Competing for Equality: Gender Bias Among Juries in International Piano Competitions, 1890-2023 

Abstract

Are women helped or harmed by being evaluated by other women? The evidence remains inconclusive and varies by time and place. We address this debate from a global and historical perspective by analyzing confidential data on the universe of international piano competitions held between 1890 and 2023 across approximately 100 countries. Using multiple identification strategies that leverage the repeated nature of these events, we find robust evidence that female competitors are less successful when judged by juries with a higher proportion of women. We estimate that replacing an all-male jury with an all-female jury reduces the likelihood that a female pianist reaches the finals by over 20 percent, reaches the podium by over 30 percent, or wins by over 40 percent. Analysis of individual juror scoring records from a major competition reveals that female jurors are stricter than their male counterparts in their relative assessments of female versus male competitors. We also find that the bias against female competitors is driven by prime-age female jurors who were previous winners in less prestigious competitions. This suggests that the gender bias of female jurors may be related to the threat that emerging female talent poses in a segmented labor market.

Keywords: gender bias, female jurors, competition outcomes, classical music

JEL Classification: J16, J71, Z11