Confident, but Undervalued: Evidence from the Irish Economic Association Conference

This paper examines the gender influence gap in an academic setting, focusing on the Irish Economic Association (IEA) Conference review process. Using data from 2017 to 2023, we analyze whether organizers follow the recommendations of male and female reviewers equally and whether any difference can be attributed to a gender gap in the confidence of reviewers. Our findings reveal that organizers’ decisions more closely align with male reviewers’, particularly when the reviewer’s confidence is high and when they have experience in the profession. The influence gap cannot be explained by female reviewers being less confident than males, which is the traditional explanation in the literature. Contrary to expectations, female reviewers report higher confidence than males. We explore potential mechanisms and find suggestive evidence that female reviewers strategically overstate their confidence in anticipation of discriminatory treatment by organizers.