ABSTRACT
Unequal representation by women in key areas of leadership persists throughout society and the economy, despite recent advances and large amounts of resources dedicated to correcting imbalances. While discrimination, stereotypes, and human capital differences are all likely to play a role, a prominent new line of research in economics has uncovered another critical factor that is likely to be a major driver of these gender imbalances: men and women can react differently to competition. A rich and growing literature in of experimental economics has shown that, among men and women of the same skill level, men have a tendency to be attracted to situations in which they compete, while women often avoid these situations. This difference may help explain the relative dearth of women in top positions, since such positions are typically achieved through competition. While the origins of this gender difference in reaction to competition remain a matter of debate, its existence across a multitude of settings and impacts on career and job choices by men and women is well established. This chapter discusses major findings emanating from the latest work in this area and explores some of the practical policies and approaches to correcting gender imbalances suggested by this research.
