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Gender Differences in Job Entry Decisions: A University-Wide Field Experiment

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  • Anya Samek

Abstract

The gender difference in competitiveness has been cited as an important factor driving the gender gap in labor market outcomes. Using a natural field experiment with 35,000 university students, I explore the impact of compensation scheme on willingness to apply for a job. I find that competitive compensation schemes disproportionately deter women from applying, which cannot be explained by differences in risk preferences alone. I also vary whether the job is introduced as helping a non-profit, which increases application rates, suggesting a role for social preferences in application decisions. Finally, I observe a correlation between competitiveness preferences and career choice.

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  • Anya Samek, 2015. "Gender Differences in Job Entry Decisions: A University-Wide Field Experiment," Natural Field Experiments 00419, The Field Experiments Website.
    • Handle: RePEc:feb:natura:00419
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    Cited by:

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    2. Thomas Buser & Noemi Peter & Stefan C. Wolter, 2022. "Willingness to compete, gender and career choices along the whole ability distribution," Experimental Economics, Springer;Economic Science Association, vol. 25(5), pages 1299-1326, November.
    3. Stefania Albanesi & Claudia Olivetti & María José Prados, 2015. "Gender and dynamic agency: theory and evidence on the compensation of top executives," Staff Reports 718, Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
    4. Buser, Thomas & Ranehill, Eva & van Veldhuizen, Roel, 2021. "Gender differences in willingness to compete: The role of public observability," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    5. Laura K. Gee, 2019. "The More You Know: Information Effects on Job Application Rates in a Large Field Experiment," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 67(5), pages 2077-2094, May.
    6. Fluchtmann, Jonas & Glenny, Anita Marie & Harmon, Nikolaj & Maibom, Jonas, 2021. "The Gender Application Gap: Do Men and Women Apply for the Same Jobs?," IZA Discussion Papers 14906, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    7. Briscese, Guglielmo & Feltovich, Nick & Slonim, Robert L., 2021. "Who benefits from corporate social responsibility? Reciprocity in the presence of social incentives and self-selection," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 126(C), pages 288-304.
    8. Thomas Buser & Huaiping Yuan, 2019. "Do Women Give Up Competing More Easily? Evidence from the Lab and the Dutch Math Olympiad," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 11(3), pages 225-252, July.
    9. Müge Süer, 2023. "Are Women in Science Less Ambitious than Men? Experimental Evidence on the Role of Gender and STEM in Promotion Applications," Rationality and Competition Discussion Paper Series 483, CRC TRR 190 Rationality and Competition.
    10. Burbano, Vanessa & Padilla, Nicolas & Meier, Stephan, 2020. "Gender Differences in Preferences for Meaning at Work," IZA Discussion Papers 13053, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    11. Delfino, Alexia, 2021. "Breaking Gender Barriers: Experimental Evidence on Men in Pink-Collar Jobs," IZA Discussion Papers 14083, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    12. Lucía Del Carpio & Maria Guadalupe, 2022. "More Women in Tech? Evidence from a Field Experiment Addressing Social Identity," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 68(5), pages 3196-3218, May.
    13. Thomas Buser & Muriel Niederle & Hessel Oosterbeek, 2020. "Can competitiveness predict education and labor market outcomes? Evidence from incentivized choice and survey measures," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 20-048/I, Tinbergen Institute.
    14. Buser, Thomas & van den Assem, Martijn J. & van Dolder, Dennie, 2023. "Gender and willingness to compete for high stakes," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 206(C), pages 350-370.
    15. Gee, Laura Katherine, 2016. "The More You Know: Information Effects on Job Application Rates in a Large Field Experiment," IZA Discussion Papers 10372, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    16. Thomas Buser & Hessel Oosterbeek, "undated". "The anatomy of competitiveness," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 23-031/I, Tinbergen Institute.
    17. Hirshman, Samuel D. & Willén, Alexander, 2022. "Does Increasing Risk Widen Gender Gaps?," Discussion Paper Series in Economics 20/2022, Norwegian School of Economics, Department of Economics.
    18. Hoyer, Britta & van Huizen, Thomas & Keijzer, Linda & Rezaei, Sarah & Rosenkranz, Stephanie & Westbrock, Bastian, 2020. "Gender, competitiveness, and task difficulty: Evidence from the field," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    19. Ariella S. Kristal & Leonie Nicks & Jamie L. Gloor & Oliver P. Hauser, 2023. "Reducing discrimination against job seekers with and without employment gaps," Nature Human Behaviour, Nature, vol. 7(2), pages 211-218, February.
    20. Buser, Thomas & Cappelen, Alexander & Tungodden, Bertil, 2021. "Fairness and Willingness to Compete," Discussion Paper Series in Economics 8/2021, Norwegian School of Economics, Department of Economics.
    21. Masayuki Yagasaki & Mitsunosuke Morishita, 2018. "How Can We Induce More Women to Competitions?," Papers 1801.10518, arXiv.org.
    22. Raviv Murciano-Goroff, 2022. "Missing Women in Tech: The Labor Market for Highly Skilled Software Engineers," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 68(5), pages 3262-3281, May.
    23. Almås, Ingvild & Berge, Lars Ivar & Bjorvatn, Kjetil & Somville, Vincent & Tungodden, Bertil, 2020. "Adverse selection into competition: Evidence from a large-scale field experiment in Tanzania," Discussion Paper Series in Economics 19/2020, Norwegian School of Economics, Department of Economics.
    24. Buchanan, J., 2022. "Willingness to be paid: Who trains for tech jobs?," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    25. Hagmann, David & Sajons, Gwendolin & Tinsley, Catherine, 2022. "Statistical Discrimination Against Underrepresented Groups," OSF Preprints cnv45, Center for Open Science.

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