In the framework of the 3E seminar series on the topic of Experiments, Ethics and Economics, Prof. Reuben presented research on the impact that gender stereotypes on job referrals on January 26, 2022.
He reports a large gender gap in the referral of women for tasks that are stereotypically male. In these tasks, he finds that equally qualified women have a lower chance of being referred and this difference is larger for high-performing women. Noticeably, the gender of the referrer has a large impact as men are a lot less likely to refer women. Importantly, Prof. Reuben shows that this effect is not only due to differences in the networks of men and women but also due to biases in the ability of referrers to identify high-performing women. There are no such effects for referrals for stereotypically female tasks.
More information about Prof. Reuben’s research can be found on his website http://ereuben.net/
Future seminars to come