The man of the (second) moment: How greater male variability affects the gender composition and productivity of the workforce.

Authors

Jose M Cortina, Imran Kadolkar, Stefan Volk, Christian Thöni

Published in

The Journal of applied psychology. Sep 03, 2026. Epub Sep 03, 2026.

Abstract

Many organizations express concern over the gender composition of their workforce. Interventions designed to encourage gender parity are, however, more common than they are successful. We argue that one of the reasons for continued gender disparity is greater male variability. The notion that males of many species, including humans, have more variance in many characteristics than do females is well-known among biologists and ecologists, but its importance for the gender makeup of the workforce is not appreciated. In the present article, we use simulation to show that when variables with greater male variability are used as selection tools, women end up being underrepresented. Moreover, selection systems with particular (and not uncommon) attributes result in a workforce that is not only mostly male but also inferior with regard to expected job performance. We suggest solutions that lessen the impact of greater male variability on selection-related decisions. Finally, we discuss the implications of our findings for gender disparities in promotion and career progression, the gender wage gap, and other related topics. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).

PMID:
42691255
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 04 Sep 2026.

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