By Kristen Jones & Eden King
A new poll by the Pew Research Center suggests that more than half of men think that sexism is a thing of the past; in contrast, only about one-third of women agree. One reason for the disagreement may stem from misunderstandings about the kinds of behavior that constitute sexism.
Research by Susan Fiske of Princeton and Peter Glick of Lawrence University demonstrates that prejudice toward women can take obvious and not-so-obvious forms. Both forms are destructive. But our research shows that the latter, benevolent form of sexism is exceptionally damaging. It primarily manifests in two ways.
First, much as anxious new parents protect their children by limiting their exposure to risk, managers often see women as in need of such protection, so they limit their exposure to risky or challenging work. For example, surveys of men and women in the oil-and-gas and health-care industries show that women received fewer challenging opportunities than men. Both genders, however, reported comparable levels of interest in such assignments.
Follow-up experiments confirmed that managers who engage in benevolent sexism “protected” women from challenging assignments and, instead, gave the work to men. Such behavior made it more difficult for women to advance.
Second, women are less likely to get constructive criticism, and more likely to receive unsolicited offers for help. Although well-intentioned, such coddling can undermine women’s self-confidence.
Attempts to support women at work may be most effective when they occur in response to requests, when they enable, rather than restrict, autonomy and when they’re negotiated through discussion. For example, rather than assuming that a woman will pass on an assignment involving travel, just askher if she wants it. Instead of telling a woman she should take an extended maternity leave, ask her how much time she wants off.
When attempting to help a female employee, managers should think about how and why they’re motivated to do so, whether they would treat a man the same way and what implicit message their behavior is sending to her.
Kristen Jones is an assistant professor of management at the University of Memphis. Eden King is an associate professor of psychology at George Mason University.