Contemporary Performance Management Practices and the Gender Pay Gap

The gender pay gap (GPG) persists in professional settings despite decades of progress and extensive research on its drivers. While prior studies emphasize human capital differences, occupational segregation, and implicit bias, a substantial residual gap remains unexplained. We examine whether the design of performance management systems-specifically forced distribution schemes, calibration committees, and multi-rater systems-affects the within-rank GPG among professional employees. Using hierarchical linear models and a unique matched dataset of over 23,000 employees across 150 organizations, we find that forced distribution systems widen the GPG, calibration committees narrow it, and most multi-rater configurations have no effect on the GPG, though self-only ratings and so-called "360 evaluations" exacerbate disparities. Our findings highlight performance management system design as an overlooked determinant of the gender pay gap and offer actionable insights for organizations seeking to reduce gender-based compensation gaps.