Exploring how gender-anonymous voice avatars influence women's performance in online computing group work

We investigate how gender-anonymous voice avatars influence women's performance in online computing group work. Female participants worked with two male confederates. Voices were filtered according to four voice gender anonymity conditions: (1) All unmasked, (2) Male confederates masked, (3) Female participant masked, and (4) All masked. When only male confederates used masked voices (compared to all unmasked), female participants spoke for a longer period of time and scored higher on computing problems. When everyone used masked voices (compared to all unmasked), female participants spoke for a longer period of time, spoke more words, and scored higher on computing problems. Effects were not significant on subjective measures and one behavioral measure. We discuss the implications for virtual interactions between people.

Automated summary

This study investigates the impact of gender-anonymous voice avatars on women's performance in online computing group work. The findings indicate that when only male participants use masked voices, female participants speak for a longer period of time and score higher on computing problems. When everyone uses masked voices, female participants speak for a longer period of time, speak more words, and score higher on computing problems.