Study Notes on Gender and Work Challenges
Gender-Role Expectations in the Workplace
Gender-role expectations from society often carry into workplace settings.
Consistent with the feminine gender role:
Women are expected to be helpful and consider the needs of others.
Practical example: Individuals in office environments often have differing views on who organizes workplace events (celebrations, etc.).
Investigation Strategy:
Speak to colleagues about who handles work-related parties and special events.
Analyze responses for patterns of gendered expectations and roles.
Gender and Helping Behaviors
Women's reluctance to help can stem from societal norms.
Helping is viewed as part of the feminine role, while not helping contravenes gender norms.
Men, conversely, receive praise for helping, as it is unexpected from them.
Women face a dilemma in protecting their work time while avoiding the label of being unhelpful.
Strategy: Frame inability to assist as prioritizing the team's needs to maintain a supportive image.
Example: A woman at a consulting firm learned to say no by explaining that her refusal was for the benefit of her team, avoiding accusations of selfishness (Grant & Sandberg, 2015).
The Glass Cliff
Definition: The glass cliff refers to the phenomenon where women are promoted to leadership roles during turbulent times or when organizations are at risk of failure.
Research Evidence:
Women often appointed to leadership when facing financial downturns or setbacks (Mulcahy & Linehan, 2014; Ryan & Haslam, 2005).
Analysis of CEOs in Fortune 500: Women promoted in failing firms were more common than men (Glass & Cook, 2016).
Consequences:
Female leaders are often blamed for failures linked to circumstances existing prior to their leadership.
This can lead to the belief that women are less competent in leadership positions.
High-Profile Examples of the Glass Cliff:
Marissa Mayer: Hired as Yahoo's President and CEO post significant market losses to Google (Hass, 2012).
Mary Barra: Appointed as General Motors' first female CEO just weeks before a significant vehicle recall (Covert, 2014b).
Katie Couric: Became CBS Evening News anchor when ratings were poor (Covert, 2014b).
Julia Pierson: First female head of the U.S. Secret Service during a scandal (Covert, 2014a).
Alternative View:
Some see women as capable caretakers during crises, contributing to positive perceptions associated with female leadership in tough times.
This belief, however, could reinforce the glass cliff notion (Ryan et al., 2011).
Additional Challenges for Female CEOs:
Male CEOs are likely to gain dual appointments, providing more board support than female CEOs (Glass & Cook, 2016).
Female CEOs face rigorous scrutiny regarding their appearance and decision-making.
e.g., Attention towards their clothing versus male length of scrutiny over competency.
Activist shareholder harassment: Data showed that women executives received unwanted recommendations from activist shareholders due to perceived incompetence compared to male counterparts (Gupta, Han, Mortal, Silveri, & Turban, 2018).
Workplace Harassment
Definition of Workplace Harassment:
Both subtle and overt harassment targeting primarily women.
Particularly, two main types exist:
Quid Pro Quo: involves sexual favors in exchange for workplace benefits.
Hostile Work Environment: characterized by intimidating, humiliating, or offensive conditions such as sexual comments, unwanted touch, etc.
Frequency: Sexual harassment is common across various work settings.
Survey Data:
81% of women in the U.S. reported experiencing some form of sexual harassment, while 38% experienced it at work (Chatterjee, 2018).
Over 50% of female union members in the UK reported workplace sexual harassment (Trades Union Congress, 2016).
Example of Harassment:
A female lawyer discussed unwanted comments implying her success was due to her appearance rather than skill (Trades Union Congress, 2016).
Reporting Issues:
Harassment often goes unreported or minimized by colleagues, reflecting workplace cultures dismissing women's experiences (Trades Union Congress, 2016).
The Me Too Movement
Origin: Started by Tarana Burke in 2006 to support survivors of sexual assault, especially women of color.
Revival in 2017 when the hashtag #MeToo went viral following allegations against Harvey Weinstein (Johnson & Hawbaker, 2018).
Impact: The movement has spearheaded conversations around sexual harassment and led to increased accountability for perpetrators.
Child Care as an Economic Aggravation
The dilemma parents, especially women, face regarding child care:
11 million children rely on some childcare weekly (Child Care Aware of America, 2017).
Costs vary significantly, with center-based care exorbitantly high.
Example: In Massachusetts, the most expensive care for infants was $20,125 a year, which often exceeds the cost of mortgages.
Challenges Localized to Low-Income Families:
A Massachusetts resident making minimum wage would spend nearly her entire income on child care.(Child Care Aware of America, 2017).
A need for better public policies for child care assistance exists; only 14% of U.S. civilian workers had access to paid family leave (Desilver, 2017).
The Impact of Women's Respective Responsibilities
Gender and care disparities:
Women are disproportionately responsible for home care, which becomes evident during child-rearing years (OECD, n.d.-a).
The term "second shift" refers to women's dual responsibilities at home after work.
Research Effect on Career Aspirations: The involvement of fathers in domestic tasks positively influences their daughters' career ambitions (Croft, Schmader, Block, & Baron, 2014).
Conclusion
The exploration of barriers to women's achievement in workplaces reveals that gender discrimination exists across a multitude of contexts and affects women of varying social identities and economic backgrounds in different ways.
Movements towards change, like Me Too, indicate a growing awareness and advocacy necessary for societal progress that supports women in achieving workplace equality.