Want more women in leadership? Tell them they’re losing out
A Wharton study finds that highlighting the gender gap in competition on a job platform increased women’s applications for leadership roles by over 20%.
2 min. read
Women start their careers in similar numbers to men but gradually drop out of paths to leadership. Much of the effort to change this has involved coaching women: boosting their confidence, nudging their ambition, teaching them to negotiate harder, or “lean in” a little more. New research, published in the journal Organization Science and led by doctoral candidate Sophia Pink at the Wharton School suggests something simpler works.
The research, co-authored by Katy Milkman, James G. Dinan Endowed Professor and professor of operations, information and decisions and fellow Wharton Ph.D. student Jose Cerventez, among others, shows that women are more likely to put themselves forward and apply for leadership jobs after seeing one message: Women like them tend to compete less than men. And that gives men the upper hand.
The researchers say the reason is simple. When people hear a negative stereotype about their group, they often want to prove it wrong, a phenomenon known as “stereotype reactance.”
In the online trials, women completed a math task, then chose how they wanted to be paid: a small amount for each right answer, or a chance to earn more for strong performance by doing better than someone else in a tournament. Those who were told that women tended to avoid competition, and that this gives men an advantage, were much more likely to choose the higher-risk, higher-reward option—just as often as men. Then, in the field study, 4,245 women in leadership using AboveBoard—a job site for senior executive roles that is only accessible to those who pre-qualify—saw one of two messages. Some just got general encouragement to apply for more jobs. Others were told that women like them apply for fewer top jobs, and that this gives men the advantage, before they were encouraged to apply for more jobs. The second group applied for 29% more jobs that day.
“This is a small intervention with big potential. It can help at the exact moment when someone might hold back from applying for a job or competing—and it can change that decision.”
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