Our society has such stiff-necked expectations from women that any qualities that aren’t in their impalpable checklist of femininity are considered unwomanly. Women are expected to be shy, sensitive, nurturing and all things soft, while leadership skills are conveniently assigned to men through years and years of social conditioning.
Unfortunately, even with so many educated and working women, only 29 per cent in the world hold top managerial positions, as per a 2021 study titled Gender Stereotypes and Their Impact on Women’s Career Progressions from a Managerial Perspective.
Here’s reflecting on how gender bias can undermine women’s achievements and skills at work.
Workplaces governed by “masculine” norms
When it comes to work, women are often undermined despite possessing superior skills required to do their job, or even for getting a promotion. Unfortunately, many workplaces have expectations that go beyond one’s skills and work ethics. The behavioural tendencies and activities of employees are often perceived through the lens of gender roles.
For decades, women had been involved more in caregiving roles and are still seen as caring while men are attributed characteristics such as assertiveness and strength, so much so that these are wrongly seen as “masculine” traits.
Unfortunately, many managers fail to see the true potential in a female employee because their vision is impeded by sexist ideologies.
According to a 2011 study titled Glass Ceilings and Great Expectations: Gender Stereotype Impact on Female Professionals, women’s career advancement in management is thwarted by unfounded stereotypical feelings about women’s administrative abilities.
This ‘think management, think male’ mindset has led to several women losing out on opportunities that they rightfully deserve.
Biased performance evaluation
Due to gender roles, women end up taking up much more unpaid labour, especially if they have children. This means that many women have reduced geographic mobility and availability. According to a 2017 study titled Breaking barriers: Unconscious gender bias in the workplace, many companies have ‘unfailing availability and total geographical mobility,’ as a leadership criterion. Men who have limited domestic obligations are advantaged with this pro-male ethos, thus penalising women, especially working mothers. This further draws attention to the need for fair distribution of domestic duties, so this gender-based obstacle is annihilated for good.
Women miss out on weighty projects
Radhika (name changed for anonymity) is a senior media professional with more than 15 years of experience. She says that even though she was working in a senior managerial capacity, it was the men in her company bogarting the coveted projects. “It was a tiresome battle to fight each time the project would be handed over to men who may or may not have been the best fit for it. The women, even those in senior positions were still inhibited by a glass ceiling built by managers who assigned dynamic projects to men while handing over planning celebrations and all that to women,” she vented.
A woman may have excelled in her assignments but her achievements (and the scope of it) are undermined because of such pro-male attitudes.
Attributing women’s achievements to “feminine charm”
As appalling as it sounds, we can’t deny the mindset that women who can climb the success ladder are often accused of using their “feminine charm” to impress the top management. Since most of the top management comprises men, a woman getting ahead of her entitled male colleagues is believed to be flirting with them to get her way. “I got to know through a friend in the Delhi branch that people were spreading rumours about me dating my boss, right after I received a promotion. It wasn’t true and undermined my achievements I had worked very hard for,” a woman working for an IT company revealed.
Gendered language at the workplace
Due to gendered language at the workplace, women are either omitted or disdained, depending on the kind of authority they have. A woman who exhibits strong leadership skills is often criticised to be “bossy” while a man with the same behaviour is called “assertive”. Similarly, when it comes to senior positions, they are naturally assumed to be held by a male.
In fact, the bias is so deeply embedded in our society, that when a man is giving critical feedback to his team, he is considered to be a good team leader. A woman, who is doing so, is often criticised for being bossy, irrational and driven by mood swings.
Reforms in work policies are required
Gitanjali Singh, the head of strategy and client success at Visionet BFSI explains, “Masculine language is more prevalent in male-dominated fields. In the Tech/BFSI sectors, there does exist a gender imbalance and gendered language can be an issue, but sensitisation drives can help. Making people aware of their conscious and subconscious biases is the first step.”
Blind evaluation can get rid of unconscious gender bias in the workplace, at least in the hiring stage. For instance, the initial evaluation should be skill-based and eliminating the person’s name and gender can get rid of biases if any. While there are companies that are practising this, not many companies can adapt to this.
What also needs to be aborted is masculine work culture. Offices need to have gender sensitisation workshops, not just for teams but also for decision-makers of the company. With policies in place will help reduce undermining women’s achievements and skills by gender-based obstacles.
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