Gender differences in choosing to enter competitions are an important cause of the leaky pipeline for women in leadership roles and represent a considerable waste of human resources. We used an incentivized laboratory experiment to evaluate whether the introduction of random elements alters the gender gap in competitiveness. We found that focal random selection from a preselected pool removes the difference in competitiveness between men and women and does not dilute the qualifications of the entrants. The percentage of women who took part in competitions was nearly triple, and that of high-ability women double, with focal random selection compared to selection in pure performance competitions. In contrast, the behavior of men remained largely unchanged. Focal random selection closes the gender gap in competitiveness and can substantially enlarge the pool of high-performing women who apply for top jobs.

选择参加比赛的性别差异是女性担任领导职位的重要原因，也是对人力资源的巨大浪费。我们使用激励性实验室实验来评估随机元素的引入是否会改变竞争力中的性别差距。我们发现，从预选池中进行焦点随机选择消除了男性和女性之间竞争力的差异，并且不会削弱参赛者的资格。参加比赛的女性比例几乎是三倍，高能力女性比例翻了一番，与纯表演比赛的选择相比，焦点随机选择。相比之下，男性的行为基本保持不变。