Doctoral Dissertation Research: The Cost of Failure: Gender and Risk-taking Behavior

博士论文研究：失败的成本：性别与冒险行为

• 批准号: 1302558
• 负责人: Cecilia Ridgeway
• 金额: $ 1.1万
• 依托单位: Stanford University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2013
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2013-05-15 至 2015-06-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1302558&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Doctoral; Dissertation; Research; Cost; Failure

Cecilia RidgewaySusan FiskStanford UniversityThe researchers study whether women face greater social and employment penalties for unsuccessful risk-taking behavior than otherwise similar men, which may provide some insight as to why women generally take fewer risks than men. The study pairs two interrelated experiments to test whether women receive greater sanctions for unsuccessful risk-taking behavior than otherwise similar men. The first experiment has been completed, and found that women who made riskier bets on their own performance were less likely to be picked as a research study partner than otherwise identical men. The second study examines the economic and employment consequences of unsuccessful risk-taking for women and men. Non-profit lenders and high-tech workers will evaluate fictitious profiles of women and men in the workplace. These profiles include examples of unsuccessful risk-taking behavior: for instance, starting a business that failed after a year, or introducing a new initiative at a corporation that had the potential to be very profitable, but which ended up losing money. The goal is to see whether women are viewed as less hirable, competent, fundable, and likeable than otherwise identical men if they have taken an unsuccessful risk.Broader ImpactsThis research has implications for gender inequality, as risk-taking behavior is powerfully tied to resources, power, and status. Indeed, one often has to take a risk to reap a reward. It is likely that women engage in fewer risk-taking endeavors if they face greater penalties then men, whether through decreased employment prospects, lessened funding opportunities, or dislike by others. If this is true many of the individuals with the most status, power and resources in society (e.g. successful businesspersons, entrepreneurs, investors, and politicians) took risks to achieve their current positions. Sanctions against women for risk-taking may effectively limit the opportunities they have to acquire these valued resources. Beyond increasing gender inequality, this phenomenon may be decreasing economic efficiency. If talented women take fewer risks due to fear of sanctioning, society may have fewer innovative ideas and products, businesses that create jobs, and effective leaders. Conversely, if men face fewer sanctions, it may encourage some men to engage in high-risk, high-reward behavior that leads to ruin for themselves or others (e.g. the recent financial crisis). Awareness of this phenomenon could potentially allow institutions to improve their decision-making processes to increase efficiency.

斯坦福大学的研究人员研究了女性是否会因为不成功的冒险行为而比其他类似的男性面临更大的社会和就业惩罚，这可能会提供一些关于为什么女性通常比男性承担更少风险的见解。 这项研究将两个相互关联的实验结合起来，以测试女性是否会因为不成功的冒险行为而比其他类似的男性受到更大的惩罚。 第一个实验已经完成，发现对自己的表现进行更冒险的赌注的女性比其他相同的男性更不可能被选为研究对象。 第二项研究审查了不成功的冒险行为对男女的经济和就业影响。 非营利贷款机构和高科技工作者将评估工作场所男女的虚构情况。 这些档案包括不成功的冒险行为的例子：例如，创办一家企业一年后失败了，或者在一家公司推出一项新的计划，该计划有可能非常有利可图，但最终还是亏损了。 我们的目标是要看看女性是否被视为不太雇用，有能力，资金，和可爱的比其他相同的男人，如果他们已经采取了一个不成功的risk.Broader ImpactsThis研究有影响性别不平等，作为冒险行为是有力地联系在一起的资源，权力和地位。 事实上，一个人往往不得不冒风险才能获得回报。 如果女性面临的惩罚比男性更重，无论是就业前景下降，融资机会减少，还是受到他人的厌恶，那么女性可能会减少冒险的努力。 如果这是真的，那么许多在社会上拥有最高地位、权力和资源的人（例如成功的商人、企业家、投资者和政治家）都是冒着风险才获得目前的地位的。 对妇女冒险行为的制裁可能会有效地限制她们获得这些宝贵资源的机会。 除了加剧性别不平等外，这一现象还可能降低经济效率。 如果有才华的女性因为害怕制裁而减少冒险，社会可能会有更少的创新想法和产品，创造就业机会的企业和有效的领导者。 相反，如果男性面临的制裁较少，可能会鼓励一些男性从事高风险，高回报的行为，导致自己或他人的毁灭（例如最近的金融危机）。 认识到这一现象可能使各机构能够改进其决策进程，以提高效率。