![[PDF]](/pb-assets/Icons/adobe-pdf-icon.png){kind=icon}
Abstract
In this article, we develop and empirically test the theoretical argument that when an organizational culture promotes meritocracy (compared with when it does not), managers in that organization may ironically show greater bias in favor of men over equally performing women in translating employee performance evaluations into rewards and other key career outcomes; we call this the “paradox of meritocracy.” To assess this effect, we conducted three experiments with a total of 445 participants with managerial experience who were asked to make bonus, promotion, and termination recommendations for several employee profiles. We manipulated both the gender of the employees being evaluated and whether the company's core values emphasized meritocracy in evaluations and compensation. The main finding is consistent across the three studies: when an organization is explicitly presented as meritocratic, individuals in managerial positions favor a male employee over an equally qualified female employee by awarding him a larger monetary reward. This finding demonstrates that the pursuit of meritocracy at the workplace may be more difficult than it first appears and that there may be unrecognized risks behind certain organizational efforts used to reward merit. We discuss possible underlying mechanisms leading to the paradox of meritocracy effect as well as the scope conditions under which we expect the effect to occur.
References
Section:
| Acker, J. 1989 Doing Comparable Worth: Gender, Class and Pay Equity. Philadelphia: Temple University Press. Google Scholar | |
| Acker, J. 1990 “Hierarchies, jobs, bodies: A theory of gendered organizations”. Gender and Society, 4: 139–158. Google Scholar, SAGE Journals, ISI | |
| Arrow, K. J., Bowles, S., Durlauf, S. 2000 Meritocracy and Economic Inequality. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. Google Scholar | |
| Barley, S. R. 1983 “Semiotics and the study of occupational and organizational cultures”. Administrative Science Quarterly, 28: 393–413. Google Scholar, Crossref, ISI | |
| Barley, S. R. 1991 “Semiotics and the study of occupational and organizational cultures”. In Frost, P., Moore, L., Lundberg, C., Louis, M., Martin, J. (eds.), Reframing Organizational Culture: 39–54. Newbury Park, CA: Sage. Google Scholar | |
| Baron, J. N. 1984 “Organizational perspectives on stratification”. Annual Review of Sociology, 10:37–69. Google Scholar, Crossref, ISI | |
| Baron, J. N., Bielby, W. T. 1980 “Bringing the firms back in: Stratification, segmentation, and the organization of work”. American Sociological Review, 45: 737–765. Google Scholar, Crossref, ISI | |
| Baron, J. N., Mittman, B. S., Newman, A. E. 1991 “Targets of opportunity: Organizational and environmental determinants of gender integration within the California civil service, 1976–1985”. American Journal of Sociology, 96: 1362–1401. Google Scholar, Crossref, ISI | |
| Beckman, C. M., Phillips, D. J. 2005 “Interorganizational determinants of promotion: Client leadership and the attainment of women attorneys”. American Sociological Review, 70: 678–701. Google Scholar, SAGE Journals, ISI | |
| Bielby, W. T., Baron, J. N. 1986 “Men and women at work: Sex segregation and statistical discrimination”. American Journal of Sociology, 91: 759–799. Google Scholar, Crossref, ISI | |
| Biernat, M. 2003 “Toward a broader view of social stereotyping”. American Psychologist, 58: 1019–1027. Google Scholar, Crossref, Medline, ISI | |
| Biernat, M., Fuegen, K. 2001 “Shifting standards and the evaluation of competence: Complexity in gender-based judgment and decision-making”. Journal of Social Issues, 57: 717–724. Google Scholar, Crossref, ISI | |
| Bretz, R. D., Milkovich, G. T., Read, W. 1992 “The current state of performance appraisal research and practice: Concerns, directions, and implications”. Journal of Management, 18: 321–352. Google Scholar, SAGE Journals, ISI | |
| Burke, E. 2005 “2005 reward programs and incentive compensation: Survey report. A study by the society for human resource management.” Online publication at http://www.shrm.org/research. Alexandria, VA: SHRM Research Department. Google Scholar | |
| Campbell, D. J., Campbell, K. M., Chia, H. 1998 “Merit pay, performance appraisal, and individual motivation: An analysis and alternative”. Human Resource Management, 37: 131–146. Google Scholar, Crossref, ISI | |
| Cappelli, P. 1999 The New Deal at Work. Boston: Harvard Business School Press. Google Scholar | |
| Cappelli, P., Bassi, L., Katz, H., Knoke, D., Osterman, P., Useem, M. 1997 Change at Work. New York: Oxford University Press. Google Scholar | |
| Castilla, E. J. 2008 “Gender, race, and meritocracy in organizational careers”. American Journal of Sociology, 113: 1479–1526. Google Scholar, Crossref, Medline, ISI | |
| Cohen, J. 1988 Statistical Power Analysis for the Behavioral Sciences, 2d ed. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Google Scholar | |
| Correll, S. J., Ridgeway, C. L. 2003 “Expectation states theory”. In Delamater, J. (ed.), Handbook of Social Psychology: 29–51. New York: Kluwer Academic Press. Google Scholar | |
| Crandall, C. S., Eshleman, A. 2003 “A justification-supression model of the expression and experience of prejudice”. Psychological Bulletin, 129: 414–446. Google Scholar, Crossref, Medline, ISI | |
| Deaux, K., Emswiller, T. 1974 “Explanations of successful performance on sex-linked tasks: What is skill for the male is luck for the female”. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 29: 80–85. Google Scholar, Crossref, ISI | |
| Dench, G. 2006 The Rise and Rise of Meritocracy. Oxford: Blackwell. Google Scholar | |
| Dencker, J. C. 2009 “Relative bargaining power, corporate restructuring, and managerial incentives”. Administrative Science Quarterly, 54: 453–485. Google Scholar, SAGE Journals, ISI | |
| Devine, P. G. 1989 “Stereotypes and prejudice: Their automatic and controlled components”. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 56: 5–18. Google Scholar, Crossref, ISI | |
| DiMaggio, P. J. 1997 “Culture and cognition”. Annual Review of Sociology, 23:263–287. Google Scholar, Crossref, ISI | |
| Dobbin, F. 2009 Inventing Equal Opportunity. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. Google Scholar, Crossref | |
| Dobbin, F., Schrage, D., Kalev, A. 2008 “Someone to watch over me: Coupling, decoupling, and unintended consequences in corporate equal opportunity.” Paper presented at the American Sociological Association Meeting, Boston. Google Scholar | |
| Dobbin, F., Sutton, J. R., Meyer, J. W., Scott, W. R. 1993 “Equal opportunity law and the construction of internal labor markets”. American Journal of Sociology, 99:396–427. Google Scholar, Crossref, ISI | |
| Duguid, M. M., Loyd, D. L., Tolbert, P. S. 2010 “The impact of categorical status, numeric representation, and work group prestige on preference for demographically similar others: A value threat approach”. Organization Science (Articles in Advance, Aug. 30, 2010): 1–16. Google Scholar, ISI | |
| Eagly, A. H., Karau, S. J. 2002 “Role congruity theory of prejudice toward female leaders”. Psychological Review, 109: 573–598. Google Scholar, Crossref, Medline, ISI | |
| Edelman, L. B. 1990 “Legal environments and organizational governance: The expansion of due process in the American workplace”. American Journal of Sociology, 95: 1401–1440. Google Scholar, Crossref, ISI | |
| Edelman, L. B. 1992 “Legal ambiguity and symbolic structures: Organizational mediation of civil rights law”. American Journal of Sociology, 97: 1531–1576. Google Scholar, Crossref, ISI | |
| Edelman, L. B., Petterson, S. M. 1999 “Symbols and substance in organizational response to civil rights law”. In Leicht, K. T. (ed.), Research in Social Stratification and Mobility, 17: 107–135. Amsterdam: Elsevier. Google Scholar | |
| Edelman, L. B., Uggen, C., Erlanger, H. S. 1999 “The endogeneity of legal regulation: Grievance procedures as rational myth”. American Journal of Sociology, 105: 406–454. Google Scholar, Crossref, ISI | |
| Edwards, J. R. 2001 “Ten difference score myths”. Organizational Research Methods, 4: 265–287. Google Scholar, SAGE Journals, ISI | |
| Edwards, R. C. 1979 Contested Terrain. New York: Basic Books. Google Scholar | |
| Effron, D. A., Cameron, J. S., Monin, B. 2009 “Endorsing Obama licenses favoring whites”. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 45:590–593. Google Scholar, Crossref, ISI | |
| Ely, R. J., Thomas, D. A. 2001 “Cultural diversity at work: The effects of diversity perspectives on work group processes and outcomes”. Administrative Science Quarterly, 46: 229–273. Google Scholar, SAGE Journals, ISI | |
| Elvira, M. M., Graham, M. E. 2002 “Not just a formality: Pay system formalization and sex-related earnings effects”. Organization Science, 13: 601–617. Google Scholar, Crossref, ISI | |
| Fein, S., Hoshino-Brown, E., Davies, P. G., Spencer, S. J. 2003 “Self-image maintenance goals and sociocultural norms in motivated social perception”. In Spencer, S. J., Fein, S., Zanna, M. P., Olson, J. M. (eds.), Motivated Social Perception: The Ontario Symposium: 21–44. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum. Google Scholar | |
| Ferguson, K. E. 1984 The Feminist Case against Bureaucracy. Philadelphia: Temple University Press. Google Scholar | |
| Foschi, M. 2000 “Double standards for competence: Theory and research”. Annual Review of Sociology, 26: 21–42. Google Scholar, Crossref, ISI | |
| Gaertner, S. L., Dovidio, J. F. 1977 “The subtlety of white racism, arousal, and helping behavior”. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 35: 691–707. Google Scholar, Crossref, ISI | |
| Gaertner, S. L., Dovidio, J. F., Nier, J., Hodson, G., Houlette, M. A. 2005 “Aversive racism: Bias without intention”. In Nelson, L. B., Nelson, R. L. (eds.), Handbook of Employment Discrimination Research: 377–395. Amsterdam: Springer. Google Scholar | |
| Gerhart, B. A., Rynes, S. L. 2003 Compensation: Theory, Evidence, and Strategic Implications. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Google Scholar | |
| Greenwald, A. G., Banaji, M. R. 1995 “Implicit social cognition: Attitudes, self-esteem, and stereotypes”. Psychological Review, 102:4–27. Google Scholar, Crossref, Medline, ISI | |
| Greenwald, A. G., Krieger, L. H. 2006 “Implicit bias: Scientific foundations”. California Law Review, 94: 945–967. Google Scholar, Crossref, ISI | |
| Hale, J. 2004 Performance-based Management: What Every Manager Should Do to Get Results. San Francisco: Wiley. Google Scholar | |
| Heilman, M. E., Block, C. J., Lucas, J. A. 1992 “Presumed incompetent? Stigmatization and affirmative action efforts”. Journal of Applied Psychology, 77: 536–544. Google Scholar, Crossref, ISI | |
| Heilman, M. E., McCullough, W. F., Gilbert, D. 1996 “The other side of affirmative action: Reactions of non-beneficiaries to sex-based preferential selection”. Journal of Applied Psychology, 81: 347–357. Google Scholar, Crossref, ISI | |
| Heneman, R. L., Werner, J. M. 2005 Merit Pay: Linking Pay to Performance in a Changing World, 2d ed. Greenwich, CT: Information Age. Google Scholar | |
| Hewitt Associates 2002 U.S. Salary Increase Survey Report for 2002. Chicago: Hewitt Associates. Google Scholar | |
| Institute of Management and Administration (IOMA) 2000 “Towers Perrin reveals how to design the most effective incentive plans”. IOMA's Report on Salary Surveys, March: 14. http://ioma.bna.com. Google Scholar | |
| Jacoby, S. M. 1985 Employing Bureaucracy: Managers, Unions, and the Transformation of Work in American Industry, 1900–1945. New York: Columbia University Press. Google Scholar | |
| Kaiser, C. R., Drury, B. J., Spalding, K. E., Cheryan, S., O'Brien, L. T. 2009 “The ironic consequences of Obama's election: Decreased support for social justice”. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 45: 556–559. Google Scholar, Crossref, ISI | |
| Kalev, A. 2009 “Cracking the glass cages? Restructuring and ascriptive inequality at work”. American Journal of Sociology, 114: 1591–1643. Google Scholar, Crossref, ISI | |
| Kalev, A., Dobbin, F., Kelly, E. 2006 “Best practices or best guesses? Assessing the efficacy of corporate affirmative action and diversity policies”. American Sociological Review, 71: 589–617. Google Scholar, SAGE Journals, ISI | |
| Kanter, R. M. 1977 Men and Women of the Corporation. New York: Basic Books. Google Scholar | |
| Kelly, E., Dobbin, F. 1998 “How affirmative action became diversity management: Employer response to antidiscrimination law 1961–1996”. American Behavioral Scientist, 41: 960–984. Google Scholar, SAGE Journals, ISI | |
| Kelly, E., Dobbin, F. 1999 “Civil rights law at work: Sex discrimination and the rise of maternity leave policies”. American Journal of Sociology, 105: 455–492. Google Scholar, Crossref, ISI | |
| Kluegel, J. R., Smith, E. R. 1986 Beliefs about Inequality: American's Views of What Is and What Ought to Be. New York: de Gruyter. Google Scholar | |
| Kochan, T. A., Katz, H., McKersie, R. 1986 The Transformation of American Industrial Relations. New York: Basic Books. Google Scholar | |
| Kulik, C. T., Ambrose, M. L. 1992 “Personal and situational determinants of referent choice”. Academy of Management Review, 17: 212–237. Google Scholar, Crossref, ISI | |
| Kunda, Z., Spencer, S. J. 2003 “When do stereotypes come to mind and when do they color judgment? A goal-based theoretical framework for stereotype activation and application”. Psychological Bulletin, 129: 522–544. Google Scholar, Crossref, Medline, ISI | |
| Ladd, E. C. 1994 The American Ideology. Storrs, CT: Roper Center for Public Opinion Research. Google Scholar | |
| Ladd, E. C., Bowman, K. H. 1998 Attitudes toward Economic Inequality. Washington, DC: EI Press. Google Scholar | |
| Lamont, M. 2009 How Professors Think: Inside the Curious World of Academic Judgment. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Google Scholar, Crossref | |
| Lawler, E. E., McDermott, M. 2003 “Current performance management practices: Examining the varying impacts”. WorldatWork Journal (second quarter): 49–60. Google Scholar | |
| Lazear, E. 1998 Personnel Economics for Managers. New York: Wiley. Google Scholar | |
| Lazear, E. 2000 “Performance, pay, and productivity”. American Economic Review, 90: 1346–1361. Google Scholar, Crossref, ISI | |
| Lerner, J. S., Tetlock, P. E. 1999 “Accounting for the effects of accountability”. Psychological Bulletin, 125: 255–275. Google Scholar, Crossref, Medline, ISI | |
| Loyd, D. L., Phillips, K. W. 2006 Managing perceptions of ethical behavior in evaluative groups: The implications for diversity in organizations. In Mannix, E., Neale, M. A., Tenbrunsel, A. E. (eds.), Research on Managing in Groups and Teams, 8: 225–245. New York: Elsevier/JAI. Google Scholar, Crossref | |
| Manning, A., Swaffield, J. K. 2008 “The gender gap in early-career wage growth”. Economic Journal, 118: 983–1024. Google Scholar, Crossref, ISI | |
| Martin, J. 1992 Culture in Organizations. New York: Oxford University Press. Google Scholar | |
| Martocchio, J. J. 2004 Strategic Compensation: A Human Resource Management Approach, 4th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. Google Scholar | |
| Mathis, R. L., Jackson, J. H. 2003 Human Resource Management, 10th ed. Mason, OH: South-Western. Google Scholar | |
| McNamee, S. J., Miller, R. K. 2004 The Meritocracy Myth. Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield. Google Scholar | |
| Meyer, J. W., Rowan, B. 1977 “Institutionalized organizations: Formal structure as myth and ceremony”. American Journal of Sociology, 83:34–63. Google Scholar, Crossref, ISI | |
| Milkovich, G. T., Newman, J. M. 2004 Compensation, 8th ed. Boston: McGraw-Hill Irwin. Google Scholar | |
| Miller, S. 2006 “Employers focus more on performance-based rewards”. Society for Human Resource Management Online's Compensation and Benefits Focus Area. Alexandria, VA: SHRM Research Department. www.shrm.org/research. Google Scholar | |
| Monin, B., Miller, D. T. 2001 “Moral credentials and the expression of prejudice”. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 81: 5–16. Google Scholar, Crossref, Medline, ISI | |
| Moskowitz, G. B., Gollwitzer, P., Wasel, W., Schaal, B. 1999 “Preconscious control of stereotype activation through chronic egalitarian goals”. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 77: 167–184. Google Scholar, Crossref, ISI | |
| Noe, R. A., Hollenbeck, J. R., Gerhart, B., Wright, P. M. 2008 Human Resource Management: Gaining a Competitive Advantage. New York: McGraw-Hill Irwin. Google Scholar | |
| Ospina, S. 1996 Illusions of Opportunity: Employee Expectations and Workplace Inequality. Ithaca, NY: ILR Press/Cornell University Press. Google Scholar | |
| Osterman, P. 1999 Securing Prosperity: The American Labor Market. How It Has Changed and What to Do about It. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. Google Scholar | |
| Osterman, P., Kochan, T., Locke, R., Piore, M. 2001 Working in America: A Blueprint for the New Labor Market. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. Google Scholar | |
| Pazy, A. 1986 “The persistence of pro-male bias despite identical information regarding causes of success”. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 38: 366–377. Google Scholar, Crossref, ISI | |
| Petersen, T., Saporta, I. 2004 “The opportunity structure for discrimination”. American Journal of Sociology, 109: 852–902. Google Scholar, Crossref, ISI | |
| Petty, R. E., Wegener, D. T. 1993 “Flexible correction processes in social judgment: Correcting for context-induced contrast”. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 29: 137–165. Google Scholar, Crossref, ISI | |
| Phillips, D. J. 2005 “Organizational genealogies and the persistence of gender inequality: The case of Silicon Valley law firms”. Administrative Science Quarterly, 50: 440–472. Google Scholar, SAGE Journals, ISI | |
| Plant, E. A., Devine, P. 1998 “Internal and external motivation to respond without prejudice”. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 75: 811–832. Google Scholar, Crossref, ISI | |
| Reagans, R. 2005 “Preferences, identity, and competition: Predicting tie strength from demographic data”. Management Science, 51:1374–1383. Google Scholar, Crossref, ISI | |
| Reskin, B. F. 2000 “The proximate causes of employment discrimination”. Contemporary Sociology, 29: 319–328. Google Scholar, Crossref, ISI | |
| Reskin, B. F., McBrier, D. B. 2000 “Why not ascription? Organizations' employment of male and female managers”. American Sociological Review, 65:210–233. Google Scholar, Crossref, ISI | |
| Ridgeway, C. 1997 “Interaction and the conservation of gender inequality: Considering employment”. American Sociological Review, 62: 218–235. Google Scholar, Crossref, ISI | |
| Roth, L. M. 2006 Selling Women Short: Gender and Money on Wall Street. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. Google Scholar | |
| Rynes, S. L., Gerhart, B., Parks, L. 2005 “Personnel psychology: Performance evaluation and pay for performance”. Annual Review of Psychology, 56: 571–600. Google Scholar, Crossref, Medline, ISI | |
| Scharinger, D. 2002 “Performance appraisal: An overview”. Society for Human Resource Management's Information Center. Retrieved June 24, 2008. http://www.shrm.org/hrresources/whitepapers_published/CMS_000105.asp. Google Scholar | |
| Scully, M. A. 1997 “Meritocracy”. In Werhane, P. H., Freeman, R. E. (eds.), Black-well Encyclopedic Dictionary of Business Ethics: 413–414. Oxford: Blackwell. Google Scholar | |
| Scully, M. A. 2000 “Manage your own employability: Meritocracy and the legitimation of inequality in internal labor markets”. In Leana, C. R., Rousseau, D. (eds.), Relational Wealth: The Advantages of Stability in a Changing Economy: 199–214. New York: Oxford University Press. Google Scholar | |
| Steinpreis, R. E., Anders, K. A., Ritzke, D. 1999 “The impact of gender on the review of curriculum vitae of job applicants and tenure candidates: A national empirical study”. Sex Roles, 41: 509–558. Google Scholar, Crossref, ISI | |
| Stinchcombe, A. L. 2001 When Formality Works: Authority and Abstraction in Law and Organizations. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Google Scholar | |
| Sutton, J. R., Dobbin, F., Meyer, J. W., Scott, W. R. 1994 “The legalization of the workplace”. American Journal of Sociology, 99: 944–971. Google Scholar, Crossref, ISI | |
| Swidler, A. 1986 “Culture in action: Symbols and strategies”. American Sociological Review, 51: 273–286. Google Scholar, Crossref, ISI | |
| Tetlock, P. E. 1983a “Accountability and the perseverance of first impressions”. Social Psychology Quarterly, 46: 285–292. Google Scholar, Crossref, ISI | |
| Tetlock, P. E. 1983b “Accountability and complexity of thought”. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 45: 74–83. Google Scholar, Crossref, ISI | |
| Turco, C. J. 2010 “Cultural foundations of tokenism: Evidence from the leveraged buyout industry”. American Sociological Review, 75: 894–913. Google Scholar, SAGE Journals, ISI | |
| Uhlmann, E. L., Cohen, G. L. 2005 “Constructed criteria: Redefining merit to justify discrimination”. Psychological Science, 16: 474–480. Google Scholar, Abstract, ISI | |
| Uhlmann, E. L., Cohen, G. L. 2007 “I think it, therefore it's true: Effects of self perceived objectivity on hiring discrimination”. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 104: 207–223. Google Scholar, Crossref, ISI | |
| Wegener, D. T., Petty, R. E. 1995 “Flexible correction processes in social judgment: The role of naïve theories in corrections for perceived bias”. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 68:36–51. Google Scholar, Crossref, Medline, ISI | |
| Young, M. 1994 The Rise of the Meritocracy. (Originally published in 1958.) New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction. Google Scholar |
