Gender Biases
Melissa paced her office back and forth, feeling confused, frustrated, and angry. She tried to contain her emotions. As she sat down in an attempt to calm down, she heard a knock on her door. Julia walked in. She immediately sensed her anger in the air.
Julia quietly approached Melissa, asking her, "What's wrong?" Melissa banged the desk, replying that her manager always introduced her to prospective clients or business partners as "Melissa, a mother of five". Not once has he mentioned her achievements or even her job title.
Julia's mind started to wander while listening. She remembered how her manager denied her a well-deserved promotion, reverting to her being a woman; thus, she will lead with her heart as she missed necessary logic and facts.
As Julia shared with Melissa, they both remembered more and more labels stuck to them by their male colleagues. Those who stuck the labels did not check whether their assumptions were valid or not. They just treated their female colleagues accordingly, assuming those biases were real.
The preconceptions in the above story about Melissa, and Julia, ring a close bell to many women. The biases experienced by women are not even limited to the above.
"Gender bias is the tendency to prefer one gender over another. It is a form of unconscious bias, or implicit bias when individuals unconsciously attribute certain attitudes and stereotypes to another person or group. These ascribed behaviors affect how the individual understands and engages with others1."
Let's look at some examples before we explore how to mitigate gender bias in the workplace2:
- Expecting women to do "office housework." Those are some jobs that are not within their job description, such as arranging for office parties, taking minutes of meetings, and cleaning after parties.
- Expecting women to comply with rude behaviors. When women object or stand up to themselves, their male counterparts do not refer to their behavior as "assertive"; instead, they refer to them as "aggressive" or "troublemakers".
- Judging women on their appearance. Either their clothes, weight, or how attractive their looks are.
- Viewing women with children as less leadership material.
- Expressing emotions such as anger is viewed as a matter of emotional instability or judged as a hormonal issue.
1 Bailey Reiners, What is Gender Bias in the Workplace? 2021, Accessed 20 July 2021, https://builtin.com/diversity-inclusion/gender-bias-in-the-workplace
2 Gender Bias in the Workplace, Accessed 20 July 2021, https://internal.ucar.edu/sites/default /files/attachments/2018-08-08/Gender%20Bias%20in%20the%20Workplace.pdf
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