Another reason why we need diversity: The effect of a leader’s gender on workers’ willingness to contribute (with Yangfei Lin)

In a controlled laboratory experiment we investigate how the gender of a group leader affects the willingness of group members to contribute. Participants are randomly assigned into groups of three and a leader is chosen based on performance on a general knowledge quiz. In the baseline condition, participants have no knowledge of each other's gender, while in the treatment condition, we implicitly disclose the gender of both the leader and the group members within each group. We find that male participants are more likely to contribute their ideas when paired with a female leader. The willingness of female participants to contribute does not depend on the gender of the leader. These findings provide valuable insights for policy-makers seeking to justify diversity.