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      The Gender Gap in Self-Promotion
      13 Nov 2019Working Paper Summaries

      The Gender Gap in Self-Promotion

      by Christine L. Exley and Judd B. Kessler
      Many organizations and job applications require individuals to assess their own ability and performance. When women communicate to potential employers, however, they systematically give less favorable assessments of their own past performance and potential future ability than equally performing men. The study rules out potential explanations for the gap and discusses implications.
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      Author Abstract

      In job applications, job interviews, performance reviews, and a wide range of other environments, individuals are explicitly asked or implicitly invited to assess their own performance. In a series of experiments, we find that women rate their performance less favorably than equally performing men. This gender gap in self-promotion is notably persistent. It stays just as strong when we eliminate gender differences in confidence about performance and when we eliminate strategic incentives to engage in self-promotion. Because of the prevalence of self-promotion opportunities, this self-promotion gap may contribute to the persistent gender gap in education and labor market outcomes.

      Paper Information

      • Full Working Paper Text
      • Working Paper Publication Date: October 2019
      • HBS Working Paper Number: NBER Working Paper Series, No. 26345
      • Faculty Unit(s): Negotiation, Organizations & Markets
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      Christine L. Exley
      Christine L. Exley
      Assistant Professor of Business Administration
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