, Columnist
Can Blind Auditions Help Women Succeed? Yes.
Don't go lumping in useful social science experiments with pop psychology.
Focus on the music, not the musician
Photographer: Graeme Robertson/Getty ImagesThis article is for subscribers only.
It’s become a kind of sport to shoot down social science claims, whether it’s the notion that you can ace interviews if you stand like wonder woman or charm your next date by reading two pages of “Moby-Dick” before you leave.
And now critics have taken aim at a prize target — a much-cited claim that symphony orchestras hire more women when they audition musicians behind a screen. There are big implications here, since the study has been used in diversity efforts across industries, which is why the take-down has taken off in the media.