Researchers have uncovered a new type of gender gap in the workplace that places women at a disadvantage. In a new study published in the International Economic Review, they found that women in leadership roles are judged by results alone, whereas male leaders are judged by both their results and their intentions.

“We call this the gender criteria gap,” said Dr. Boon Han Koh from the University of Exeter Business School. “Different criteria are being used to judge and remunerate men and women. For men, outcomes matter, but the underlying perception of what a man has done also matters. For women, only outcomes matter, and the perception of what a woman has done does not.”

The researchers looked at how bonus payments are determined by outcomes vs. perceptions of actions chosen in a series of experiments involving about 600 participants.

Read more at: https://phys.org/news/2026-05-gender-criteria-gap-women-leaders.html