Authority Figures and the Polarization of Gender Norms

Ali Abboud, Samuel Bazzi, Serena Canaan, Antoine Deeb and Pierre Mouganie

No 35174, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

Abstract: This paper examines how authority figures in higher education shape gender norms over the long run. We exploit the random assignment of first-year students to faculty advisors at an elite university in the Middle East and combine administrative records with an alumni survey measuring gender attitudes up to 24 years later. Women assigned to female advisors adopt more egalitarian views about politics and work, while men become more conservative. These effects are strongest among religious students and in male-dominated STEM fields, where female authority is especially counter-stereotypical. The effects may persist through reinforcement, as women assigned to female advisors later sort toward female instructors and more gender-themed courses. Our results do not appear to be driven by generic exposure to successful women. Instead, they point to a distinct role for authority in transmitting gender norms: randomized exposure to high-achieving female peers has little effect, while the largest impacts come from senior and high-value-added female advisors. A simple framework combining belief updating and identity-based status threat helps explain these patterns of female empowerment and male backlash. More broadly, our findings reveal a progress paradox whereby gains in female representation in elite authority expand opportunities for women while intensifying backlash among men, thereby deepening gender polarization.

JEL-codes: I24 J16 J24 P00 Z12 Z13 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026-05
Note: DEV ED LS POL
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Working Paper: Authority Figures and the Polarization of Gender Norms (2026)
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