A groundbreaking study published in the Journal of Applied Psychology has unveiled a remarkably simple yet highly effective strategy for increasing the number of women in hiring and promotion pipelines: asking employees to recommend more candidates. This counterintuitive fix challenges conventional assumptions about employee referral programs, demonstrating that merely doubling the referral target can dramatically increase the proportion of women put forward for roles, ranging from 17% to an impressive 88%. This discovery offers a low-cost, easily implementable intervention for companies striving to enhance diversity, particularly in male-dominated industries where women are often underrepresented in referral pools.
The research, titled "Setting Higher Referral Targets Increases the Number of Women Recommended: Evidence From the Field and Lab," was led by University of Maryland professor Aneesh Rai, formerly a Wharton PhD student. Co-authors include Wharton professor Katy Milkman, University of Chicago professor and former Wharton PhD student Erika Kirgios, and Cornell University professor Brian Lucas. Their findings shed light on an often-overlooked lever in the quest for equitable hiring practices, suggesting that the bottleneck for diversity in referrals lies not in a scarcity of qualified women, but in the search processes employees employ when asked for recommendations.
The Pervasive Challenge of Gender Imbalance in Hiring
Employee referral programs are a cornerstone of modern recruitment for many organizations. They are lauded for their efficiency, often yielding high-quality candidates who integrate faster and stay longer, typically at a lower cost per hire compared to other recruitment channels. Companies routinely leverage their existing workforce’s professional networks to identify potential talent, recognizing that current employees are often the best ambassadors for their organizational culture and values. However, this seemingly efficient system often harbors an inherent bias that perpetuates existing gender disparities, particularly in sectors historically dominated by men.
In industries such as technology, finance, engineering, and manufacturing, women consistently face significant underrepresentation, especially in leadership and technical roles. For instance, data from McKinsey & Company’s "Women in the Workplace" reports consistently show that for every 100 men promoted to manager, only 87 women are promoted, and this gap widens considerably at senior leadership levels. The World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report also highlights persistent disparities across various economic participation metrics. This imbalance is exacerbated in referral systems where individuals, often unconsciously, tend to refer candidates who resemble themselves or those within their immediate professional circles—a phenomenon known as homophily. Consequently, in male-dominated environments, the initial pool of referred candidates naturally skews male, limiting the opportunities for women from the very outset of the hiring process.
Existing diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives have focused on a range of strategies to combat this, including unconscious bias training, diversifying interview panels, implementing structured interviewing techniques, and establishing mentorship programs. While these efforts are vital, the new research points to a more foundational, upstream intervention that addresses the composition of the talent pipeline itself. The problem, as identified by the researchers, is not necessarily a lack of qualified women in the broader talent market, but rather their reduced visibility within the initial stages of the referral process.
Unpacking the Research Methodology and Findings
The research team conducted a series of six meticulously designed studies—two field experiments in India and four online experiments in the United States—to test their hypothesis. This multi-contextual approach was critical to ensure the robustness and generalizability of their findings across different cultural and professional settings.
The field experiments in India provided real-world validation. In one such study, nearly 6,000 job applicants were asked to refer candidates for surveyor positions at IDinsight, a global development advisory firm. Participants were randomly assigned to different referral targets. Some were asked to recommend two candidates, while others were asked to recommend four. The results were striking: increasing the target from two to four recommendations boosted the number of women put forward by 17%. This significant increase was not an isolated incident; the results were replicated in a second field test involving another 1,300 job applicants, underscoring the consistency of the effect.
The online experiments in the U.S. further corroborated these findings in different professional contexts. Two studies involved participants imagining recommending candidates for CEO positions at a technology startup, a notoriously male-dominated sector. In these scenarios, increasing the referral target led to an even more pronounced impact, with the number of women recommended rising by an impressive 62%. The remaining two online studies involved participants referring business leaders to speak with undergraduate students, again demonstrating the positive correlation between higher targets and increased female recommendations.
Katy Milkman emphasized the simplicity and potency of this approach: "A lot of employers are not thinking of this as a solution, while struggling to find talent. Most figure referrals are already being maximized, as there’s usually a cash reward. But people also need goals." This statement highlights a critical insight: while financial incentives are common in referral programs, the psychological impact of a clear, higher numerical goal for recommendations is often overlooked. It suggests that individuals, when prompted to think beyond their immediate, easily recalled network, are more likely to tap into broader and more diverse connections.
The Psychology Behind the "Simple Ask"
The core mechanism explaining why higher referral targets lead to more women being recommended lies in human cognitive processes and the dynamics of social networks. As Milkman explains, "The first names tend to match our stereotype. But you see more diversity by asking for more names as people will be stretching beyond those stereotypes." When asked for just one or two names, individuals tend to default to candidates who immediately come to mind, often those who fit a familiar mold or align with existing stereotypes prevalent in their industry. In male-dominated fields, these "top-of-mind" candidates are disproportionately men.
However, when challenged to provide a larger number of recommendations, individuals are compelled to delve deeper into their networks, moving beyond their most obvious or easily accessible contacts. This deeper search forces them to recall a wider array of individuals, including those who might not fit the conventional profile but are nonetheless highly qualified. It is in this "stretching beyond stereotypes" that qualified women, who might otherwise be overlooked, gain visibility. This process effectively broadens the initial candidate pool, creating more opportunities for women to be considered for roles they might not have been exposed to through traditional, limited referral requests.
One crucial aspect addressed by the research was the potential impact on candidate quality. Critics might argue that asking for more names could dilute the quality of referrals. However, the study found that there was little evidence that asking for more referrals consistently lowered candidate quality. The results were mixed, with some evidence of weaker candidates in certain settings but not others, suggesting that the benefits of increased diversity in the pipeline often outweigh any marginal, inconsistent dips in perceived quality. This finding is significant, as it mitigates a common concern that often stalls the implementation of diversity initiatives.
Broader Implications for Corporate Strategy and DEI Initiatives
The implications of this research for corporate recruitment strategies and diversity initiatives are profound. Firstly, it presents an exceptionally low-cost and easy-to-implement intervention. Unlike extensive training programs or complex system overhauls, modifying a referral request to ask for a higher number of candidates requires minimal effort and no expensive changes to infrastructure or existing processes. This makes it an attractive option for companies of all sizes, especially those with limited DEI budgets.
Secondly, by effectively widening the top of the recruitment funnel, this strategy directly addresses one of the most persistent challenges in achieving workforce diversity: getting diverse candidates into the pipeline in the first place. If qualified women are not referred, they cannot be interviewed, and subsequently, cannot be hired. This intervention ensures that more women enter the initial stages of consideration, thereby increasing their chances of progressing through the hiring process.
This approach complements existing DEI efforts rather than replacing them. While unconscious bias training and structured interviews are crucial for fair evaluation after candidates are in the pipeline, this research offers a powerful tool to ensure the pipeline itself is diverse from the outset. It provides a tangible, actionable step that can be integrated into current referral programs immediately.
For instance, human resources departments and DEI leaders can review their current referral request templates and internal communications. Instead of simply asking for "a referral" or "some candidates," they can explicitly request a higher number, such as "Please recommend three to five qualified individuals for this role." This subtle shift in language could have a disproportionately large impact on the gender composition of their applicant pools.
Addressing Limitations and Charting Future Research
While the findings are compelling, the researchers also acknowledged certain limitations. The study tracked only who was referred, not who was ultimately hired. As Katy Milkman noted, "There was not enough data. The hiring rate was low. We would have needed a sample size 10 or 100 times larger to measure the impact on eventual hires, so we just couldn’t see the signal." This highlights an important area for future research: tracking the referred candidates through the entire hiring process to determine if the increased number of women in the pipeline translates directly into a higher rate of female hires. Such follow-up studies would provide a more complete picture of the intervention’s long-term impact.
Furthermore, future research could explore the applicability of this "higher referral target" strategy to other underrepresented groups, such as racial and ethnic minorities, individuals with disabilities, or LGBTQ+ candidates. Understanding if similar cognitive biases and network limitations affect their referral rates would broaden the utility of this intervention for comprehensive diversity initiatives. Investigating the impact across different industries and organizational cultures, beyond the scope of these initial studies, would also provide valuable insights.
A Pathway to More Equitable Workplaces
In a global economy increasingly recognizing the intrinsic and economic value of diverse teams—which are consistently shown to be more innovative, adaptable, and financially successful—strategies that effectively promote diversity are more critical than ever. The research by Rai, Milkman, Kirgios, and Lucas offers a beacon of simplicity in a complex landscape of DEI challenges. It underscores the profound impact that seemingly minor adjustments in organizational processes can have on significant outcomes.
The journey towards equitable workplaces is multifaceted, requiring systemic changes, cultural shifts, and continuous effort. Yet, sometimes, the most powerful solutions are also the most straightforward. "Even if you are given a gigantic finder’s fee, this simple step of asking me for four more referrals would make a big difference," Milkman concluded. This statement encapsulates the essence of the research: sometimes, widening the pipeline is as simple as asking people to look a little harder and think a little broader. By doing so, companies can unlock a richer, more diverse pool of talent, fostering innovation, enhancing performance, and building a truly inclusive future.
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