Do Women Perform Better than Men?

Introduction

• Does gender influence performance in IT projects?
• Our research suggests that it does

Research Methods

• A survey of the most recent project completed by 200 project managers in six Ohio chapters was conducted.
• The relationship between gender and performance was explored, taking into account the size and effort of the project.

Findings

• Women had fewer abandoned projects
• Women significantly outperformed men on achievement of budget and schedule targets
• Men delivered more business benefits from projects

Note: all data is self reported

Recommendations

• Appoint a female PM to raise the probability of achieving budget and schedule targets.

• Appoint a male PM if maximizing business benefits is most important.