I don’t believe that women lack the confidence to succeed in business. Instead, women seem to be more likely than men to think that others have lower confidence in their abilities, as I explored in a previous article.
Research published in Academy of Management Discoveries found that, despite persistent stereotypes, women are actually more likely to negotiate their salaries than men.
Research shows that men are promoted for leadership potential while women are promoted for performance. This is because managers tend to consistently underestimate women’s leadership potential.
It’s perfectly normal, and in fact quite healthy, to have some doubts or mild anxiety before starting a new role, for example. After all, this is what makes us human. By pathologizing it as a “syndrome” that is more likely to affect women, we are once again suggesting that women need to be fixed. By continuing to perpetuate these myths, the danger is that they become self-fulfilling.
“In politics, If you want anything said, ask a man. If you want anything done, ask a woman.”- Margaret Thatcher
Here’s a quick list of three remedies to start tackling gendered misconceptions and take the onus off women alone:
To reduce implicit or unconscious gender bias in hiring and promotion decisions, evaluate the merits of two or more applicants at the same time rather than assessing them one by one. Joint evaluations tend to compare candidates based on performance rather than any implicit gender basis.
With pressure for equal pay continuing to grow, there are now a number of non-profit organizations, such as the Equal Salary Foundation, that provide a certification process enabling companies to verify and communicate that they pay their male and female employees equally for the same job or for the same value.
Research has found that 62% of men had a mentor at the CEO or senior executive level compared to 52% of women.
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Thinking Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman
According to the American Institute of Stress, 80% of US employees feel stress at work, with a third suffering from exhaustion and 44% feeling overworked. Ronit Kark, Sabine Sonnentag, and Laura Venz explain how...
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