Social desirability bias in attitudes towards sexism and DEI policies in the workplace

Anne Boring and Josse Delfgaauw

No 24-002/VII, Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers from Tinbergen Institute

Abstract: Do workers speak their mind about sexism and about diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies in the workplace? We measure social desirability bias regarding sexism and DEI policies using a list experiment survey among workers from five male-dominated industries in France and in the US. In both countries and, remarkably, among both men and women, we document substantial social desirability bias. Managers exhibit a larger bias than non-managerial employees. This difference between voiced and real attitudes may make organizations overestimate support for DEI policies in their workforce, rendering such policies less effective.

Keywords: Sexism; Diversity; Social desirability bias; List experiment survey (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J16 J71 M14 M5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024-11-01
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-exp, nep-hrm and nep-lab
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Journal Article: Social desirability bias in attitudes towards sexism and DEI policies in the workplace (2024)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:tin:wpaper:20240002

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