"While the last decade has shown great advances by women in the labor market, there are still many women who are vastly underrepresented in upper echelon of firms and earn lower salaries on aggregate. The literature suggests gender differences in preferences for competition, confidence, or risk aversion as possible explanations. The present study uses a laboratory experiment to investigate preferences for competition, the effect of feedback and information in a competitive setting when individuals can choose their task. Results indicate that providing ranking feedback and giving participants the option to compete in their preferred task encourages more women to enter competition. Furthermore, feedback affects reported beliefs and improves efficiency. This study provides evidence that manipulating the type of feedback might be an effective alternative to close the gender gap by increasing efficiency in an environment when individuals can choose their preferred task."

Support: Digital