Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania.
J Appl Psychol. 2013 Nov;98(6):1005-17. doi: 10.1037/a0034125. Epub 2013 Aug 12.
We propose and test a new theory explaining glass-ceiling bias against nonnative speakers as driven by perceptions that nonnative speakers have weak political skill. Although nonnative accent is a complex signal, its effects on assessments of the speakers' political skill are something that speakers can actively mitigate; this makes it an important bias to understand. In Study 1, White and Asian nonnative speakers using the same scripted responses as native speakers were found to be significantly less likely to be recommended for a middle-management position, and this bias was fully mediated by assessments of their political skill. The alternative explanations of race, communication skill, and collaborative skill were nonsignificant. In Study 2, entrepreneurial start-up pitches from national high-technology, new-venture funding competitions were shown to experienced executive MBA students. Nonnative speakers were found to have a significantly lower likelihood of receiving new-venture funding, and this was fully mediated by the coders' assessments of their political skill. The entrepreneurs' race, communication skill, and collaborative skill had no effect. We discuss the value of empirically testing various posited reasons for glass-ceiling biases, how the importance and ambiguity of political skill for executive success serve as an ostensibly meritocratic cover for nonnative speaker bias, and other theoretical and practical implications of this work.
我们提出并检验了一个新的理论，解释了对非母语者的玻璃天花板偏见，认为非母语者的政治技能较弱。虽然非母语口音是一个复杂的信号，但说话者可以积极减轻其对评估者政治技能的影响；这使其成为一个重要的偏见需要理解。在研究 1 中，发现使用与母语者相同脚本回复的白人非母语者和亚洲非母语者被推荐担任中层管理职位的可能性明显较低，这种偏见完全由对他们政治技能的评估所中介。种族、沟通技能和协作技能的替代解释没有意义。在研究 2 中，向经验丰富的执行 MBA 学生展示了国家高科技、新风险投资竞赛的创业启动方案。发现非母语者获得新风险投资的可能性明显较低，这完全是由评委对他们政治技能的评估所中介的。企业家的种族、沟通技能和协作技能没有影响。我们讨论了实证检验各种玻璃天花板偏见假设原因的价值，政治技能对高管成功的重要性和模糊性如何成为非母语者偏见的表面择优录取的掩护，以及这项工作的其他理论和实际意义。
