This study investigates the relationship between the gender composition of a group and participants’ willingness to remain in the same team for a second project. In a university field setting, we conduct a preregistered experiment where we exogenously allocate students to a female-majority, gender-balanced or male-dominant team to complete a curriculum-based assignment. Our primary outcome of interest is an incentivised measure of willingness to remain in the same team for a future project (teams for another assignment are chosen according to students’ preferences). Participants prefer male-dominated and gender-balanced teams over female-majority group types. However, the preference against female-dominant teams is irrational, as female-dominant teams outperform other group types.
Pleace et al. (Tue,) studied this question.