INVESTIGATION OF BIAS IN JOB EVALUATION RATINGS OF COMPARABLE WORTH STUDY PARTICIPANTS

An experimental study was conducted to investigate the effects of knowledge of current pay levels and perceived job gender on subsequent job evaluations. The sample consisted of 53 job evaluators in professional and scientific positions at the University of Iowa who had previously received 20 hours of training in job evaluation and participated in over 100 hours of job evaluations during the implementation of a comparable worth pay system. The hypothesis that jobs with high (manipulated) pay levels would receive higher evaluations than jobs with low (manipulated) pay levels was confirmed, although the effects were smaller than those reported in other studies. In addition, evidence of a pro-female bias was found ( p < .08) in the job evaluation ratings. Implications of these findings for job evaluation research and practice are discussed.