Seeing Diversity
How Do You Say Your Name? Difficult-To-Pronounce Names and Labor Market Outcomes
Qi Ge & Stephen Wu
American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, forthcoming
Abstract:
We test for labor market discrimination based on an understudied characteristic: name fluency. Analysis of recent economics PhD job candidates indicates that name difficulty is negatively related to the probability of landing an academic or tenure track position and research productivity of initial institutional placement. Discrimination due to name fluency is also found using experimental data from prior audit studies. Within samples of African-Americans (Bertrand and Mullainathan, 2004) and ethnic immigrants (Oreopoulos, 2011), job applicants with less fluent names experience lower callback rates, and name complexity explains roughly between 10 and 50 percent of ethnic name penalties. The results are primarily driven by candidates with weaker resumes, suggesting that cognitive biases may contribute to the penalty of having a difficult-to-pronounce name.
Sex differences in scientific productivity and impact are largely explained by the proportion of highly productive individuals: A whole-population study of researchers across six disciplines in Sweden
Guy Madison & Knut Sundell
Studies in Higher Education, January 2024, Pages 119-140
Abstract:
Sex differences in human performance have been documented across a wide array of human endeavours. Males tend to exhibit higher performance in intellectually demanding and competitive domains, and this difference tends to be more pronounced the higher the level of performance. Here, we analyse publishing performance for the whole population of associate and full professors in relatively sex-balanced disciplines, namely Education, Nursing and Caring Science, Psychology, Public Health, Sociology, and Social Work, comprising 426 women and 562 men. We find that sex differences in the number of publications, citations, and citations per publication were small across low and medium levels of productivity, but become more pronounced the higher the level of performance. In the top performing 10% the female proportion decreases from the average 43.2% to 26% (25 F, 71 M), which further decreases to 15% in the top 5%. The results are discussed with respect to the greater male variability hypothesis, sex differences in psychological traits, and environmental factors such as sex discrimination.
An analysis of the gender layoff gap implied by a gender gap in wage bargaining
Scott Abrahams
Economics Letters, January 2024
Abstract:
The assumption that wage bargaining power is greater for men than for women yields a novel, mechanical implication regarding the gender wage gap: there should also be a gender layoff gap. If women with the same marginal product of labor as men exercise less bargaining power and consequently earn lower wages, then female workers should on average be more profitable for a firm. When conditions reduce labor demand, the firm should therefore prefer to lay off its male workers first. I show that this is consistent with the data for the United States from 1982-2019. A calibration exercise based on the gender gap in layoff rates suggests that the female bargaining share has risen from 14% lower to 6% lower than the male share over time.
Universal mandatory reporting policies show null effects in a statewide college sample
Tara Richards et al.
Law and Human Behavior, December 2023, Pages 686–699
Method: Data on MRPs [mandatory reporting policies] and sexual misconduct reporting in annual security reports and to Title IX coordinators at institutions of higher education in New York (N = 188) were used to examine the prevalence of universal MRPs as well as the relationship between MRPs and reporting and postreporting outcomes.
Results: Descriptives showed that 44% of institutions of higher education have a universal MRP. Multivariate linear regression models indicated that universal MRPs were not significantly related to reporting in annual security reports; reports to Title IX coordinators, campus police, campus safety or security officers; or rates of referrals to additional services, no-contact orders, access to the judicial conduct process for sexual misconduct, or findings of student responsibility for sexual misconduct.
A field study of the impacts of workplace diversity on the recruitment of minority group members
Aaron Nichols et al.
Nature Human Behaviour, December 2023, Pages 2212–2227
Abstract:
Increasing workplace diversity is a common goal. Given research showing that minority applicants anticipate better treatment in diverse workplaces, we ran a field experiment (N = 1,585 applicants, N = 31,928 website visitors) exploring how subtle organizational diversity cues affected applicant behaviour. Potential applicants viewed a company with varying levels of racial/ethnic or gender diversity. There was little evidence that racial/ethnic or gender diversity impacted the demographic composition or quality of the applicant pool. However, fewer applications were submitted to organizations with one form of diversity (that is, racial/ethnic or gender diversity), and more applications were submitted to organizations with only white men employees or employees diverse in race/ethnicity and gender. Finally, exploratory analyses found that female applicants were rated as more qualified than male applicants. Presenting a more diverse workforce does not guarantee more minority applicants, and organizations seeking to recruit minority applicants may need stronger displays of commitments to diversity.
The Gender Gap in Meaningful Work
Vanessa Burbano et al.
Management Science, forthcoming
Abstract:
An understanding of differences in nonmonetary work conditions is fundamental for a complete characterization of individuals’ well-being at work. Thus, to fully characterize gender inequalities in the labor market, scholars have begun to explore gender differences in nonmonetary work conditions. We examine one such condition -- meaningful work -- using nationally representative survey data linked with worker and employer administrative data. We document a large and expanding gender gap in meaningful work, wherein women experience their jobs as more meaningful than men do. We then explore patterns underlying this difference. We find little correlation between women’s higher experience of meaningful work and either labor market decisions related to first parenthood or women’s underrepresentation in leadership jobs. Instead, the gender gap appears to be highly correlated with the sorting of more women into occupations with a high level of beneficence: the sense of having a prosocial impact. Though both women and men experience such jobs as more meaningful, women do so by a larger margin. Next, we consider the relationship between the gender difference in meaningful work and the gender wage gap, contributing to the discussion on compensating differentials in work amenities. We find that, whereas the gender gap in meaningful work closes a substantial part of the wage gap in lower paid jobs, it does little to close the gap in higher paid jobs in which the gender wage gap is largest.
Gender and Leadership in Organisations: The Threat of Backlash
Priyanka Chakraborty & Danila Serra
Economic Journal, forthcoming
Abstract:
Decisions made by leaders please some people and upset others. We examine whether the possibility of backlash has a differential impact on men’s and women’s self-selection into leadership roles, and their decisions as leaders. In a laboratory experiment that simulates corporate decision-making, we find that women are significantly less likely to self-select into a leadership position when they can receive backlash. Once in a leadership role, women get more backlash. There are some gender differences in leaders’ decision-making and communication styles under the threat of backlash, but little difference in final outcomes. An online experiment sheds light on possible mechanisms.
The racial gap in entrepreneurship and opportunities inside established firms
Tiantian Yang & Olenka Kacperczyk
Strategic Management Journal, forthcoming
Abstract:
Racial disparities in entrepreneurship have been widely discussed in the literature, with most studies focusing on mechanisms that amplify such disparities. However, less attention has been devoted to factors that promote inclusion. We propose that intrapreneurship -- launching and operating new ventures inside established organizations -- represents a more inclusive entrepreneurial pathway than entrepreneurship involving a standalone venture. We predict that relative to White employees, Black employees will (1) be more likely to engage in intrapreneurship than entrepreneurship and (2) achieve greater financial performance as founders of internal ventures than standalone ventures. Using data on a representative sample of American new business founders in 2005, we found evidence for our theory. Our study highlights the importance of intrapreneurship in leveling the playing field for racial minorities pursuing entrepreneurial activities.
Asymmetric Peer Effects at Work: The Effect of White Coworkers on Black Women's Careers
Elizabeth Linos, Sanaz Mobasseri & Nina Roussille
Harvard Working Paper, November 2023
Abstract:
This paper investigates how having more White coworkers influences the subsequent retention and promotion of Black, Asian, and Hispanic women and men. Studying 9,037 new hires at a professional services firm, we first document large racial turnover and promotion gaps: even after controlling for observable characteristics, Black employees are 6.7 percentage points (32%) more likely to turn over within two years and 18.7 percentage points (26%) less likely to be promoted on time than their White counterparts. The largest turnover gap is between Black and White women, at 8.9 percentage points (51%). Drawing on conditional random assignment of new hires to initial project teams, we then show that a one standard deviation (14.0 percentage points)increase in the share of White coworkers is associated with a 10.6 percentage point increase in turnover for Black women. These effects are similar in magnitude to the overall turnover gap between White and Black women, and asymmetric: Black women are the only race-gender group whose turnover and promotion are negatively impacted by the racial composition of their coworkers. We explore potential pathways through which these peer effects may emerge: while the share of White coworkers does not affect formal task assignment, Black women who were initially assigned to Whiter teams subsequently report fewer billable hours and more training hours, and are more likely to be labeled as low performers in their first performance review. Our findings call for more research on how peer effects early in one’s career shape longer-term racial inequalities at work.
Being asked to dance: Evidence of racial bias in audience voting behavior on the television show Strictly Come Dancing
Keon West
Psychology of Popular Media, forthcoming
Abstract:
Strictly Come Dancing is a celebrity dance competition and one of the most diverse programs on British television. Nonetheless, this current research investigated whether racial bias was detectable in the pattern of celebrity contestants who were repeatedly assigned to the “dance-off” due to low levels of audience support. This study used a preregistered, cross-sectional analysis strategy on public data about celebrity contestants in Seasons 10–19 of Strictly Come Dancing, their average scores for their dances, and the number of dance-offs to which they were assigned. Moderation analyses revealed a three-way interaction between celebrity race, professional dancer race, and average dance scores. The contestants most likely to be assigned to repeated dance-offs were racial minority celebrities who were paired with racial minority professional dancers and achieved high scores from the judges. Implications for media representation, diversity, and inclusion are discussed.
Racialized Sexism: Nonverbal Displays of Power in Workplace Settings are Evaluated as More Masculine When Displayed by White (vs. Black) Women With Implications for the Expression of Ambivalent Sexism
Quang-Anh Ngo Tran et al.
Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, forthcoming
Abstract:
We hypothesized that White (vs. Black) women in high- (vs. low-) power poses would be evaluated as particularly masculine and unfeminine due to greater perceived violations of gendered racial stereotypes. As predicted, White (vs. Black) women in high- (but not low-) power poses were evaluated as more masculine and less feminine (Studies 1-3). Moreover, greater perceived masculinity of White (vs. Black) women in high-power poses predicted more hostile sexism; and, lesser perceived femininity of White (vs. Black) women predicted less benevolent sexism. Finally, these associations between masculinity/hostile sexism and femininity/benevolent sexism serially mediated reduced hiring desirability of White (vs. Black) women (Study 2). Study 3 replicated these serial indirect effects and found that these effects emerged regardless of job status and even when controlling for socially desirable responding. We conclude that gendered racism leads sexism to be expressed toward White and Black women embodying power in distinct ways.