Gender Differences in the Cost of Corrections in Group Work

Abstract

Corrections among colleagues are an integral part of group work, but people may take corrections as personal criticism, especially corrections by women. I study whether people dislike collaborating with someone who corrects them and more so when that person is a woman. People, including those with high productivity, are less willing to collaborate with a person who has corrected them even if the correction improves group performance. Yet, people respond to corrections by women as negatively as by men. These findings suggest that although women do not face a higher hurdle, correcting colleagues is costly and reduces group efficiency.