Forty-eight male bank supervisors were each given the same personal file and asked to judge whether the person should be promoted to a branch manager job that was described as “routine”, or the file held and other applicants interviewed.

The files were identical except that half of them showed that the file was that of a female and half showed that the file was that of a male.  Of the 24 “male files”, 21 were recommended for promotion. Of the 24 “female files”, 14 were recommended for promotion. [Rosen and Jerdee, 1974].

References:

B. Rosen, and Jerdee T., “influence of Sex Role Stereotypes on Personnel Decisions,” Journal of Applied Psychology, 59, 1974, pages 9-14.

 

Is the information as published convincing evidence that the bank supervisors discriminated against female applicants, or could the difference in the number recommended for promotion reasonably attributed to chance?
Please refer only to the information published.