Women more drawn to hypothetical jobs where most employees were women
Women were more interested in hypothetical jobs, and expected to feel more at home in them, when told most employees were women, according to four studies that pitted gender representation against job ads emphasizing brilliance.
A recent study published in PLOS One reveals that women are more drawn to hypothetical jobs where they are the minority, suggesting that existing representation can encourage future representation. Four studies involving 1,680 U.S.-based participants found that women are more likely to feel they would belong in a workplace with a higher proportion of women, even when other factors like brilliance and workplace culture are considered.
The gender makeup of a workplace sometimes appeared to matter more to women than the emphasis on exceptional intelligence in job ads. Previous research has shown that highlighting brilliance can reduce women's interest in certain professions, as these qualities are often stereotyped as more masculine. The researchers conducted four studies to examine whether the gender representation of a profession could drive women's choices.
In the first study, participants estimated the proportion of men and women in various occupations and rated their sense of belonging in each. Women reported a stronger sense of belonging in occupations they expected to have more women. The second study involved reading a fictional job ad that emphasized either brilliance or dedication.
Women's interest and expected belonging in a job were more influenced by the expected gender balance of the workplace than the type of emphasis in the ad. In the third study, gender representation was directly manipulated, and women showed a greater interest in female-dominated jobs, even when the job ad emphasized brilliance. Women also reported greater belonging in female-dominated workplaces.
The fourth study demonstrated that the effects of gender representation on women's interest and belonging grew stronger as the gender imbalance became larger. Messages about dedication still influenced women's interest, but once other factors were considered, the type of ad no longer predicted belonging. The research suggests that improving gender ratios and changing workplace messages may be most effective when pursued together.
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