Latest / Women at Work: Career, Leadership & Modern Work / How the Affinity Bias Costs Women Leadership Opportunities
Transcript
- Lucas: Luna, I want to start with a number that stopped me cold. A 2023 study in Harvard Business Review found that when women submit a resume that doesn't perfectly match the typical background for a role, they are 35 percent less likely to get a call back than a man with the same mismatch. Luna: Thirty-five percent. That's not a small gap. And I'm guessing it's not about qualifications — it's about whether the person reading the resume feels a sense of comfort or familiarity with the candidate. Lucas: Exactly. That's the core of what we're talking about today — affinity bias. It's the unconscious tendency to favour people who remind us of ourselves. In a hiring context, it means the hiring manager unconsciously gravitates toward candidates who share their alma mater, their hobby, their communication style, even their weekend plans. And it's one of the most persistent, least-discussed barriers women face in climbing the leadership ladder. Lucas: And I'll be honest — if this episode helps you spot that dynamic in your own workplace, that's exactly the kind of insight that makes the show worth a coffee. If today's conversation is useful to you, the link is buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. Listener support keeps this show ad-free and focused on the substance. And now — let's dig into how this bias actually plays out. Luna: Yeah, I appreciate that. Let's talk about a concrete case. Lucas, you mentioned Priya earlier in our prep — what's her story? Lucas: Priya is a senior software engineer at a mid-size tech company in Austin. She had ten years of experience, strong performance reviews, and she'd led two major product launches. When her team's director role opened up, she applied. The hiring manager was a white man who had gone to the University of Texas and played club soccer in college. The candidate he ultimately hired was a white man from UT who also played club soccer. Priya went to a public university in India and ran a campus coding club. Luna: So the hiring manager found a mirror. And Priya's accomplishments were literally the same — but they didn't feel the same to him. That's affinity bias in action. Lucas: Right. And the scary part is, this hiring manager likely had no malicious intent. He probably thought, 'This guy gets our culture. He'll fit right in.' But 'fit' too often means 'looks and sounds like me.' Luna: And it's not just hiring. Affinity bias affects promotion decisions, project assignments, mentorship opportunities. If the people in power are mostly men, they naturally sponsor people who remind them of their younger selves — which tends to be other men. Lucas: That's the structural side. Let's talk about what research says. A 2021 study from the National Bureau of Economic Research looked at performance reviews across a large firm. They found that women were more likely to receive feedback focused on personality traits — 'be more confident,' 'speak up more' — while men got feedback tied to specific business outcomes. That difference is partly driven by affinity bias: managers feel more comfortable giving direct, actionable feedback to people they see as similar to themselves. Luna: So women get vaguer feedback, which means they don't know exactly what to fix to get the promotion. It's a double whammy — they're less likely to be sponsored, and they're less likely to get clear guidance. Lucas: Precisely. And this hits women of colour especially hard. A 2020 LeanIn.Org and McKinsey study found that for every 100 men promoted to manager, only 58 Black women are promoted. Affinity bias plays a significant role there — because leadership teams are overwhelmingly white, the 'cultural fit' standard often excludes women of colour who don't share the same background. Luna: I've seen this in my own career. Early on, a senior leader told me I should 'be more assertive' in meetings. But when I watched him mentor a younger male colleague, he told him to 'own the room.' Same advice, different framing. The male colleague got a confident identity; I got a behaviour to fix. Lucas: That's a powerful example. And it shows why the common advice to 'just network more' or 'find a mentor' isn't enough. If the system is biased toward people who look like the current leadership, individual effort can only go so far. Luna: So what actually works? What's a structural fix that companies can implement? Lucas: One of the most effective tools is blind resume review — stripping out names, genders, schools, and even years of experience. Some firms have seen a 20 to 30 percent increase in women being shortlisted after implementing it. Another is standardised interview scorecards that force evaluators to rate candidates against objective criteria before they meet them. Luna: And what about as an individual? If you're a woman listening and you suspect affinity bias is at play in your own promotion process, what can you do? Lucas: First, documentation. Keep a running list of your specific contributions and outcomes. When you go for a promotion, frame your case around measurable impact, not just effort. Second, ask for a diverse interview panel — if you're in a position to request it, say, 'I'd like to ensure the panel includes people from different backgrounds to reduce bias.' Luna: And third, find allies who aren't like you. A senior leader from a different background can sponsor you in rooms you don't have access to. That's not the same as a mentor — it's someone who actively advocates for you when you're not in the room. Lucas: Yes. And that's a good place to bring in the concept of 'bias interrupters' — small changes to routine processes that interrupt bias without requiring a complete overhaul. For example, having a 'second look' policy: if a hiring manager chooses a candidate who shares their background, they have to justify why that candidate is the best fit over others. Luna: That takes the pressure off individuals and puts it on process. I love that. So the takeaway is: affinity bias is real, it's not about bad people, but it requires structural solutions — not just individual grit. Lucas: Exactly. And the next time you hear someone say a candidate is a 'great cultural fit,' ask: fit with what? Fit with the existing team's demographics, or fit with the values and goals of the organisation? If it's the former, that's affinity bias wearing a friendly mask. Luna: And for anyone who's been on the receiving end — you're not imagining it. The data backs you up. And there are steps you can take, even if the system isn't perfect. Lucas: That's our show for today. Thanks for listening, and we'll see you next time on Women at Work with Fexingo.