Is Remote Work Driving Performance Evaluation Bias?

Remote work has become an integral part of the accounting profession. What was once primarily an emergency adaptation during the COVID-19 pandemic has now evolved into a preferred way of working for many current and prospective certified public accountants (CPAs). Flexible work arrangements offer benefits like increased productivity, better work-life balance, and access to a broader talent pool. But much like in-person work, remote and hybrid work practices have their limitations.

According to recently published research from University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign faculty Laura Wang, Ph.D., and Michael Williamson, Ph.D., and Ph.D. student Li Yang, accounting and finance professionals who work remotely may be subject to unintended bias—especially telecommuting mothers. Specifically, their study found that when remote workers met their performance targets, evaluations for telecommuting mothers and fathers were similar, but when remote workers fell short of their performance targets, managers tended to rate telecommuting mothers more harshly than telecommuting fathers on their evaluations.

HIDDEN BIAS FOUND IN REMOTE PERFORMANCE REVIEWS

Accounting is an industry driven by metrics, but performance evaluations are often still highly subjective. Although managers consider output, such as utilization or staying within budget, they also assess an employee’s effort, commitment, and work ethic. This is where bias can creep in, even unintentionally.

Wang says this research project was inspired by a conversation from a colleague at another school during the pandemic: “She was frustrated that her male colleagues always scheduled remote meetings in the afternoons, coinciding with school pick-up times. She attended the meetings using her phone without turning on her video. However, her male colleagues were unhappy about this, assuming she wasn’t fully engaged in work.”

The study, which included four separate case-study type experiments, revealed that when telecommuting parents failed to meet a goal, managers subconsciously assumed that working mothers spent less time on work-related activities than working fathers. These assumptions are based on long-standing gender stereotypes: Mothers are seen as more likely to be distracted by household responsibilities, while fathers are presumed to be focused on work.

“The male-career/female-family stereotype is a deeply ingrained belief that men are, and should be, the primary breadwinners, while women are, and should be, the primary caregivers. This stereotype persists across cultures, age groups, and genders,” Wang explains.

Wang also says that before the pandemic, “this stereotype was largely dormant in work settings and had little impact on employees’ performance evaluations because most people worked in the office.” But as remote work has become more common, Wang says this bias can have greater influence on performance evaluations for two key reasons:

• “When working from home, household responsibilities are always present. For example, it’s easy to step away from your computer to do a load of laundry, reinforcing the perception that telecommuting workers (especially mothers) are distracted by caregiving duties.
• Unlike in-office settings where work hours are visible, remote work makes it harder to track work duration. As a result, people rely on stereotypes to fill in the gaps, assuming that working mothers work less when they’re at home than working fathers.”

The bias was particularly evident when performance outcomes in the team’s research setting were unfavorable. Evaluators attributed missed performance targets to a lack of effort from telecommuting mothers but were more lenient toward telecommuting fathers in the same situation and with the same performance outcomes.

“Our experiments show that even when the outputs of telecommuting mothers and fathers are identical and fully measurable, managers still penalize telecommuting mothers, perceiving them as having worked less hard than their male counterparts,” Wang says.

A SIMPLE YET EFFECTIVE SOLUTION

As Wang and her colleagues’ research suggests, this hidden bias in performance evaluations could have serious long-term consequences, including stalled career progression, reduced bonuses, and even job losses for working mothers in accounting. However, there’s some good news.

The researchers discovered a surprisingly simple solution to the problem: providing managers with objective data on remote workers’ total work hours eliminated this bias. When researchers provided managers with information showing that telecommuting mothers worked just as many hours as their male colleagues, the performance evaluation gap vanished.

“Remote work can unintentionally activate gender-based stereotypes that aren’t commonly activated in traditional office settings,” Wang explains. “One way to mitigate this bias is through remote monitoring tools that objectively track work duration, provided that such tools are implemented transparently and with minimal invasiveness.”

This finding underscores the power of transparency in performance management. As noted in the study, “[if] employees are not clearly informed about how their company collects information about employees’ total work time, or if some companies use remote monitoring tools to track employees’ work activity more intrusively … (e.g., video monitoring, real-time screenshots, website views, keyboard activities),” remote workers will experience more stress. Thus, “the benefits of remote monitoring tools will outweigh the costs only when they are implemented in ways that respect employees’ privacy.” Many accounting firms already use time-tracking software to manage billable hours and ensure compliance with client service agreements. Therefore, expanding the use of these tools to inform remote work evaluations could be a game changer.

WHAT CAN ACCOUNTING FIRMS DO?

For accounting firms committed to fairness, here are three actionable steps to help reduce bias in remote work evaluations:

1. Implement Fair Evaluation Policies: Many firms have already established hybrid work guidelines, but how many have revisited their performance evaluation criteria? Ensuring that managers consider total work hours—not just outcomes—can help level the playing field. Firms could review existing evaluation frameworks to identify potential biases, integrate time-tracking data into performance assessments, and establish clear guidelines for remote and hybrid workers to ensure consistency.
2. Train Managers to Recognize Bias: Even well-intentioned managers can fall into the trap of unconscious bias. Providing training on how gender stereotypes can influence performance evaluations is a crucial step in promoting fairness. For example, firms can offer bias-awareness workshops as part of leadership development programs. Firms can also encourage managers to assess employees based on objectively measurable data rather than assumptions.
3. Use Remote Monitoring Responsibly: While tracking total work hours can mitigate bias, firms must balance transparency with trust. Overly invasive monitoring, such as real-time screenshots or keystroke tracking, would likely erode employee morale and engagement. Instead, firms should clearly communicate how and why time-tracking data is used and focus on work outcomes rather than micromanaging daily activities.

As remote work continues to evolve, so too must the ways accounting firms measure performance. This study’s findings highlight the importance of data-driven decision-making, reinforcing the idea that transparency leads to fairness. By leveraging time-tracking technology, training managers, and refining evaluation policies, firms can ensure that all employees are given equal opportunities to succeed. For firms looking to attract and retain top talent, build inclusive workplaces, and enhance employee satisfaction, addressing performance evaluation bias isn’t just the right thing to do—it’s a smart business decision too.

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