Job seekers perceive female tech entrepreneurs as competent and unwarm, which can hinder their employment capabilities

Female entrepreneurs in the tech industry face unique challenges as the sector continues to be dominated by men. A recent study published in the Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal found that female founders actually face gender bias during recruitment, and job seekers perceived as competent, agents and warm.

As a result, it is perceived as being unlikely to have what women-led startup ventures need to grow and empower their employees. However, researchers found that gender-balanced leadership teams can help counter such biases and make ventures more attractive to job seekers.

Research team – Vartuhi Tonoyan, Fresno of California State University. Robert Stromeyer of Mannheim University. Jennifer Jennings of the University of Alberta shows that research on so-called female tokens is limited in male-dominated industrial sectors such as technology. They wanted to understand whether these female entrepreneurs are more likely to be discriminated against by job seekers during the recruitment process.

To investigate these questions, the team used data collected as part of a large line of program research on talent acquisition by startups that began in the fall/winter of 2020-2021. The randomized experiment was conducted via an online labor platform that provided paid jobs to online workers.

777 survey respondents were given fictitious online job descriptions from fictional technology startups designed to mimic posts found on Ziprecruiter and other job search platforms. The scenario covered the venture’s technology, top management team members, working conditions and available positions. The fictional startup is in the male-dominated cybersecurity industry and has developed software to combat ransomware attacks.

Some individuals in the study were explained to the job featuring male entrepreneurs (Michael Woods), while others featured female entrepreneurs (Jessica Woods). Both entrepreneurs were given the same industry background and knowledge, and the same invention was patented. The only difference was their gender. The researchers also manipulated the gender composition of three other top management team members (Chief Technical, Finance and Marketers).

They found that a venture led by fictional female entrepreneurs was unlikely to attract potential employees despite Michael and Jessica-led companies having the exact same business model and their pedigree is exactly the same.

“We have a virtual startup company that has created software to counter cyber attacks by businesses, individual customers, and governments. Everyone needs that, right?” Tonoyan says. “So why is someone willing to discriminate against such companies?”

To shed light on this question, researchers saw gender stereotypes related to ability, agency and warmth. In this male-dominated environment, female founders were perceived as not competent, not aggressive, and less leadership qualities. The team was hoping for these stereotypes, but was also surprised that female tech entrepreneurs are also considered colds. Previous social psychological studies have shown that women are generally perceived as much warmer than men, but not in this male-dominated environment.

The researchers further found that this stereotype undermines the perceived economic viability and employee empowerment potential of high-tech companies led by female entrepreneurs.

Researchers identified potential solutions to these negative perceptions: diverse leadership teams. This includes a top female-led management team with the same number of men and women, a female-led team with at least one man, or a female-led team made up of entirely male co-founders. All women’s teams (i.e., teams led by female entrepreneurs and featured three female co-founders) scored most favorably, further supporting cases where diverse leadership teams were selected.

“This approach could improve some of the bias and show some other positive things to stakeholders,” Tonoyan said.