Title

Orchestrating Impartiality: The Impact of 'Blind' Auditions on Female Musicians

Author(s)

Claudia Goldin Claudia Goldin (Harvard University and NBER)

Cecilia E. Rouse Cecilia Rouse (Princeton University and NBER)

Abstract

Discrimination against women has been alleged in hiring practices for many occupations, but it is extremely difficult to demonstrate sex-biased hiring. A change in the way symphony orchestras recruit musicians provides an unusual way to test for sex-biased hiring. To overcome possible biases in hiring, most orchestras revised their audition policies in the 1970s and 1980s. A major change involved the use of "blind" auditions with a "screen" to conceal the identity of the candidate from the jury. Female musicians in the top 5 symphony orchestras in the United States were less than 5% of all players in 1970 but are 25% today. We ask whether women were more likely to be advanced and/ or hired with the use of "blind" auditions. Using data from actual auditions in an individual fixed-effects framework, we find that the screen increases- by 50% - the probability a woman will be advanced out of certain preliminary rounds. The screen also enhances, by several fold, the likelihood a female contestant will be the winner in the final round. Using data on orchestra personnel, the switch to "blind" auditions can explain between 30% and 55% of the increase in the proportion female among new hires and between 25% and 46% of the increase in the percentage female in the orchestras since 1970.

Creation Date

1997-01

Section URL ID

IRS

Paper Number

376

URL

https://dataspace.princeton.edu/bitstream/88435/dsp01ns064602n/1/376.pdf

File Function

Jel

J16, J71, L82, J44

Keyword(s)

female, discrimination, hiring practices, blind, orchestras

Suppress

false

Series

1