The key facts

  • In two studies (432 students in the US, 394 employees of a financial company in China), women with high intelligence test scores were rated by colleagues as more hostile and received less help
  • Men with high scores did not face such treatment; in the Chinese sample, on the contrary, they were supported more and undermined less often
  • The effects are small, the study shows an association rather than causation; race and ethnicity were not examined

What the study found

High intelligence is usually seen as an advantage at work, but new research by Nitya Chawla, an associate professor at UCL School of Management in London, suggests that for women it may translate into worse treatment from colleagues. Deutsche Welle reports this. In a sample of 826 people in the US and China, women with higher scores on a standardized cognitive ability test — the very type employers use in hiring — were rated by teammates as more hostile, received less help, and more often faced

How the study was conducted and its limitations

The study consisted of two parts. The first covered 432 business students at a US public university who worked in small teams on a consulting project for real organizations. The second covered 394 full-time employees working in teams at a financial company in China. Colleagues did not know each other's test scores: they rated one another, and a few weeks later each person reported how much help they had received and how often they were undermined. The authors and Chawla herself emphasize the limitations: the effects are small, the study demonstrates an association rather than proving that colleagues' perceptions caused such treatment; the data on help and mistreatment were self-reported, and race and ethnicity were not examined. In the student group, the difference between women and men ceased to be statistically significant when two participants with extremely low scores were included.

Why this happens and who it affects

In both groups, women with higher scores were rated as more hostile, and among the employees in China also as less warm; it was perceived hostility that was linked to less help and more undermining. The researchers draw on social role theory: men are expected to be competent and assertive, women warm and supportive, and a woman's high cognitive ability violates that expectation.

Differences between countries and practical takeaways

The picture for men differed depending on the sample. Among the students in the US, a man's score had no effect either on colleagues' ratings or on how he was treated. Among the employees in China, men with higher scores were rated as less hostile, received more help, and were undermined less often. The authors allow that the discrepancy may reflect cultural differences in gender norms, but they did not test this hypothesis. Chawla herself opposes the conclusion that women should hide their intelligence: