Evidence-Based Management

Example

Traditionally, women have been underrepresented in major symphony orchestras. Even renowned conductors claimed for a long time that female musicians have ‘smaller techniques’ and are ‘more temperamental’ and are thus unsuitable for orchestras. As a result, orchestral selection committees tended not to hire women, because their members were convinced (and thus heard during the audition) that men were better musicians. In fact, some orchestras did not hire women at all. Confirmation bias, however, is hard to prove. But in 1997 a landmark study confirmed the existence of biased hiring by major orchestras and illustrated the value of blind ...