"Potential" and the Gender Promotion Gap with Alan Benson

In this seminar, Associate Professor Alan Benson of the University of Minnesota Carlson School of Management will present research on how firms’ reliance on subjective assessments of “potential” in promotion decisions can contribute to gender disparities in career advancement. Using detailed personnel data from a large organization, he shows that women receive systematically lower potential ratings (e.g. on "Nine Box" evaluations) than men with similar performance, which in turn limits their promotion prospects. The talk also explores reasons why ratings of potential may be biased against women, including gender stereotypes that associate men with leaders, and managers' incentives for providing higher potential ratings to men due to retention considerations. The talk will conclude with alternative methods for recognizing and rewarding leadership potential.