In a recent study, Pierre Deschamps uncovers the unexpected consequences of a French law that mandated gender quotas in academic hiring committees.

Pierre Deschamps

"The objective of the law was to reduce gender discrimination," says Deschamps, assistant professor at the Swedish Institute for Social Research at Stockholm University.

Deschamps reached out to French universities to analyze their hiring committees and outcomes, looking into whether the new law worked as expected. To estimate the effect of the reform, he compared departments like math and physics, with fewer women before the law, against those like biology, which already met the quota, to see the law's effect on hiring.

Unexpectedly, the law, which demanded a minimum of 40 percent representation of each gender on committees, has unintentionally decreased the chances of women being hired. This effect seems to be influenced by male committee heads, indicating a multifaceted response to imposed gender diversity.

The data doesn't provide a clear-cut explanation for the psychological mechanism behind this effect. Deschamps list several possibilities: It could be a licensing effect, where men feel justified to act in a biased manner after doing a good deed, like accepting the quota. Alternatively, men might anticipate women favoring other women and adjust their votes strategically.

Lastly, it could be a reaction against the quota—a backlash effect.

"Men have been found to react in similar ways in cases where more women are present without the imposition of a quota, however, so a backlash effect is unlikely to be the full story," says Deschamps.

The study "Gender Quotas in Hiring Committees: A Boon or a Bane for Women?" also highlights that the increased administrative burden on women due to quotas may hinder rather than help their academic careers.

"Sitting on a hiring committee represents about a week of work. These administrative tasks are often disproportionately undertaken by women and mostly do not count towards achieving promotion. If they do not improve hiring outcomes, then they should be considered particularly costly," says Deschamps.

This research calls into question the effectiveness of increasing diversity in hiring committees as a solution to gender disparities in prestigious positions, suggesting that addressing deep-rooted biases and structural barriers might be a more effective strategy for promoting gender equality in the workforce.

"Previous work has emphasized that diversity initiatives do not necessarily have the intended effects. Many organizations are facing recommendations to have more diverse interview panels. My research suggests that the gains from doing so might be small and even harmful, depending on the context. The results should incite caution in policymakers who wish to promote diversity initiatives," Deschamps adds.