Only with Strong Partners
Women tend to shy away from competitive situations and competition more than men. Through experiments WZB behavioral economists have empirically proven what comes across as a cliché. They have now ascertained that gender differences dissolve when competition is conducted in teams, instead of by individuals. However, it is not that more women participate, but rather fewer men do.
In the experiments, high-performance men in particular forgo team competition. To understand the reasons behind this behavior, WZB researchers altered the rules of the experiment. Instead of matching unknown partners (as was initially done) with participants, it was guaranteed that partner selection would be based on similar performance levels. Subsequently, the high-performance men reentered competition. They were rid of the concern of being matched with a potentially unmotivated team member.
WZB scholars determined that under certain circumstances the best of team competitors stay away, and therefore the performance level of the entire competition decreases. If team competition is to be made attractive to the best participants, then an additional provision must be taken into account: Participants must be promised equipollent team partners.
A report on experiment results is in the current issue of the quarterly magazine WZB Mitteilungen.