Break the vicious cycle of gender bias: Lessons from classical music competitions
New research reveals that female jurors judge female pianists more harshly in international piano competitions – a surprising finding that sheds light on complex competition dynamics and challenges common beliefs about how best to promote gender equality.
By Karol J. Borowiecki, Professor of Economic History, Department of Economics
What can classical music competitions teach us about gender discrimination and the pursuit of equality?
Introduction: Tackling gender gaps
Efforts to level the playing field in competitive fields – whether in business, academia or the arts – often focus on increasing the number of women among those who judge, hire or promote others. The idea is that having more women on hiring panels, selection committees or competition juries will help close the gap by ensuring fairer conditions for female candidates. But measuring how well this actually works is tricky. In many areas, including business, researchers rarely have access to detailed records of who sat on interview panels, who the applicants were, or which factors shaped the final decision. This lack of transparency makes it hard to tell whether women truly benefit from such changes.
Classical music competitions, however, offer a chance to study this more closely. New research by Roberto Asmat (Vienna University of Economics and Business), Karol J. Borowiecki (University of Southern Denmark) and Marc T. Law (University of Vermont) analyses over a century of data from nearly 5,000 international piano competitions held between 1890 and 2023, spanning around 100 countries and involving tens of thousands of participants. This rich dataset allows us to uncover how the gender make-up of a judging panel affects female competitors. Unlike with most other competitive settings, we have detailed records of all contestants, jury members and results. This transparency lets us examine the impact of female judges in a way that’s rarely possible elsewhere.
We used three methods to see how jury composition influenced competition outcomes. First, we compared different instances of the same competition to track how shifts in the proportion of female jurors affected female pianists’ success. Next, we followed individual pianists across various competitions to see how their results changed depending on the gender make-up of the jury. Finally, we looked at how male and female pianists who repeatedly competed against each other fared when judged by juries with different male-to-female ratios. These approaches gave us several angles from which to assess the influence of female jurors on female contestants.
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The surprising results: Women are judged more harshly by female juries
Our findings were both surprising and counterintuitive. Female pianists were less likely to advance when judged by juries with a higher proportion of women. Specifically, replacing an all-male jury with an all-female one cut a female contestant’s chances of reaching the final by more than 20%, her odds of getting to the podium by over 30%, and her likelihood of winning by more than 40%. Interestingly, this negative effect was mainly driven by female jurors who had once been competition winners themselves. It suggests that some female judges may see female contestants as potential rivals. Jury members in their prime (20 to 40 years after their own competition careers) and those who had won less prestigious competitions were especially likely to be stricter in their assessments. These results challenge the assumption that adding more women to juries will automatically benefit female contestants – and highlight just how complex competition dynamics can be.
The toll of experience and the gender dropout gap
Our research also shows that female competitors are more likely to drop out after early failures, widening the gender gap over time. In many fields, including piano competitions, persistence leads to greater success in the future. Women who fail to reach a final are far more likely to stop competing altogether and miss out on the long-term benefits of experience. This higher dropout rate reinforces gender imbalances in competitions over time.
Reducing gender inequality in competitions – and lessons for Danish companies
Can these insights from classical music competitions help Danish companies striving for gender balance? While our study doesn’t directly test solutions, it highlights strategies that could be useful in both competitions and workplaces. For example, blind auditions remove visual biases, ensuring that musicians are judged solely on their performances. Danish companies could apply similar principles, such as anonymised recruitment, to make evaluations fairer. Clearer guidelines for evaluators and limiting discussion during decision-making could also help reduce unconscious bias.
Mentorship programmes, networking opportunities and professional development schemes could support women in overcoming early setbacks and prevent the higher dropout rates seen in both competitive fields and corporate careers. Raising the visibility of female employees and celebrating their achievements through media and internal recognition can help create role models and encourage perseverance. Although speculative, these approaches hold promise for narrowing gender gaps.
A striking example comes from the prestigious Leeds International Piano Competition, which in 2023 introduced blind auditions based on recommendations from our research. The results were remarkable: 31% of applicants were women, and exactly 31% advanced to the first round. This bold move showed that well-designed policies can make a real difference in promoting gender balance – a lesson worth considering in other competitive fields.
The Danish version of this article was published in Jysk Fynske Mediers Erhverv+ on Thursday 31 October 2024