Beliefs About Gender Inequality in Leadership Positions Among Employees

Last registered on April 17, 2025
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Beliefs About Gender Inequality in Leadership Positions Among Employees
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0015755
Initial registration date
April 08, 2025

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
April 17, 2025, 6:26 AM EDT

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

Locations

Country
Germany
Region

Primary Investigator

Name
Hanna Brosch
Affiliation
Technical University of Munich
Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

Additional Trial Information

Status
In development
Start date
2025-04-09
End date
2025-12-31
Keywords
Gender, Labor
Additional Keywords
gender leadership gap, information provision experiment
JEL code(s)
J16, J71, C90, D83
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
This study implements an information provision experiment embedded in an online survey among employees in Germany. It aims to examine how employees perceive the gender leadership gap and its underlying causes, and how exposure to factual information influences their beliefs, fairness perceptions, and support for gender equality measures. Participants are randomly assigned to one of three groups. The first treatment group receives factual information about the actual size of the gender leadership gap. The second treatment group receives the same information, along with additional details on structural barriers that women face when advancing in their careers. A control group receives no information. Key outcome variables include perceptions of the gender leadership gap and self-reported support for gender equality measures.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Brosch, Hanna. 2025. "Beliefs About Gender Inequality in Leadership Positions Among Employees." AEA RCT Registry. April 17. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.15755-1.0
Sponsors & Partners

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Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
Intervention (Hidden)
Intervention Start Date
2025-04-09
Intervention End Date
2025-06-01

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
My four primary outcomes are:
1. Posterior beliefs about the size of the leadership gap
2. Reasons for the gender leadership gap
3. General perceptions of the gender leadership gap
4. Support for gender equality measures
Primary Outcomes (explanation)
In my pre-analysis plan, I describe my main hypothesis, the definition of my outcomes in detail as well as how I pool my treatments for different hypotheses.

I plan to perform one main heterogeneities analysis by prior beliefs about the size of the gap. For this analysis, I pool treatment 1 and treatment 2. Details on the definition of my prior beliefs variables are in the pre-analysis plan.

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
I may conduct additional exploratory heterogeneity analyses by demographic characteristics such as gender, potentially using machine learning methods to explore heterogeneity.
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
The survey experiment is structured as follows:
1. Basic demographics
2. Prior Belief
3. Information provision
a.Control: no information
b. Treatment 1: information about the true gender leadership gap
c. Treatment 2: information about the true gender leadership gap + information about structural barriers facing women
4. Outcomes and posterior belief
5. Further demographics
Experimental Design Details
Randomization Method
Randomization done in office by a computer
Randomization Unit
Individual randomization
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
-
Sample size: planned number of observations
3000 (1000 per treatment arm)
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
3000 (1000 per treatment arm)
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
German Association for Experimental Economic Research e.V.
IRB Approval Date
2025-03-26
IRB Approval Number
in1DcYuT
Analysis Plan

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Post-Trial

Post Trial Information

Study Withdrawal

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Intervention

Is the intervention completed?
No
Data Collection Complete
Data Publication

Data Publication

Is public data available?
No

Program Files

Program Files
Reports, Papers & Other Materials

Relevant Paper(s)

Reports & Other Materials