Experimental Design Details
Experimental Design
We examines the relationship between the level of representation of a gender in a profession and the amount of ambiguity people have about that gender’s ability in that profession.
The experimental design consists of a single survey on a representative Prolific sample of the UK population, conducted on oTree. Our participants complete 5 tasks, with our primary dependent variable collected from Task 1.
Random Assignment Procedure
We do not use a traditional control condition. Instead, each participant is randomly assigned to evaluate six occupation-gender pairs. These pairs are systematically varied based on levels of gender representation defined by UK Office of National Statistics (ONS) data:
• One occupation from Very Male-Dominated professions: Plumbers or Electricians
• One occupation from Somewhat Male-Dominated professions: Architects or Police Officers
• Two occupations from Not Gender-Dominated professions: Debt Collectors, Chartered Accountants, Generalist Medical Practitioners, or Bar Staff
• One occupation from Somewhat Female-Dominated professions: Human Resources Officers or Pharmacists
• One occupation from Very Female-Dominated professions: Dental Nurses or Midwifery Nurse
Within these six occupations, three are randomly associated with women and three with men (e.g., Female Plumbers, Male Bar Staff).
Task 1
For several different domains and gender pairings, we ask our participants the following question: “What is your estimate of the percentage of [GENDER] [OCCUPATION] with a high level of skill?
We would like you to make your determination of what that means based on one or more of the following criteria:
• Punctuality: Consistently arrives on time and meets deadlines for tasks and projects.
• Accuracy: Completes tasks with minimal errors or revisions required.
• Efficiency: Completes tasks in a timely manner without compromising quality.
• Reliability: Consistently follows through on commitments and responsibilities.
• Knowledge Proficiency: Thorough understanding of job-specific knowledge and procedures.
• Ethical Behaviour: Adheres to ethical standards and organizational policies.
• Professionalism: Maintains appropriate demeanour, dress, and conduct in the workplace.
• Respectfulness: Demonstrates respect for colleagues and clients.
With this question, we present a series of sliders with different percentage ranges:
- At least 0%, less than 10%
- At least 10%, less than 20%
- ….
- 90% or more
To answer this question, participants must assign 100 tokens across these sliders, where the weights represent how confident participants are that the true percentage lies in that range.
For each gender/occupation pair, we calculate the variance of the midpoint of these point estimates, which is our key dependent variable. We will also have the associated categories each participant used to make their probability assessment for each gender/occupation pair.
We will collect additional variables, which we will use for exploratory analysis.
Task 2
We will show participants the same gender/profession pairs they saw in Task 1. We will state that other participants made the same judgments as them on those professions. We will ask participants to tell us, for each gender/profession pair, what do they estimate was the slider that most people put most tokens on.
At the end of the study, we will randomly select one of the gender/profession pairs. For that gender/profession pair, we will determine the slider that most people put most tokens on. If a participant’s estimate is correct, then they will receive an additional £1.
This task measures descriptive social norms about gender in each profession.
Task 3
We will ask participants to estimate the split of men and women in the UK that work in the professions for which they made estimates in Task 1 and Task 2. At the end of the study, we will randomly select one of the gender/profession pairs. For that gender/profession pair, we will compare their estimate to official ONS data. If the participant’s estimate is within 2% of the official statistic, then they will receive an additional £1.
This task measures beliefs about the representativeness of each gender in the profession.
Task 4
We will ask participants a series of questions about their experience with the professions for which they provided estimates in Tasks 1, 2 and 3.
For each profession, we will ask you about how many people in that profession you have come across, either socially, professionally or in other day-to-day life circumstances in the last 12 months. Then we will ask participants to tell us for the proportion of times these interactions occurred with men compared to women.
This task measures the direct experience each participant has with each gender/profession pair.
Task 5
We will measure socio-demographics, as well as survey measures for time preferences, risk preferences, altruism, fairness preferences, and reciprocity.