Women Feel More Time Stress, Less Likely To Ask For Deadline Extensions: Study

A new study published in the peer-reviewed journal called Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) sheds light on an aspect of women’s lives in the workplace which many might identify with. The study suggests that compared to men, women feel more time stress at work, and hence, they are less likely to ask for work or project deadline extensions.

The research behind this study was conducted by scientists at the Ohio State University’s Fisher College of Business, and Harvard Business School. It analysed the findings of nine studies with more than 5,000 participants, including working adults and undergraduate students. In one study focused on undergraduate students, the researchers found that while 36 per cent of the male students asked for an extension on assignment deadlines, only 15 per cent of female students did the same—and this despite there being no penalties for deadline extensions.

The findings showed that not taking an extension hurt the female students’ scores because they ultimately took less time than they could to complete the same assignment. The other studies analysed by the researchers also showed similar results. "Women understandably feel like they have too many things to do and not enough time to do them. We found that not asking for more time to complete tasks undermines women's well-being and also their performance. But we also found a possible solution: Women were as likely to ask for deadline extensions as men when organisations had formal policies on making deadline extension requests," said Grant Donnelly, co-author of the study.

Another factor that played a huge role in women’s decisions to not ask for an extension was rooted in their belief that asking for more time would make them appear less competent than their male counterparts. "It was their concern about burdening their team and manager with more work that most strongly predicted women's discomfort with asking for more time on adjustable deadlines. Perceived burden and emotions like shame, embarrassment and guilt explained why women experienced more discomfort with asking for extensions than men did," Donnelly said.

The implications of this pattern among women in the workplace are many, the study adds. It not only makes women more pressed for time, but is also likely to lead to them experiencing more burnout than men. A good way to handle this fallout, the study suggests, is to formalise the process of deadline extensions by using online forms. "It's a structural issue. When organisations have formal policies about deadlines, it creates the opportunity for men and women to have equal experiences for requesting additional time. And we found evidence that allowing deadline extensions, when possible, can result in better work. That's helpful for employers and employees," Donnelly concluded.