Previously gender discrimination in the workplace was pretty apparent.
Women were not paid as much as men and did not have access to the same opportunities. These were intentional acts of discrimination.
Nowadays gender discrimination in the workplace is more subtle and invisible. As per researchers at the Center for Gender in Organizations, such gender biases are “work cultures and practices that appear neutral and natural on their face,” however they reflect masculine values and life situations of men who have been dominant in the development of traditional work settings. These biases are entrenched in organisational culture/practices and impact hiring decisions, promotion and salaries.
Here are some examples of invisible gender discrimination in the workplace:
- When men act strong, confident and assertive at work, these are seen as positive leadership qualities. However, when women do the same, it is seen as being too aggressive, self-promoting and bitchy
- Women are expected to conform to the nurturing/care giving stereotype and to be nice, supportive, patient, understanding and compromising
- Men are viewed as being more committed to the organisation, in terms of putting work before family
When women act in ways which are against what is expected, this can impact their relationships with peers and supervisors. Due to these social consequences, women don’t ask for things, as much as men do. This could include a promotion, pay raise, request for a better office, allocation to an attractive project and so on. In fact, men are 4 times as likely to ask for a higher salary. This has a snowballing effect and women stand to lose as much as $ 2 million over their careers, due to lower starting pay and also lower pay raises.
The story mentioned in this video, on the topic of gender discrimination in the workplace, by Linda Babcock (Carnegie Mellon University) is a classic example of how men ask for what they want but women don’t.
A few female PhD students walked into Linda’s office. There were upset and wanted to complain about the fact that male PhD students were all teaching actual classes and female students were all teaching assistants. This meant that the male students were paid more, had a better looking resume and were developing valuable teaching skills. When Linda spoke with the Associate Dean, they realised that all the men simply came and asked the Associate Dean if they could teach. None of the women did this - they were expecting the opportunity to be offered to them.
As a women, there are some ways in which you can overcome this effect of gender discrimination in the workplace and ask for what you deserve:
- The first thing is to be more aware of the extent to which other people are negotiating and know where opportunities for negotiation are. Be plugged-in to the office grapevine, in order to have a better idea of the boundaries within which you can operate
- Sharpening your negotiation skills is always a good idea and you could take courses or read books about this
- Use gender stereotypes to your advantage. In other words, conform to the stereotype to get what you want. For example, when asking for anything, do so in a very friendly/warm manner and show how what you are requesting is for the greater good (of your organisation, team, supervisor)
- Time your requests well. Ask for something after you close an important deal or perhaps receive a good performance review or an award
I wonder how large is the impact of social consequences, mentioned earlier in this article. Does behaving in ways which are against the stereotype, affect workplace relationships to a ‘career damaging’ effect? When in doubt, should women JUST ASK?
