Debiasing Systems

To benefit from 100% of the talent pool, organizations can apply insights from behavioral science to remove unconscious bias from their hiring and recruitment processes. Typically, these interventions are relatively low-cost and low-effort—taking inspiration from the EAST framework created by the Behavioral Insights Team in the UK—to redesign organizations and make them more equitable. These interventions can be as simple as: ensuring job descriptions do not use gendered wording, as that alone leads women to be less likely to apply to these jobs. Research from WAPPP co-director Iris Bohnet has also shown that evaluating in batches can prevent stereotypical evaluations of job candidates or employees. When reviewing job applications, our brains naturally judge applicants comparatively, and in the absence of a direct comparison, we resort to the “prototypical person” as a comparison. Joint evaluation decreased biases and increased the likelihood that employers assessed individuals based on their performance, rather than gender stereotypes. 

In addition to debiasing the hiring process, organizations could also use insights from behavioral design to address career advancement and close the gender gap in management and leadership. Analyzing the performance evaluation process is one place to start, as these evaluations are related to an employee’s career advancement and promotion prospects. Research suggests that women are more likely to receive vague and critical feedback rather than constructively critical and specific feedback. A recent study conducted by Iris Bohnet, Oliver Hauser, and Ariella Kristal found that when managers were informed of employees’ self-evaluations, they were likely to "correct" for some women’s lower self-evaluations in their own ratings, closing the gender gap in White employees’ ratings. However, managers did not correct racial gaps in evaluations. Not sharing self-evaluations benefitted the group most hurt by their low self-evaluations, women of color, during their first year of employment. Organizations could also take a closer look at how they allocate work and projects, as evidence suggests that women are more likely to take on non-promotable tasks, and are more likely to be assigned lower-performing accounts or projects.  

Inclusive workplaces can increase retention, improve productivity, and enhance the general well-being for employees of all backgrounds. Once organizations get underrepresented groups in the door, how can they create an environment where all employees, managers, and leaders can thrive and bring their whole selves to work?  

Seeing is believing—and seeing a real-world example of a woman in a leadership position can have significant impacts on women and girls. It even matters what kind of leaders and people are highlighted on the walls of an organization. Hanging up just one photo of a woman leader before women are giving a speech improves their performance and self-evaluations. Former WAPPP faculty chair Jenny Mansbridge brought these findings to the Kennedy School and increased the number of paintings and portraits of women on our walls here at Harvard Kennedy School.