Women may be more likely to find ethical compromises unacceptable and even view ethics differently compared to men, according to a new report published by the University of California, Berkeley.
Aiming to determine if ethical compromises could explain why fewer women than men choose to attend business school and are underrepresented in business leadership, the research covered three studies. Each of these explored different aspects of ethical compromises and career, and were conducted by researchers Jessica Kennedy and Laura Kray.
The authors used the research to claim that the history and “unique” socialisation of women leads them to have more negative reactions to ethical compromises, which can ultimately reduce the appeal of business careers.
The first study measured the level of moral outrage participants expressed at ethical compromises for financial or social status gains, based on the idea moral outrage was linked to a desire to be distanced from such decisions. Although based on only 103 participants, including 65 women, it found that women experience more moral outrage than men when confronted with ethical compromises made for monetary or social status gains.
The study also found both genders perceived more business sense for ethical compromises that resulted in monetary, rather than social status gains. The study did not include a control to measure how emotionally expressive the subjects were in general.
The second study explored if ethical compromises were present in business environments, and whether such compromises caused moral reservations that led to lower job interest. Conducted with 178 participants, including 84 women, it found that women and men share a similar interest in business jobs when there are no ethical compromises present, leading the authors to suggest that women do not value business jobs less than men. In this study, gender differences emerged around job interest when ethical compromises were highlighted.
The third study explored whether women were more likely to associate business with immorality, in order to ascertain if fewer women choose business careers than men because they find the industry more ethically off-putting. It was conducted with 106 participants, including 52 women, and found female participants were more likely to hold “negative implicit attitudes” about business than male participants.
This led the authors to conclude that women may be under-represented in business careers due to their strong association between business and immorality.
Overall, all three studies saw the authors make conclusions on how work preferences differ by gender. They claimed that while previous studies have found women prefer collaborative work environments and careers that help others, their research finds women may also prefer jobs that “maintain high ethical standards”.
Read the full study here.