The aim of this research is to explore whether gender role expectations influence individuals’ choice to compete. In a laboratory experiment based on the design of Niederle and Vesterlund (2007) I test whether subjects seek information about the descriptive norms regarding competitive behavior for men and women, and if so, whether this information has an impact on their subsequent choice to enter a tournament (instead of a piece-rate scheme). Based on previous research by e.g. Croson andÊ Gneezy (2009) and Prentice and Carranza (2002) I hypothesize that female subjects are more keen to learn about the gender-role prescriptions and are also more likely to be influenced by them than their male counterparts. The design allows me to measure the effect of norms separately from the potential impact of stereotype threat.