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Gender, competition and the effect of feedback and task: An experiment

Author

Listed:
  • Baier, Alexandra
  • Davis, Brent J.
  • Jaber-Lopez, Tarek
  • Seidl, Michael
Abstract
This paper investigates the role of feedback in inducing men and women to enter competition. Literature suggests that the underrepresentation of women in management roles and the ensuing gender pay gap might be attributed to differences in preferences for competition, confidence, or risk aversion. A laboratory experiment by the authors found that providing feedback on rank and giving participants the option to compete in their preferred task encourages more women to enter competition. Furthermore, feedback affects reported beliefs and improves efficiency. This study thus provides evidence that manipulating the type of feedback given might be an effective way of closing the gender gap.

Suggested Citation

  • Baier, Alexandra & Davis, Brent J. & Jaber-Lopez, Tarek & Seidl, Michael, 2018. "Gender, competition and the effect of feedback and task: An experiment," Working Paper Forschungsförderung 062, Hans-Böckler-Stiftung, Düsseldorf.
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:hbsfof:062
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    File URL: https://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/215992/1/hbs-fofoe-wp-062-2018.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
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    Cited by:

    1. Shastry, Gauri Kartini & Shurchkov, Olga & Xia, Lingjun Lotus, 2020. "Luck or skill: How women and men react to noisy feedback," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    2. Sandor Katona & Anna Lovasz, 2021. "The Role of the Gender Composition of Performance Feedback on Peers in Shaping Persistence and Performance," CERS-IE WORKING PAPERS 2105, Institute of Economics, Centre for Economic and Regional Studies.
    3. Jaber-Lopez Tarek & Baier Alexandra & Davis Brent J., 2021. "In-group, out-group effects in distributional preferences: the case of gender," German Economic Review, De Gruyter, vol. 22(2), pages 199-214, May.

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