The effect of gendered occupational titles on perceptions of peers’ and potential clients

Last registered on October 05, 2022

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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title

The effect of gendered occupational titles on perceptions of peers’ and potential clients

RCT ID

AEARCTR-0010169

Initial registration date

October 04, 2022

Initial registration date is when the trial was registered.

It corresponds to when the registration was submitted to the Registry to be reviewed for publication.

First published

October 05, 2022, 11:29 AM EDT

First published corresponds to when the trial was first made public on the Registry after being reviewed.

Locations

Country

Italy

Region

Trentino

Primary Investigator

Name

Alessandro Tondini

Affiliation

Research Institute for the Evaluation of Public Policies, Trento

Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name

Sonia Marzardro

PI Affiliation

Research Institute for the Evaluation of Public Policies, Trento

Contact Investigator

PI Name

Sergiu Burlacu

PI Affiliation

Research Institute for the Evaluation of Public Policies, Trento

Contact Investigator

PI Name

Dominique Cappelletti

PI Affiliation

Research Institute for the Evaluation of Public Policies, Trento

Contact Investigator

Additional Trial Information

Status

In development

Start date

2022-10-05

End date

2022-12-31

Keywords

Gender, Labor

Additional Keywords

gender-fair language, gender equality, job titles

JEL code(s)

Secondary IDs

Prior work

This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.

Abstract

Growing attention has been given to the association between gendered language and labour market outcomes for women, as across countries a clear negative correlation emerges between those languages that allow for a gender declination and women’s average status in the labour market (Jakiela and Ozier, 2019). However, the extent to which gendered language impacts negatively the labour market outcomes of women is still uncertain. Research effort, mainly in the field of social psychology, has been devoted to understanding the potential detrimental effects of using feminine job titles on the evaluation of female professionals. It has been shown, for example, that female professionals with a feminine job titles receive less favourable evaluations than both male professionals and female professional with a masculine job title (Formanowicz and Sczesny, 2016) and are perceived by men as less warm and less competent, with the consequence of having a lower chance of being employed (Budziszewska et al., 2014). We study this phenomenon in the case of Italy, a country with comparatively low female labour market outcomes, and Italian, a language that requires a gender declination, in a setting of high-skilled professionals working in a relatively wealthy region. In our sample, a significant portion of female professionals in different occupations employ the male declination in their professional life, as this is seen as a way to avoid gender stereotypes and gender discrimination. To test whether this mechanism is at play, we run a vignette study on a sample of high-skilled workers where different (female) professional figures for a specific profession are randomly presented in different scenarios, either as potential colleagues or service-providers, with the female or male gender-declination of the professional title. We measure whether the same individual, with the same observable characteristics, is ranked lower from potential colleagues or clients when presented with the female declination of the professional title.

External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation

Burlacu, Sergiu et al. 2022. "The effect of gendered occupational titles on perceptions of peers’ and potential clients." AEA RCT Registry. October 05. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.10169-1.0

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Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)

We run a vignette study on a sample of high-skilled workers where different (female) professional figures for a specific profession are randomly presented in different scenarios, either as potential colleagues or service-providers, with the female or male gender-declination of the professional title. We measure whether the same individual, with the same observable characteristics, is ranked lower from potential colleagues or clients when presented with the female declination of the professional title.

The sample of the respondents is obtained through the local professional associations of the region.

Intervention Start Date

2022-10-05

Intervention End Date

2022-11-18

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)

- Differences in the rating given to scenarios 4.A and 4.B to female candidates presented with the title avvocata relative to the similar candidates presented with the title avvocato. We expect a potentially negative effect on the score when women are presented with the title avvocata. The outcome will also be compared to the differences in ratings between treatment arms in the same scenarios given to male candidates.

- Differences in the rating given to scenario 3 to female candidates presented with the title avvocata relative to the similar candidates presented with the title avvocato. We expect a zero or potentially positive effect on the score when women are presented with the title avvocata. As above, we will compare the outcome to the same outcome for male candidates.

We will explore heterogeneous effects by the gender of the respondent.

Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)

Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

We randomly vary, directly on the survey platform, whether a female professional is presented with a female-declined job title or whether with a male-declined job title (in those professions whether the male declination for women exists and is in use).

The sample of the respondents is obtained through the local professional associations of the region.

Experimental Design Details

The random variation is introduced in Scenarios 3 and 4a and b, presented above. All respondents see scenario 3, and, at random, between scenario 4a and 4b. 50% of respondents will see these scenarios with women lawyers presented with the female-declined occupational titles (avvocata), while the remaining 50% will see these scenarios with women lawyers presented with the male-declined occupational titles (avvocato).

The sample of respondents is obtained through the local professional associations. Our partner, the Equality Opportunity Committee of the Rovereto Lawyer’s association, has direct contact with their managerial offices. The survey is forwarded to the managerial offices of the different professional associations of the Province of Trento, which then forward it directly to their members.

Randomization Method

Randomization is performed directly on the survey platform (Otree) .

Randomization Unit

The randomization unit is the individual respondent.

Was the treatment clustered?

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters

no clusters

Sample size: planned number of observations

We expect around 400 respondents. This estimate is based on the number of respondents who answered a survey on the same topic and target population in the previous year.

Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms

Respondents will be distributed equally between treatment and control, roughly 200 and 200.

Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)

the minimum detectable effect with a sample of 400 respondents is around 0.28 standard deviation for the standardized variable of the main outcome. The non-standardized variable ranges from 1 to 10, standard deviation is a priori unknown.

Supporting Documents and Materials

IRB