sector is uniquely positioned to deliver a better life for women and children around the world. Telecommunication companies are harnessing their networks to bring mobile health solutions to women living in the countryside. Corporations are using their technological strengths to develop affordable healthcare equipment for remote areas. Pharmaceutical companies are making essential drugs available to those most in need.”

As the CEO of a much-lauded online software company (and former CMO of Mint), Donna Wells knows a thing or two about what it takes to make a good developer. And female brains, she tells Forbes, are perfectly suited: “Neuroscientists tell us that women’s brains are wired differently than men’s, and I believe that. Women [...]