In various professions and educational fields, there’s an imbalance between men and women. For instance, fewer women are found in STEM careers and top positions in hospitals. While women often hit a “glass ceiling,” an invisible barrier that blocks them from high-paying roles, men might encounter a “glass cellar,” pushing them into more dangerous jobs.
A study published in Evolutionary Psychological Science points to the possibility that personal choices, influenced by physical and psychological differences between the sexes, play a significant role in shaping career paths and opportunities.
While some argue that men might not promote women into high-status jobs, the concept of the “glass cellar” suggests that job choices and risks are also influenced by the nature of the work itself and the voluntary preferences of individuals. Researcher Ryushin Iha recruited a diverse sample of 5,279 participants from 14 countries. This sample was balanced in terms of gender, with 2,608 men and 2,671 women participating, and a broad age range from 18 to 110 years.
Participants engaged in an online experiment where they were randomly assigned to either an opposite-sex or same-sex condition. They were presented with a camping trip scenario and had to choose between two task lists: List A, which included physically demanding and potentially injurious tasks, or List B, which was less demanding and safer.
Iha found that men, when paired with a partner of the opposite sex, were significantly more inclined to opt for riskier and more physically demanding tasks compared to women. This preference aligns with evolutionary theories that suggest men may exhibit riskier behavior as part of mate acquisition strategies. Notably, this gender-specific choice pattern was consistent across different cultures, underscoring the universal aspect of these behavioral tendencies.
Further, the experiment illuminated how, in same-sex pairings, both men and women displayed similar propensities in task selection, indicating that the presence of an opposite-sex partner uniquely influences decision-making processes related to labor division. This finding suggests that gender differences in the workplace and other settings may, in part, stem from innate preferences rather than solely societal or discriminatory practices.
This perspective challenges the conventional discourse on gender equality by highlighting underlying factors, such as evolved physical and psychological differences, that influence individual choices regarding roles and occupations.
A limitation of the study is the lack of verification on whether participants perceived the task lists according to the intended risk and physical demand, which could affect the interpretation of the findings.
The study, “Let Me Take the Risk so You Won’t Have To: An Evolutionary Psychological Analysis of Spontaneous Occurrence of Division of Labor Across 14 Countries”, was authored by Ryushin Iha.