What leads to gender bias in review panels?

Gender bias in selection panels for positions and grants has been studied intensively over the last decades. However, apart from comparing review scores received by men and women, we do not know much about how panel composition, procedures and processes influence selection. This is an omission, as decision making on grants and academic positions is strongly influenced by the prioritizing and selecting in those panels. Based on the relevant social-psychological literature on small group decision making, we distinguish several panel attributes that may influence the decisions in the panel in general and the prevalence of gender bias more specifically: (i) Composition of panels in terms of gender composition and variety of countries represented in the panel, (ii) workload of the panels, (iii) and especially the level of gender stereotyping in the panels. This explorative case study suggest that panel composition indeed correlates with gender bias: the more women the stronger the gender bias against women, the more experience male panelists have, and the more countries represented in the panel, the stronger the bias in favor of women. Workload did not correlate with gender bias, but the level of gender stereotyping does: the stronger stereotyping as found in the review reports, the stronger bias against women applicants.