Research Insights: Gender Bias

"If There’s Only One Woman in Your Candidate Pool, There’s Statistically No Chance She’ll Be Hired"

This was the recently published article in Harvard Business Review about research performed by Dr. Stefanie Johnson and Dr. David Hekman, who teach management and entrepreneurship at the Leeds School of Business and study diversity in the workplace.

Johnson and Heckman’s research shows that who ends up in the final pool of candidates can determine who gets hired. When the majority of finalists were white (demonstrating the status quo), a white candidate was recommended. But when the majority of finalists were minorities or women, this greatly increased the likelihood that a female or minority candidate would be favored.

A single woman included in the final pool of candidates had virtually no chance of being hired. If at least two women were included in the finalist pool, the odds of a woman being hired were almost 79 times greater. The results were even more dramatic for minorities. The odds of hiring a minority candidate were about 194 times greater if there were at least two minority candidates in the finalist pool. The more women and minorities there were in the final candidate pool, the greater the odds became that they would be hired.

Getting Dinged for Workplace Diversity

In research also published in the Harvard Business Review titled “Women and Minorities Are Penalized for Promoting Diversity”, Drs. Johnson and Hekman found that white and male leaders are not rewarded for promoting diversity in the workplace. Even more striking is the finding that women and nonwhites who favor and promote other women and nonwhites in the workplace receive worse ratings from their bosses than those who follow the status quo. These results suggest that women and minorities may choose not to advocate for other women and minorities once they are in a position to do so out of fear that they will be perceived as incompetent., according to Dr. Johnson and Dr. Hekman.

 

The Bottom Line

These findings can have serious implications for company performance. There is extensive research by Cedric Herring , among others, that shows that a diverse workforce is beneficial for business. When compared to a homogeneous workforce, racial and gender diversity are associated with increased sales revenue, more customers, and higher profits. In fact, companies in the top quartile in gender and racial diversity outperform the least diverse companies by 15 to 35 percent. 

In addition to helping the bottom line, greater diversity improves an organization’s ability to solve problems and devise creative solutions. Despite the strong business case for diversity, the status quo is self-reinforcing and there are stiff penalties for female and minority executives who promote diversity. According to Johnson and Hekman, the obstacles that impede diversity can be overcome by devising structured, standardized, blind, and fair hiring and promoting processes. Every 1 percent increase in gender and racial diversity results in a 3 to 9 percent boost in sales. 

To be competitive, companies must change the status quo. Why? Because being inclusive gets better results.

About Johnson and Hekman

Dr. Stefanie Johnson is most well known for her work on diversity and unconscious bias. An Assistant Professor at the Leeds School of Business, Dr. Johnson specializes in management and entrepreneurship with a research focus on diversity, leadership and leader development. She has published over 40 articles and her research has been featured in Harvard Business Review, ABC News, NPR, Newsweek, and CNN International. She holds a PhD and MA from Rice University and a BA from Claremont McKenna College.

Dr. David Hekman is an Associate Professor at the Leeds School of Business. His research focuses on improving organizational health by examining sources of professional workers’ motivations, leadership, and workplace racial and gender biases. His research has been featured in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, National Public Radio, the Academy of Management Journal, and Journal of Applied Psychology. Dr. Hekman earned his PhD at the University of Washington's Foster School of Business.