Effects of founder gender and workplace romance status on recruits’ evaluations of early-stage ventures

Abstract

We conduct a mixed-method, multi-study investigation using a role congruity theory framework to examine prospective employees’ attitudes toward working for male- and female-led ventures. Results using data collected from business students, alumni, and executives in India reveal three insights: (1) prospective employees report similar evaluations for male- and female-led ventures under normal circumstances but evaluate female-led ventures more favorably than male-led ventures when the entrepreneur has a hierarchical workplace romance; (2) favorable attitudes toward female-led rather than male-led ventures when the entrepreneur is engaged in a hierarchical workplace romance are motivated by benevolent sexism; and (3) although respondents report a higher inclination to work for ventures without (vs with) a policy prohibiting workplace romance, the decline in willingness to work for an entrepreneur engaged in a workplace romance is higher for female- than male-led ventures. We discuss implications and directions for future research.

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