Study: The Emergence of Male Leadership in Competitive Environments (Ernesto Ruben, Pedro Rey-Beil, Paola Sapienza, Luigi Zingales, Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization 2011)
Summary:
This study provides experimental results that suggest that the underrepresentation of women in higher-ranking positions is due to men’s overconfidence. It suggests that overconfidence of men in their leadership abilities in contrast to that of their female counterparts explains why women are less likely to be chosen for leadership roles. Overconfidence is defined as an individual bias in how one describes past performance. The study found that when women were asked to recall their past performance men exaggerated their recollections more than women. As part of the experiment MBA students of both genders took a math test. While they scored about the same, when asked a year later men exaggerated their performance twice as much as women did. In another part of the experiment, members of groups were asked to choose a leader based on past performance. Because there was a monetary incentive, both men and women exaggerated their past performances about the same. However, because men exaggerated more, women were selected 33.3% less often than their capabilities suggested for leadership roles in groups. The study also purports that women often opt out of more competitive environments when they are presented with the opportunity to participate.
Keywords: Discrimination, Incentive, Overconfidence, Past-Performance
Guide to Women in Leadership
Organizations with women in their executive suites regularly out-perform others. Yet rising female executives (and their mentors) are frustrated at how hard it is to break through the glass ceiling. In this extensive guide, Executive Coach Dana Theus shares her tried and true strategies to help women excel into higher levels of leadership and achieve their executive potential.
