Setting Higher Referral Targets Increases the Number of Women Recommended: Evidence From the Field and Lab

Women continue to be underrepresented in numerous occupations and in the highest echelons of many organizations. This may be due, in part, to disadvantages they face in referral-based hiring and promotion processes. We propose a low-cost and easily scalable intervention to boost referrals of women in male-dominated contexts: requesting a greater target number of referrals (e.g., at least four instead of at least two referrals). Across six experiments (including two field experiments embedded in an organization’s referrals process), requesting double the number of referrals increased the number of women referred by 17%-88%. Our intervention provides a versatile, low-cost, and low-risk option for managers and leaders looking to recruit from the full range of talent available to them.

Aneesh Rai (Assistant Professor, University of Maryland, College Park); Erika Kirgios (Assistant Professor, University of Chicago); Brian Lucas (Associate Professor, Cornell University); Katherine Milkman (Professor, University of Pennsylvania)