Token Women: An Empirical Test of Kanter's Hypothesis

Abstract

In this article we test empirically Rosabeth Kanter's hypothesis that minority achievements are diminished by the underrepresntation of minority persons in majority-dominated work groups. using data on male and female achievements at two law schools with significantly different sex ratios, we find evidence that performance pressure, social isolation, and role entrapment all operate to diminish the achievements of women law students where they are only a small minority of the student body.