Gender Bias in Job Assignment: Evidence from Retail Frontline Managers

Information Systems and Operations Management 

Speaker: Susan F. Lu (Purdue)

Room Bernard Ramanantsoa

Abstract

While anecdotes suggest that workplace gender disparities may originate early in the management career hierarchy, the existing literature on this topic has not provided sufficient evidence due to lack of real-world personnel data concerning low-level managers. This study addresses this gap by examining the effect of gender on the job assignment of frontline managers in a large sportswear retail chain. Leveraging personnel, sales, and operational data, we employ a leave-out Jackknife instrumental variables estimation framework to uncover causal evidence of gender bias in store-manager assignment. We find that female managers generate higher store sales than their male counterparts at the margin of being assigned to stores with high sales potential versus stores with low sales potential. Further, we systematically rule out three alternative hypotheses related to managerial ability, preference, and career selection. Translating our findings into an actionable insight, we develop a gender inequity index (GII) to help organizations measure potential gender biases in job assignment. Applying this index to a simulation study using the retailer’s manager compensation data, we demonstrate the implications of gender-biased job assignment on the gender pay gap.

Ruoran Chen • Susan Feng Lu • Lauren Xiaoyuan Lu • Simin Huang