Research shows no gender differences in creative thinking ability and personality disposition for creativity.

Creativity judgments are associated with stereotypically masculine traits.

Men are rewarded for creativity more than women are, and they receive greater support for creativity at work.

Unequal recognition has consequences for developing and realizing creative potential.

Women are underrepresented in positions that signal high creativity, from Hollywood to the sciences to writing. In 2017, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission charged six major film studios with discrimination against women directors, but almost 10 years later, the situation has not improved much.

There are few women Nobel prize winners (7% overall and only 3% in the sciences). Only two women won the Fields Medal, the highest prize in mathematics. Gender disparity in who was awarded the Pulitzer Prize is also pronounced; women received 14% of the prizes. Although the number of women winners has been on the rise since the 1990s, it is still below 30%.

Yet, research consistently shows that there are no gender differences in the key abilities and traits that constitute creative potential. A re-analysis of 194 studies with more than 65,000 people showed very small gender differences on tests of creative thinking, and the differences that were identified favored women. Openness to experience is the personality trait most consistently predicting creativity. Again, there is no gender difference for the total score on personality tests measuring this trait.

In other words, there is no gender gap in individual capacity for creativity. But there is a gap in recognition and support for creativity. How does this happen?

Creativity Is Evaluated Through Unequal Social Judgment Processes

Recognition is based on judgment, and the judgments are inherently social and, therefore, subject to how we think of social groups. When people are asked to consider creativity as thinking outside the box, seeing the world differently, and........

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