Increasing the number of women in organizations, especially in male-dominated and upper-level positions, remains a persistent challenge. Existing strategies, such as affirmative action plans and targeted gender bias interventions, can be effective but may elicit backlash or resistance. New research (Rai et al., 2026) tested how a simple prompt of asking people to refer more candidates can increase the number of women in application pools.
REFERRALS AND FEMALE APPLICANTS
In a field experiment with a global research firm in India, the researchers added a referral request to the end of a real job application. Participants were randomly assigned to provide at least two or four referrals, and in some conditions were explicitly encouraged to refer women. When participants were asked to provide more referrals, the number of women referred increased by 17%. Explicitly encouraging referrals of women produced a similar increase. This was replicated in four supplementary studies.
In an online study, participants were asked to refer real people from their networks for a fictitious technology company. Asking for more referrals (at least four vs. two) increased the number of women referred by 62%. This appears to occur because participants set more ambitious goals and generated more candidates overall, leading to more women being included. Importantly, the intervention did not increase the proportion of women per referral; instead, it worked by increasing the total number of referrals. However, a tradeoff emerged: participants asked to provide more referrals were slightly less likely to provide any referrals at all, meaning they may opt out when the target feels too high.
PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS
The research suggests that simply increasing the number of referrals requested can increase the number of women in the applicant pool. This is a low-cost and easy solution for organizations to implement. As an added benefit, this approach expands the overall candidate pool, allowing organizations to be more selective in whom they choose. This simple strategy has been relatively overlooked but shows strong potential for increasing the pipeline of women in the workplace.
Rai, A., Kirgios, E. L., Lucas, B. J., & Milkman, K. L. (2026). Setting higher referral targets increases the number of women recommended: Evidence from the field and lab.Journal of Applied Psychology. Advance online publication.
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