The Research: Devon Proudfoot, a PhD candidate at Duke, and her colleagues Aaron Kay and Christy Koval performed several studies of gender bias and creativity. In one, subjects rated how central certain personality characteristics were to creativity. The results showed that both men and women associated creativity with stereotypically “masculine” traits—independence, daring—more than with “feminine” traits, such as cooperativeness and sensitivity. In another study the researchers asked subjects to evaluate a house design but varied the gender of the architect. Both men and women rated creativity higher when told that the architect was a man.
The Challenge: Is gender bias so insidious that it affects how we judge ingenuity, too? And who brainwashed women into believing men’s ideas are better? Ms. Proudfoot, defend your research.
Proudfoot: Our research clearly showed that people associate creativity with “agentic” masculine qualities—boldness, risk taking, independence. And because of this, people believe that men are generally more creative than women. It doesn’t affect just assessments of work, like an architect’s design. We also found that the bosses of 134 executives rated women as significantly less creative in their thinking than men. That has repercussions: In another study we did, male managers who were rated as more creative than female managers were perceived as more deserving of rewards.
HBR: Great. Another way men get recognition that they don’t necessarily earn.
Actually, that’s not what our research suggests. The pattern of results we found is more consistent with supervisors’ tendency to underestimate women’s creativity, not to overestimate men’s. That’s what accounts for the gender difference in these evaluations.
Why is it important to look at gender bias regarding creativity?
This work came out of a broader program examining social and psychological forces that may explain why women are not reaching high-level positions. There’s also evidence that more and more value is placed on creativity at work. In one recent survey of 1,500 CEOs, creativity was identified as the most important skill for the future. So perceptions about it have a strong influence on who advances and who doesn’t.
But that’s not the only explanation for a dearth of women at the top, right? Aren’t a lot of factors at play?
There’s already a great deal of research demonstrating that men are assumed to be more competent and intelligent and better leaders than women. We also know that perceptions of creativity are likely to be correlated with perceptions of ability. But we’re not demonstrating that because men are seen as better, they are, by default, seen as more innovative. By statistically controlling for participants’ perceptions of the competence and skill of the person being evaluated, we show that it’s not just a general bias against women at work here. It’s something very specific about creativity.
And what’s that?
Our studies suggest that the reason men are seen as more creative is a belief that it takes autonomy, independence, and thinking that diverges from the status quo. These are “masculine” traits.
How have we come to associate these things with creativity in the first place?
Our research wasn’t focused on the origins. Also, it was done with American participants only. So we’re really looking at a specific cultural interpretation of creativity. But my intuition tells me that we live in a very individualistic culture that emphasizes being independent as a way to achieve. And we associate innovation with autonomy.
Can we fight this bias by getting more women into top spots?
Research shows that both men and women stereotype on the basis of gender. We found that as well.
So women are biased against other women. That’s hardly encouraging.
Yeah, it wasn’t surprising to find that—it’s actually consistent with what we’d expect.
What if women just acted more like men?
In one of our studies, we had participants read write-ups about male and female managers. What we found is that when a male manager was described as acting in a “masculine” way, he was perceived as more creative—and as more deserving of a promotion or a bonus. We didn’t find the same effect for a female manager, even when she was described as acting in an identical way.
The hits keep coming! What about employers? I’m assuming that bias isn’t limited to a few bad organizations?
Definitely not—most people are likely to be influenced by gender stereotypes at one time or another. This research has implications for organizational success. If organizations are less likely to see women’s ideas and output as creative, they could miss out on real innovations.
If we all know that gender bias is bad for individuals, organizations, and economies, why can’t we fix it?
That’s a big question. So many mechanisms sustain gender inequality in our society. Our research is looking at one. People aren’t perfect in the way they judge others. They’re often influenced by stereotypes and social categories. They’re really busy, mentally taxed, and making judgments quickly. It’s just part of our cognitive limitations.
The number of female entrepreneurs is growing rapidly. Do you think women work for themselves partly to avoid the impact of gender bias?
I don’t know, but I have another project under way that looks at longitudinal data on male and female entrepreneurs and whether they are equally likely to receive venture capital funding. We’re thinking about whether perceptions of creativity and risk taking might help explain any gaps there.
Where else do you want to go with your research?
We’re interested in two follow-up questions. First, are women who are associated with masculinized traits perceived as more creative than other women? Also, in what contexts does gender bias not favor men? In one of our studies, for instance, we found that men in fashion design were not perceived as more creative than women. We want to examine why.
Does your research suggest ways to mitigate bias?
Our findings are the first evidence of gender bias in creativity. We want to accumulate more before making prescriptions. But I do hope that anyone who reads this will consider whether they’re being influenced by gender bias when they’re evaluating creative output. Just being aware is one small step in the right direction.
Research also shows that people are more likely to be influenced by stereotypes when they’re tired or depleted, when they don’t have the cognitive resources to develop an accurate impression.
So we should get enough sleep, especially when we know we’ll be assessing someone’s performance?
Precisely.
Kate Adams is a senior associate editor at Harvard Business Review.
