Buzz
Creativity is often linked to various traits—sometimes mental illness, occasionally drinking, and for many, a habit of lingering in the shower.
A recent study highlights another, less acknowledged factor tied to creativity. Researchers from Duke University’s business school, publishing in Psychological Science, suggest that people associate creativity with traditionally masculine traits, leading them to rate men as more creative than women, even when their work is identical.
In one experiment, 80 online participants evaluated the significance of certain personality traits in creativity, linking it more strongly to stereotypically male qualities such as risk-taking, competitiveness, and ambition, rather than to traits like cooperation, often associated with women.
Another group of online participants read about an architect or a fashion designer and reviewed images of their work. When the architect was presented as a man, his creativity was rated higher than when the same work was attributed to a woman. However, no such gender gap appeared for the fashion designer, possibly because fashion is seen as a more traditionally female domain than architecture.
In a separate experiment, participants evaluated a manager implementing a strategic plan. If the manager was described as a man, he was perceived as more creative when taking a risky approach. However, the same risk-taking did not enhance the creativity ratings of a female manager.
Does this bias extend beyond controlled experiments? Absolutely. Analyzing real-world evaluations from 34 women and 100 men in senior-level executive roles, researchers found that while direct reports rated both genders similarly for innovation, supervisors were more likely to label male executives as creative.
This aligns with past studies showing that women face challenges in academic fields where brilliance is considered a crucial trait, as they are less often perceived as “geniuses.”
"Our findings suggest that women's creative contributions are often overlooked, shedding light on a unique factor that may hinder their advancement into corporate leadership and elite creative industries," says lead author Devon Proudfoot of Duke in a press release. Hopefully, these insights inspire leaders to challenge their own biases.
