Gender Differences In ‘Volunteering’ For Non - Promotable Tasks

2019.01.24 Women more than men spend time on tasks that are unlikely to affect their evaluation and career advancement (writing a report, serving on a committee, etc.). These differences likely contribute to the lower rates of advancement for women. A set of controlled studies are used to demonstrate that women more than men volunteer, are asked to volunteer, and accept requests to volunteer for non-promotable tasks. Beliefs that women say accept non-promotable tasks is an important driver of these differences. The results point to easy ways of reducing gender differences in task allocations. This talk examines the above topics and dichotomy in greater detail. Speakers Lise Vesterlund, Andrew W. Mellon Professor of Economics, University of Pittsburgh