Adaptable Tools and Women’s Job Performance in Male-Dominated Fields: Evidence from Robotic Surgery

Abstract

Physical tools often privilege the average characteristics of the male body. However, technological advances have the potential to introduce more adaptable tools which are adjustable and require less physical force to operate. In this work, we investigate whether the introduction of such tools correlate with better job performance for women employees as compared to men. We examine this question among laparoscopic surgeons using microdata from the State of Florida between 2009 and 2015. Standard laparoscopic tools privilege men because they are built for taller users with larger hands, requiring significant physical force to operate. Robotic surgical tools, in contrast, are customizable to a surgeon’s physique and require less physical force to operate. Findings suggest that the use of robotic tools correlates with significant performance improvements for both men and women. However, female surgeons experience larger surgical performance improvements as compared with male surgeons. These improvements further intensify when the surgeon has a high recent caseload or works in a male-dominated surgical unit. Yet, we find that women are no more likely to use robotic surgical tools than men are. Drawing on ex post interviews with surgeons, we posit that gender barriers may limit women’s access to cutting-edge tools that supplant outmoded tools designed with men’s bodies in mind.