Researchers from Hong Kong Polytechnic University and Peking University have identified yet another way that gender biases about competence penalize women at work. Their 2025 study found that when women and men both use AI to produce identical work product, the women are viewed as less competent than the men.

This finding should not come as a surprise. Prior research published by the Social Psychology Quarterly in 2024 identified other professional situations in which women who perform exactly the same as men are viewed as less competent in the workplace. The same competence penalty hurt women who work overtime in that psychology study of 230 U.S. employees. Participants evaluated two worker profiles with identical performance reviews. The profiles only differed on whether the worker was identified as male or female, and whether the worker logged 60 hours or 40 hours per week.

Despite identical performance reviews, evaluators selected the 60-hour worker to receive workplace rewards nearly 89% of the time. But men received this “overwork premium” significantly more than women with the same amount of extra hours. Men who worked 60 hours per week were 8% more likely to be rewarded than women who also clocked 60 hours per week. Both of these studies undermine the notion of “merit-based” workplace decision making.

As such, employers may want to take proactive steps to counteract gender-based stereotypes about competence to level the workplace playing field and get the most value out of talented teams.

As for the most recent study, focused on AI usage, leaders at (an anonymized) global technology company, ranking among the top 50 of Forbes Global 2000, initiated a internal campaign to incentivize its software engineers to use a generative AI programming tool. Despite the company’s year-long efforts, only 41% of its engineers—and only 31% of women—were using the new AI tool. Company leaders reached out to researchers from Peking University and Hong Kong Polytechnic University to understand the disappointing results.

The researchers launched a study........

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