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Do Workers Discriminate against Female Bosses?

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  • Martin Abel

Abstract

I hire 2,700 workers for a transcription job, randomly assigning the gender of their (fictitious) manager and provision of performance feedback. While praise has no effect, criticism negatively impacts workers’ job satisfaction and perception of the task’s importance. When female managers deliver this feedback, negative effects on these attitudes double in magnitude. Having a critical female manager does not affect effort provision, but it lowers workers’ interest in working for the firm in the future. Results are consistent with gendered expectations of feedback. I find no evidence for the role of attention discrimination or implicit gender bias.

Suggested Citation

  • Martin Abel, 2024. "Do Workers Discriminate against Female Bosses?," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 59(2), pages 470-501.
    • Handle: RePEc:uwp:jhriss:v:59:y:2024:i:2:p:470-501
    Note: DOI: https://doi.org/10.3368/jhr.1120-11318R3
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    Cited by:

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    2. Asad, Sher Afghan & Banerjee, Ritwik & Bhattacharya, Joydeep, 2020. "Do workers discriminate against their out-group employers? Evidence from the gig economy," ISU General Staff Papers 202002230800001098, Iowa State University, Department of Economics.
    3. Abel, Martin & Robbett, Andrea & Stone, Daniel F., 2024. "Partisan Discrimination in Hiring," IZA Discussion Papers 17540, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    4. Woodruff, Christopher & Macchiavello, Rocco & Menzel, Andreas & Rabbani, Atonu, 2020. "Challenges of Change: An Experiment Promoting Women to Managerial Roles in the Bangladeshi Garment Sector," CEPR Discussion Papers 15085, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    5. Priyanka Chakraborty & Danila Serra, 2021. "Gender and leadership in organizations: Promotions, demotions and angry workers," Working Papers 20210104-001, Texas A&M University, Department of Economics.
    6. Shanthi Manian & Ketki Sheth, 2021. "Follow My Lead: Assertive Cheap Talk and the Gender Gap," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 67(11), pages 6880-6896, November.
    7. Michael Rivera & Liangfei Qiu & Subodha Kumar & Tony Petrucci, 2021. "Are Traditional Performance Reviews Outdated? An Empirical Analysis on Continuous, Real-Time Feedback in the Workplace," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 32(2), pages 517-540, June.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • J50 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor-Management Relations, Trade Unions, and Collective Bargaining - - - General
    • J70 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor Discrimination - - - General

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