Research: Objective Performance Metrics Are Not Enough to Overcome Gender Bias [Archive.org URL]

In various contexts, such as entrepreneurship and hiring, people often exhibit a preference for men over women when information about an individual’s quality (for example, their expected performance) is unavailable or unclear. Even when performance information is available, lab-based research has shown that women still tend to be disadvantaged, compared with men of equal quality. This double standard means women must outperform men to be evaluated similarly.

But how pervasive is this problem, exactly? We wanted to test the extent to which gender-based double standards are present in a competitive context, where evaluators have access to objective performance information and are motivated to evaluate candidates based on quality alone.

Like this content? Why not share it?