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Gender Differences in Climbing up the Ladder: Why Experience Closes the Ambition Gender Gap
Kristina A Wald1, Mabel Abraham2, Brian Pike2
1The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania.
Psychological Science
|October 11, 2024
Summary
Experience boosts women's confidence, encouraging them to pursue leadership roles. This helps close the gender gap in career advancement, particularly in politics.
Area of Science:
- Social Psychology
- Political Science
- Gender Studies
Background:
- Women remain underrepresented in top leadership positions across various sectors.
- Factors beyond discrimination, such as women's lower propensity to pursue high-ranking opportunities, contribute to this gap.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the role of experience in moderating gender differences in the pursuit of leadership opportunities.
- To examine how political experience influences men's and women's decisions to run for higher political offices.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of 96 years of U.S. senator and governor election data to compare men's and women's propensity for higher office.
- A preregistered experiment with U.S. adults to replicate field findings and explore underlying psychological mechanisms.
Main Results:
- Women with limited political experience were less likely than men to run for higher office.
- Political experience significantly narrowed the gender gap in pursuing higher political positions.
- Increased self-confidence among experienced women was identified as a key factor in reducing the gender gap.
Conclusions:
- Experience is a critical factor in encouraging women to seek leadership roles.
- Building self-confidence through experience can be a strategy to close the gender gap in career advancement.
- Findings have implications for promoting gender equality in professional hierarchies.
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