“Potential” and the Gender Promotion Gap
研究发现，对员工“潜力”的主观评估会加剧晋升和薪酬中的性别差距。女性获得较低的潜力评分，尽管绩效评分更高，且潜力差异解释了约一半的晋升差距。
We show that subjective assessments of employee “potential” contribute to gender gaps in promotion and pay. Using data on 29,809 management-track employees from a large retail chain, we find that women receive substantially lower potential ratings despite receiving higher performance ratings. Differences in potential ratings account for approximately half of the gender promotion gap. Women’s lower potential ratings do not reflect accurate forecasts of future performance: Women subsequently outperform male colleagues, both on average and on the margin of promotion. We highlight two mechanisms driving the gender potential gap: strategic retention and stereotyping.