As you may have noticed, despite years of efforts to get more women into management, most company bosses are still men. Encouraging women to be more confident isn't the best way to deal with the leadership gap between males and females. As a matter of fact, women have greater chances of becoming bosses in the opt-out model than they do in the opt-in model.
In the opt-in model, women often undervalue their own skills. Some come from cultures that teach them to be modest; others fear seeming too active. Therefore, women are less confident and tend to work more years than men do before applying for a promotion. They basically need to feel super ready.
The researchers decided to overturn the model: What if all qualified applicants running for leadership roles have the choice to give up if they want to? This so-called opt-out model pushes companies to keep hiring employees unless the staff take steps to show they don't want to participate.
Researchers tested the idea in the lab. In a series of experiments, more than 1,000 men and women worked in teams on a variety of tasks. They were all evaluated on the quality of their work, and the highest performers naturally became bosses unless they actively gave up. Surprise: The management male/female gap narrowed in the opt-out model.
In another group where people needed to opt in to be considered for a leadership role, the imbalance continued, even when women knew they were top performers and would surely become the boss if they applied. The suggestion is that all those efforts to support equality have little effect unless it is naturally accepted that women are suitable for leaderships.
Opt-in models are everywhere in the workplace. Being aware of the problem and then finding ways to change the models is really important. If women have to opt in, the message is "you shouldn't consider signing up unless you think you're really competent and competitive." In an opt- out system, however, the message is everyone is qualified and under consideration. It's a policy that basically brings better choices for managers and it is really good for the future of organizations.
