Discussion - Performance Management and Appraisal

Forum: Discussion: Performance Management and Appraisal

A recent article in Kellogg Insight (an online publication of Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management) uncovered a gender bias in performance management that you will consider today.

In the article “Numeric Performance Reviews Can Be Biased Against Women,” authors Lauren Rivera and Andras Tilcsik claimed that ten-point rating systems in performance appraisals are biased against women, who score lower on the scale than their male counterparts, particularly in male-dominated fields. However, when that ten-point rating system is converted to a six-point rating system, women are scored much more fairly.

Discussion Prompt

Is this really the case, that some performance management scoring systems are gender biased? Why would a six-point scale work more in a woman’s favor than a ten-point system? Write at least a paragraph describing why this shift in rating scale would be more favorable to women. Then, in your next paragraph, provide some solutions as to how you, as a human resources professional, would put changes in place to level the playing field for your female employees.