Are you experiencing gender bias at work? Dan and Alison answer your questions with the help of Katie Coffman, a professor at Harvard Business School. They talk through what to do when you are held to a higher standard as a female manager, you’ve been promoted but a male deputy has been chosen for you, or you join a company that is living in the past.

From Alison and Dan’s reading list:

HBR: Research: Vague Feedback Is Holding Women Back by Shelley J. Correll and Caroline Simard — “Our research shows that women are systematically less likely to receive specific feedback tied to outcomes, both when they receive praise and when the feedback is developmental. In other words, men are offered a clearer picture of what they are doing well and more-specific guidance of what is needed to get to the next level.”

HBS Working Knowledge: When Gender Discrimination Is Not About Gender by Katherine B. Coffman, Christine L. Exley, and Muriel Niederle — “Employers are simply less willing to hire a worker from a group that performs worse on average, even when this group is instead defined by a non-stereotypical characteristic. In this way, beliefs about average group differences are the key driver of discrimination against women in our setting.”

HBR: 3 Ways to Advance Gender Equity as We Return to the Office by David G. Smith and W. Brad Johnson — “Crises are often catalysts for turning points in people’s individual lives, and also for societies. The current pandemic will be another turning point, one that provides an opportunity to rework work in a way that disrupts traditional narratives and beliefs into new norms and values that make ‘work’ work for everyone.”

HBR: How Women Manage the Gendered Norms of Leadership by Wei Zheng, Ronit Kark, and Alyson Meister — “A wealth of research shows that female leaders, much more than their male counterparts, face the need to be warm and nice (what society traditionally expects from women), as well as competent or tough (what society traditionally expects from men and leaders). The problem is that these qualities are often seen as opposites. This creates a ‘catch-22’ and ‘double bind’ for women leaders.”

ESW #303 - What Makes A Good Breach Response?