Misrepresentation
Women Don't Run? Election Aversion and Candidate Entry
Kristin Kanthak & Jonathan Woon
American Journal of Political Science, forthcoming
Abstract:
To study gender differences in candidate emergence, we conduct a laboratory experiment in which we control the incentives potential candidates face, manipulate features of the electoral environment, and measure beliefs and preferences. We find that men and women are equally likely to volunteer when the representative is chosen randomly, but that women are less likely to become candidates when the representative is chosen by an election. This difference does not arise from disparities in abilities, risk aversion, or beliefs, but rather from the specific competitive and strategic context of campaigns and elections. Thus, we find evidence that women are election averse, whereas men are not. Election aversion persists with variations in the electoral environment, disappearing only when campaigns are both costless and completely truthful.
----------------------
Nathaniel Ratcliff, Theresa Vescio & Julia Dahl
Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, March 2015, Pages 23-30
Abstract:
This research examined whether leaders exhibit race-based and gender-based biases in decisions about to whom to relinquish power. Across three studies, participants were placed in leadership roles in a simulated, online competition with either White male and/or Black male co-workers (Study 1a/1b) or White male and White female co-workers (Study 2). Results showed that after learning of their poor performance as leaders, participants relinquished more power to White male co-workers than Black male co-worker and more power to White male co-workers than White female co-workers. Together, the findings offer a novel examination of when and to whom power is given which can further inform our understanding of the underrepresentation of disadvantaged groups in leadership domains.
----------------------
Physical Appearance and Earnings, Hair Color Matters
Evgenia Dechter
Labour Economics, forthcoming
Abstract:
This study examines the relationship between physical appearance and labor market outcomes. It focuses on hair color and addresses the effects of the "blonde myth", a series of perceptions about personality characteristics of blonde women. Inexperienced blonde women earn significantly less than their non-blonde counterparts. This wage gap declines over time, and blonde women with more work experience earn higher wages. The relationship between earnings and hair color is not explained by personal or family characteristics. I argue that employer or customer tastes drive the initial blonde hair penalty; job sorting and mobility allow blonde women to close the gap.
----------------------
You're Fired!: The Impact of Race on the Firing of Black Head Coaches in Major College Football
Nolan Kopkin
Review of Black Political Economy, December 2014, Pages 373-392
Abstract:
It is well known that the hiring rate of black head coaches in major college football is not representative of the number of student-athletes that are black. However, less obvious is the fact that black head coaches may be treated unfairly when decision-makers decide whether to retain or fire their institution's current head coach. In this paper, I use a rich dataset of National Collegiate Athletic Associate football coaches from 1990 to 2012, containing measures of coaching performance and school expectations, as well as information on each coach's race and whether he was fired or retained in each season. Using this data, I estimate a discrete-time hazard model of the probability that a head coach is fired, allowing the hazard rate of black head coaches and white head coaches to differ, and find that black head coaches are 5.28 percentage points more likely to be fired than their white counterparts. Additionally, I find that black head coaches are more likely to be fired in the initial 3 years of tenure, and again in their seventh and eighth years, but that the difference in the probability of release between black and white head coaches in the fourth through sixth years of tenure is small and statistically insignificant.
----------------------
Gender, Job Authority, and Depression
Tetyana Pudrovska & Amelia Karraker
Journal of Health and Social Behavior, December 2014, Pages 424-441
Abstract:
Using the 1957-2004 data from the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study, we explore the effect of job authority in 1993 (at age 54) on the change in depressive symptoms between 1993 and 2004 (age 65) among white men and women. Within-gender comparisons indicate that women with job authority (defined as control over others' work) exhibit more depressive symptoms than women without job authority, whereas men in authority positions are overall less depressed than men without job authority. Between-gender comparisons reveal that although women have higher depression than men, women's disadvantage in depression is significantly greater among individuals with job authority than without job authority. We argue that macro- and meso-processes of gender stratification create a workplace in which exercising job authority exposes women to interpersonal stressors that undermine health benefits of job authority. Our study highlights how the cultural meanings of masculinities and femininities attenuate or amplify health-promoting resources of socioeconomic advantage.
----------------------
Christopher Hunt, Karen Gonsalkorale & Lisa Zadro
European Journal of Social Psychology, forthcoming
Abstract:
The current study examined the impact of observing successful women being attacked on gender lines through reactions to gender-based criticism directed towards Australia's first female Prime Minister, Julia Gillard. Australian undergraduate students completed a measure of conformity to gender norms and then read statements about either: (a) generic difficulties for leaders; or (b) statements about gender-based difficulties experienced by Gillard. Results showed that, relative to those who read the generic article, female participants high on conformity to feminine norms displayed lower desire to be involved in politics after reading about Gillard's gender-based difficulties, while low conformers showed greater desire to be involved in politics. For male participants, those high on conformity to masculine norms showed greater belief in their own leadership capabilities after reading about Gillard's gender-based difficulties than when reading about generic difficulties, while low conforming men showed the opposite pattern. Implications for achieving gender equality are discussed.
----------------------
It's Fair for Us: Diversity Structures Cause Women to Legitimize Discrimination
Laura Brady et al.
Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, March 2015, Pages 100-110
Abstract:
Three experiments tested the hypothesis that the mere presence (vs. absence) of diversity structures makes it more difficult for women to detect sexism. In Experiment 1, even when a company's hiring decisions disadvantaged women, women perceived the company as more procedurally just for women and were less supportive of sexism litigation when the company offered diversity training, compared to when it did not. In Experiment 2, women perceived a company as more procedurally just for women and as less likely to have engaged in sexism when the company offered diversity training, compared to when it did not. This effect was not moderated by women's endorsement of status legitimizing beliefs. In Experiment 3, women perceived a company as more procedurally just and less discriminatory when the company had been recognized for positive gender diversity practices compared to when it had not. Additionally, these effects were most pronounced among women who endorsed benevolent sexist beliefs and mitigated among those who rejected benevolent sexist beliefs. Together, these experiments demonstrate that diversity structures can make it difficult for women to detect and remedy discrimination, especially women who hold benevolent sexist beliefs.
----------------------
"Coercive Cooperation"? Ontario's Pay Equity Act of 1988 and the Gender Pay Gap
Judith McDonald & Robert Thornton
Contemporary Economic Policy, forthcoming
Abstract:
Evaluating the effect of pay-equity laws is important and yet difficult as one needs to deduce what would have occurred without the policy intervention. We use a new tool, synthetic-control method, to examine the effects of Ontario's Pay Equity Act on the gender pay gap. This tool enables us to create a "Synthetic" Ontario, which resembles Ontario more closely than does any other single province. Using Synthetic Ontario to compare what actually happened in Ontario to what would have happened, we find that the act has had little or no effect on the female-male wage gap in Ontario.
----------------------
Beyond the Numbers: Institutional Influences on Experiences With Diversity on Elite College Campuses
Natasha Warikoo & Sherry Deckman
Sociological Forum, December 2014, Pages 959-981
Abstract:
In this article we bring together the burgeoning qualitative literature on the socializing influence of residential colleges, the survey-based literature on campus racial climate, and the literature on diversity work in organizations to analyze how two elite universities' approaches to diversity shape students' experiences with and feelings about diversity. We employ 77 in-depth interviews with undergraduates at two elite universities. While the universities appear comparable on measures of student demographics and overall diversity infrastructure, they take different approaches. These varying approaches lead to important differences in student perspectives. At the university that takes a power analysis and minority support approach, students who participate in minority-oriented activities develop a critical race theory perspective, while their white and nonparticipating minority peers frequently feel alienated from that programming. At the university that takes an integration and celebration approach, most students embrace a cosmopolitan perspective, celebrating diversity while paying less attention to power and resource differences between racial groups. The findings suggest that higher education institutions can influence the race frames of students as well as their approaches to multiculturalism, with implications for their views on a variety of important diversity-related issues on campus and beyond.
----------------------
Gender Differences in Competitiveness: The Role of Prizes
Ragan Petrie & Carmit Segal
George Mason University Working Paper, November 2014
Abstract:
Gender differences in competitiveness have been suggested as an explanation for the observed dearth of women in highly-ranked positions within firms. In this paper we ask: could a price mechanism be used to achieve gender balance? Our results show that if the rewards to competition are sufficiently large, women are willing to compete as much as men and will win as many competitions as men. Nonetheless, while entry increases, it is not enough to reduce average wage cost. Given the proportion of men and women willing to enter the competition at various prizes, firms whose objective is to minimize their costs would not voluntarily chose prizes which allow them to attract a balanced workforce. Hence markets forces would not be sufficient to achieve gender parity. Our experimental design also allows us to propose a new measure for competitiveness that incorporates the fact that incentives change participants' willingness to compete, namely the minimum prize at which participants chose to enter a tournament. We find that women choose to enter at significantly higher minimum prizes and that only a small fraction of the initial gender gap can be attributed to performance, beliefs, and general factors such as risk and feedback aversion. Thus, even though for some prizes women behave as competitively as men, women nevertheless are less competitive than men.
----------------------
Ethnic matching in the U.S. venture capital market
Ola Bengtsson & David Hsu
Journal of Business Venturing, forthcoming
Abstract:
We document the role of entrepreneurial founder and venture capital (VC) partner co-ethnicity in shaping investment relationships. Co-ethnicity increases the likelihood that a VC firm invests in a company. Conditional on investment, co-ethnicity strengthens the degree of involvement by raising the likelihood of VC board of director involvement and increasing the size and scope of investment. These results are consistent with trust and social-network based mechanisms. Shared ethnicity in our sample is associated with worse investment outcomes as measured by investment liquidity, however, which our results suggest might stem from looser screening and/or corporate governance.
----------------------
The Effect of Teacher Gender on Student Achievement in Primary School
Heather Antecol, Ozkan Eren & Serkan Ozbeklik
Journal of Labor Economics, January 2015, Pages 63-89
Abstract:
Using data from a randomized experiment, we find that having a female teacher lowers the math test scores of female primary school students in disadvantaged neighborhoods. Moreover, we do not find any effect of having a female teacher on male students' test scores (math or reading) or female students' reading test scores, which seems to rule out explanations pertaining to the unobserved quality differences between male and female teachers. Finally, this negative effect seems to persist only for female students who were assigned to a female teacher with a limited math background.
----------------------
What's in a Name: Exposing Gender Bias in Student Ratings of Teaching
Lillian MacNell, Adam Driscoll & Andrea Hunt
Innovative Higher Education, forthcoming
Abstract:
Student ratings of teaching play a significant role in career outcomes for higher education instructors. Although instructor gender has been shown to play an important role in influencing student ratings, the extent and nature of that role remains contested. While difficult to separate gender from teaching practices in person, it is possible to disguise an instructor's gender identity online. In our experiment, assistant instructors in an online class each operated under two different gender identities. Students rated the male identity significantly higher than the female identity, regardless of the instructor's actual gender, demonstrating gender bias. Given the vital role that student ratings play in academic career trajectories, this finding warrants considerable attention.
----------------------
Clara Wilkins et al.
Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, March 2015, Pages 1-14
Abstract:
What leads people to espouse zero-sum beliefs (ZSBs) - the perspective that gains for one social group come at the cost of another group - and what are the consequences of those beliefs? We hypothesized that high-status groups (Whites and men) would be more likely than low-status groups (Blacks and women) to endorse ZSBs, particularly in response to increasing perceptions of discrimination against their own groups. We found that high-status groups endorsed ZSBs more when they contemplated increasing bias against their group than when they contemplated decreasing bias against their low-status counterparts. Furthermore, we demonstrated that greater ZSB endorsement corresponded with efforts to decrease outgroups' ability to compete in society and efforts to increase the ingroup's ability to compete. We discuss how this pattern may perpetuate social inequality.
----------------------
Charles Bullock et al.
Social Science Quarterly, December 2014, Pages 1322-1345
Objectives: Using a multistage gender-focused analysis of candidates for trial court judgeships, we seek answers to these leading questions: (1) Are women as strategic as men in choosing the conditions under which they run for an open seat or against an incumbent and against a male opponent or against another female? (2) Are women winning at the same rates as men under the same conditions at the primary election stage and at the runoff stage? (3) Are women as likely as men to move into a vacant trial court judgeship via a gubernatorial appointment? (4) Are women more likely to be appointed than to win election to the bench?
Methods: This research represents the first use of an "all-stage" analysis of the relative success of female versus male candidates for trial court judge in nonpartisan settings. The three stages analyzed are (1) candidacy, (2) the initial primary round (outright victory or progression to the runoff), and (3) the end stage-victory in a runoff, if necessary. The study is based on longitudinal data from Florida and Georgia-two of the nation's 10 largest states, each with higher contestation rates than the national average for nonpartisan trial court judicial races-and gubernatorial appointments to new or vacant judgeships.
Results: Women behave strategically, more often seeking open seats than challenging incumbents and more often competing against men than women. Women participated in the candidate pools for most seats having contested primaries and when women run, they win more often than they lose, usually by defeating men. While women fare less well in runoffs than initial primaries, they win more runoffs than they lose. Women more often come to the bench by winning an election than securing a gubernatorial appointment, with female appointees disproportionately serving in newly created judgeships.
Conclusions: Women frequently compete for trial court judgeships and when they run, they usually succeed. Open seats rather than challenging incumbents or hoping for a gubernatorial appointment provide the best way to increase gender equality on the bench.
----------------------
Kim Peters, Michelle Ryan & Alexander Haslam
British Journal of Psychology, forthcoming
Abstract:
Women have made substantial inroads into some traditionally masculine occupations (e.g., accounting, journalism) but not into others (e.g., military, surgery). Evidence suggests the latter group of occupations is characterized by hyper-masculine 'macho' stereotypes that are especially disadvantageous to women. Here, we explore whether such macho occupational stereotypes may be especially tenacious, not just because of their impact on women, but also because of their impact on men. We examined whether macho stereotypes associated with marine commandos and surgeons discourage men who feel that they are 'not man enough'. Study 1 demonstrates that male new recruits' (N = 218) perceived lack of fit with masculine commandos was associated with reduced occupational identification and motivation. Study 2 demonstrates that male surgical trainees' (N = 117) perceived lack of fit with masculine surgeons was associated with reduced identification and increased psychological exit a year later. Together, this suggests that macho occupational stereotypes may discourage the very men who may challenge them.
----------------------
Leadership over-emergence in self-managing teams: The role of gender and countervailing biases
Klodiana Lanaj & John Hollenbeck
Academy of Management Journal, forthcoming
Abstract:
We examine leadership over-emergence, defined as instances when the level of one's leadership emergence is higher than the level of one's leadership effectiveness, in a sample of intact self-managing teams who worked together for a period of seven months. We draw from Gender Role Theory and Expectancy Violation Theory to examine the role of gender in predicting leadership over-emergence. Building on arguments from Gender Role Theory, we find that all else equal, men over-emerge as leaders. However, Expectancy Violation Theory suggests that women are likely to benefit from a countervailing bias. Specifically, women are attributed with higher levels of leadership emergence than men when they engage in agentic leadership behaviors - even if the level of the behaviors exhibited by men is exactly the same. Because the impact of these behaviors on leadership effectiveness is not contingent on gender, however, women who engage in more task behaviors and boundary spanning behaviors in self-managing teams also over-emerge as leaders. We discuss the implications of this study for Gender Role Theory and Expectancy Violation Theory, along with practical implications for managing the problem of leadership over-emergence in work groups.
----------------------
Julia Bear, Laurie Weingart & Gergana Todorova
Negotiation and Conflict Management Research, November 2014, Pages 213-231
Abstract:
Conflict research has shown that managing relationship conflict via avoidance is beneficial for team performance, but it is unclear whether avoidant conflict management benefits individuals on an affective level. Drawing on theories of gender roles, we proposed that gender is an important factor that influences whether avoidant conflict management mitigates the negative affective effects of relationship conflict. In a field study of a healthcare organization, we found that relationship conflict resulted in negative emotions, which, in turn, were positively associated with emotional exhaustion two months later. Avoidant conflict management attenuated the relationship between negative emotions engendered by relationship conflict and emotional exhaustion, but this effect depended on gender. Among men, the extent to which they used an avoidant conflict management style mitigated the association between negative emotions and emotional exhaustion, whereas among women, avoidant conflict management did not attenuate this relationship. Findings are discussed in terms of theoretical and practical implications.