Laboratory Evidence of the Effects of Sponsorship on the Competitive Preferences of Men and Women

TL;DR

A study conducted in a lab experiment explores the effects of sponsorship programs on competitiveness and performance, particularly in closing the gender gap. Results suggest that sponsorship programs can increase competitiveness and confidence, with greater impact on men than women.

Transcript

welcome to the women and public policy program seminar series podcast at the Harvard Kennedy School okay I think I'll go ahead and get us started um my name is Hannah Riley BS I'm the I'm the uh faculty director or the research director here at the women in public policy program where we are committed to closing gender gaps in areas of Economic Opp... Read More

Key Insights

• 🖐️ Sponsorship programs can play a significant role in increasing competitiveness and confidence among participants.
• 🧔‍♀️ The impact of sponsorship programs varies between men and women, with men experiencing greater changes in competitiveness.
• 👔 The belief signal and payment tying features of sponsorship programs are important in motivating employees and fostering success.

Questions & Answers

Q: What is the aim of the study?

The study aims to understand the effects of sponsorship programs on closing the gender gap in competitive careers by examining the impact on competitiveness and performance.

Q: How does sponsorship differ from mentorship?

Sponsorship involves someone advocating for a protégé and taking a stake in their success, while mentorship focuses more on guidance, support, and connecting. Sponsors have a more vested interest in the success of their protégés.

Q: What are the two types of sponsorship features studied in the experiment?

The two types of sponsorship features studied are the belief signal and payment tying. The belief signal involves expressing confidence and choosing a protégé, while payment tying links the sponsor's payment to the protégé's performance.

Q: What are the key findings of the study?

The study found that sponsorship programs can increase competitiveness and confidence among participants. However, the impact is greater for men compared to women. Men exhibited lower cut-offs, indicating a higher willingness to compete, whereas women's cut-offs remained relatively unchanged.

Q: How did the study address the selection problem associated with sponsorship programs?

The experiment used an algorithm to construct binary choices for sponsors, ensuring similar ability distributions across sponsored and unsponsored participants. This helped mitigate the selection problem and allowed for unbiased analysis of the sponsorship program's effects.

Q: Did the study find any significant differences between the belief signal and payment tying features?

The study found that both the belief signal and payment tying features had similar effects on competitiveness and confidence. The results suggested that these aspects of sponsorship programs are important in motivating employees, but a combined approach may be more effective.

Q: Were there any differences in performance between men and women?

Men generally outperformed women in terms of the number of problems solved and earnings. The gap in performance remained significant even after controlling for other factors. However, the study did not focus explicitly on performance differences between men and women, as it primarily analyzed the impact of sponsorship programs on competitiveness.

Summary & Key Takeaways

• The study focuses on the impact of sponsorship programs on closing the gender gap in competitive careers, such as academia and professional service firms.

• Different aspects of sponsorship programs, including belief signal and payment tying, are examined through lab experiments involving participants solving math problems.

• The results show that sponsorship programs can increase competitiveness and confidence among participants, particularly men. However, the impact on women is less significant.