Negative stereotypes about men and women creep into performance reviews, research finds.
A take-charge attitude at work typically earns men positive performance reviews, but for women, assertiveness only gets them so far. Although workplace evaluations are supposed to be merit-based, the study finds that gender bias too often influences how supervisors rate employees, resulting in women having to meet a higher bar than their male colleagues to advance professionally.
Published in the
American Sociological Review, the paper pinpoints how and when managers’ beliefs about gender enter their evaluations of workers.
“Where we find the bigger biases are in evaluations of people’s personalities, their future potential, and on the mentions of exceptionalism,” says study coauthor Shelley J. Correll, professor of organizational behavior (by courtesy) at Stanford University Graduate School of Business. “So if we want to get rid of biases, we need to look at the areas where biases
By Rachel Brazil2021-05-06T08:34:00+01:00
Despite a variety of activities in industry and academia, women in chemistry continue to earn less than men
For most of November and December the average woman in the UK effectively works for free. That is if you compare her annual salary to that of her male colleagues. The median gender pay gap in the UK is 15.5%, down from 17.4% in 2019. In chemistry-related jobs, the pay gap is even greater. The RSC’s 2019 pay and reward survey (of over 6000 members) reported that the median woman earns 21% less than the median man, representing £9500 less earned every year. These inequalities haven’t gone unnoticed, with the same survey indicating only 52% of women agree that their workplace offers equal opportunities for all employees, compared to 64% of men. For those hoping that gender inequality is in the past, the pay gap shows there is still work to be done.
Senior Research Scholar, Stanford VMware Women’s Leadership Innovation Lab
“As the first woman and first woman of color elected to be vice president, Kamala Harris shattered several glass ceilings in one night. Her election marks a watershed moment for women’s leadership – ushering in a new era of possibilities.
“While women have made great strides in business, academia and government, they remain woefully underrepresented at the highest levels of leadership. One of the biggest obstacles preventing women from reaching senior positions are gendered stereotypes about leadership – namely, that women are not a good fit for leadership. To overcome these stereotypes, women often must prove they have what it takes to be strong leaders in ways men do not. Yet in doing so, women can face backlash because people perceive them as being too assertive, angry or, as Kamala Harris has been described, ‘too ambitious.’ It is a classic double-bind.