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Strength in Numbers? Gender Composition, Leadership, and Women’s Influence in Teams

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  • Christopher F. Karpowitz
  • Stephen D. O’Connell
  • Jessica Preece
  • Olga Stoddard

Abstract

This article studies the effect of team gender composition and leadership on women’s influence in two field experiments. Study 1 finds that male-majority teams accord disproportionately less influence to women and are less likely to choose women to represent the team externally. We replicate this finding in a new context, where we also vary the gender of an assigned team leader. We find that a female leader substantially increases women’s influence, even in male-majority teams. With a model of discriminatory voting, we show that either increasing women's share or assigning a female leader decreases the penalty women face by more than 50%.

Suggested Citation

  • Christopher F. Karpowitz & Stephen D. O’Connell & Jessica Preece & Olga Stoddard, 2024. "Strength in Numbers? Gender Composition, Leadership, and Women’s Influence in Teams," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 132(9), pages 3077-3114.
    • Handle: RePEc:ucp:jpolec:doi:10.1086/729578
    DOI: 10.1086/729578
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    Cited by:

    1. Valencia,Christian & Janzen,Sarah Ann & Ghorpade,Yashodhan & Abdur Rahman,Amanina Binti, 2024. "Soft Skills, Competition, and Hiring Discrimination," Policy Research Working Paper Series 10755, The World Bank.
    2. Schoonjans, Eline, 2024. "From diversity to sustainability: Environmental and social spillover effects of board gender quotas," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 222(C), pages 314-331.
    3. Menaka Hampole & Francesca Truffa & Ashley Wong, 2024. "Peer Effects and the Gender Gap in Corporate Leadership: Evidence from MBA Students," CESifo Working Paper Series 11295, CESifo.

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    JEL classification:

    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination

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