In a biased system, a woman in middle management is faced with the dilemma of whether to change her email communication style to appease the recipients or to continue writing emails as per her preference. The decision ultimately boils down to the objective she aims to achieve and the impact of her email style on her career advancement. While it would be ideal to change the biased system, the current focus should be on navigating it effectively. Adapting the email style to be warmer for the sake of recipients' happiness may be necessary if it positively influences career progression, even though it does not reflect how things should work. However, if recipients' satisfaction with the emails does not affect career success, it's acceptable to disregard negative feedback and continue with one's preferred email style.
Sexism is everywhere in workplaces, from people’s expectations about how women look and act to companies’ inadequate or unfair parental leave policies. Still, it can be shocking when you realize—or suspect—that you’re the target of that bias. Perhaps you sense someone is interrupting you over and over because you’re a woman. Or, you receive an end-of-year rating that just doesn’t align with your actual performance, and no one can (or will) explain the discrepancy.
Is there any way to know for sure whether something that a colleague or client did—or neglected to do—is sexism? When is confronting that person worth it? And if you’ll never know what drove their actions, how do you make peace with the uncertainty? Amy G talks through these questions with two professors who study perceptions and gender stereotypes.
Guest experts:
Katie Coffman is an economist and professor at Harvard Business School, where she studies how stereotypes impact our beliefs about ourselves
Michelle Duguid is a professor and the associate dean of diversity, inclusion, and belonging at Cornell.
Resources:
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