Understanding the Gender Performance Gap among Star Performers in STEM Fields

George Washington University, Washington DC

Investigators

Abstract

Non-technical Description The primary objective of this project is to understand the potential gender performance gap among star performers, who are those individuals who produce output and results many times greater than the rest of the individuals holding the same job or position. A gender gap among star performers is more damaging in terms of precluding the advancement of women than a gender gap regarding average performers because stars are mentors and role models for others. Moreover, interventions aimed at reducing the performance gender gap among star performers are likely to trickle down to those lower in the performance distribution. We currently do not know whether the distributions of female and male star performers differ, which is a critical knowledge gap because such differences would be indicative of different generative mechanisms and organizational and contextual factors that lead to those differences. The proposed research agenda uses conceptual frameworks and methodological tools originally developed in other fields (e.g., physics, zoology, biology, computer science) to investigate the shape of the distribution of female and male star performers in STEM fields. Three studies will be conducted, including star researchers who are in the fields of Mathematics, Material Sciences, and Genetics. This three-study research agenda will make manifold contributions to the scientific literature concerning the science of organizations and the science of broadening participation. The findings will be used to help inform and stimulate ways in which participation in STEM fields can be broadened in general and ways to advance the careers of women. Moreover, because scripts and programs to measure the shape of the distributions will be produced, the findings of this project will pave the way for future research streams examining the shape of the performance distribution for women and men in other industries and occupations. Technical Description Star performers are those individuals who produce output and results many times greater than the rest of the individuals holding the same job or position. The presence of stars negates the long-held assumption that individual performance follows a normal distribution. This project proposes a research program involving three studies whose goal is to understand the potential gender performance gaps among star performers. The studies will use a methodological approach that is novel in science of organizations research, but has been used in the field of physics. The first step in the analysis will include determining for each gender-based distribution the best-fit model among the following theoretical distributions: (a) normal, (a) exponential, (c) lognormal, (d) pure power law, (e) power law with exponential cutoff, (f) Weibull, and (g) Poisson. Objective measures of performance (i.e., number of articles published in scientific journals in STEM fields) will be used. Star performers are particularly visible and influential. Thus, understanding differences in the distribution of female and male star performers, and linking those differences to underlying generative factors that produce them, will offer important insights into how and why gender-based differences emerge. Findings from the three-study research agenda using theoretical frameworks and methodological tools developed in fields outside of the science of organizations will allow gaining unique insights into the factors influencing the performance of female and male star performers in STEM fields. Expected outcomes include a theory-based understanding of generative mechanisms associated with each type of distribution for female and male star performers and differential mechanisms responsible for producing female and male star performers. Results will also include new methodological tools to facilitate future research in other industries and performance domains.