Gendered organization, gendered incentives?: A qualitative study examining how women in private equity perceive incentive systems

Abstract: This thesis examines the perceptions of incentives held by women in the male-dominated profession of private equity. It specifically explores gender differences related to incentives and investigates whether women perceive incentives to be structured in ways that disfavor the female gender. This study draws on nine in-depth interviews with female professionals across various private equity firms in Stockholm. By applying the theory of gendered organizations, this study demonstrates how women in private equity perceive the incentives to favor the male gender. We find that women perceive the gender disparities related to incentives as being a result of the male-dominated organization, which fosters biases and favoritism that disadvantages women. Although we find the norm is to be masculine and the ideal worker to be male, we also argue that there exists a process of self-selection that challenges the notion of gender and associated traits being binary. This thesis suggests that incentives that are gender-neutral on a surface-level, can become unequal and disadvantageous if executed in a male-dominated organization, where the minority gender (in this case, female) is disregarded.