Faculty Publications

Does Gender Composition Affect Group Decision Outcomes? Evidence From A Laboratory Experiment

Document Type

Article

Keywords

Critical mass, Decision making, Gender, Gender composition, Gender gap, Groups

Journal/Book/Conference Title

Political Behavior

Volume

32

Issue

1

First Page

51

Last Page

67

Abstract

There are good reasons to expect that greater proportions of women in decision making bodies shape decision making in important ways that are not fully considered in the current literature. In the present study, a conceptual framework is presented that differs significantly from other explanations for gendered group decision making. Data from an original laboratory experiment offers support for the hypothesis that group outcomes will vary based on gender composition due to differing process strategies used by men and women. These data illuminate how gender diversity in decision making bodies is likely to shape policy making, as well as enhance our understanding of how policymaking is itself gendered. © 2009 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC.

Department

Department of Political Science

Original Publication Date

2-1-2010

DOI of published version

10.1007/s11109-009-9087-z

Link to Full Text

Comments?

Share

COinS