Mentor: Dr. Laura Doering
Associate Professor of Strategic Management and Sociology
Project Description
Research suggests that women are less persistent than men upon receiving a rejection. The tendency for men to persist or reapply at higher rates than women has been reported in a wide range of settings, including labor markets, entrepreneurial crowdfunding projects, patent applications, and research grant proposals. Across these settings, studies show that women are less likely than men to re-apply following an initial rejection._x000D_
_x000D_
Despite this well-established trend, we believe there is reason to suspect that it may mask important variance. Existing research has studied situations in which applicants received only binary (yes-no) feedback about their applications. Nevertheless, applicants often receive more information with their rejections. We suspect that gendered responses to rejection may vary with the type of information applicants receive. _x000D_
_x000D_
We hypothesize that when applicants receive feedback that their application was a “near miss” (they fell just short of the acceptance cut-off), the gender difference in reapplication will disappear. We also hypothesize that when applicants receive feedback that their proposals scored poorly (they fell far below the acceptance cut-off), we expect men to be more likely than women to reapply._x000D_
_x000D_
We are a three-person team of sociologists and management researchers (Laura Doering, University of Toronto; Adina Sterling, Columbia University; Yixi Chen, Columbia University). As a member of our team, you will learn about research that integrates qualitative and quantitative data to link individual experiences with organization-level outcomes. You will advance the project by conducting literature reviews and analyzing qualitative or quantitative data (depending on your interest).
Does this project require the SROP Student to be in-person or remote? Remote
Mentorship Statement
Mentoring students is one the great joys of my job. I love supporting students in developing their research skills and helping to launch them on the exciting paths they pursue post-graduation. I have been fortunate to work with a team of excellent research assistants in the past. Many of my RAs (including former SROP students) have gone on to graduate school or to conduct applied research in organizations. I look forward to working with a new student in the SROP program as he or she learns about the research process and considers how it might shape their future.