Dive Brief:
- Women are given less credit for their ideas and are less likely to be selected for leadership roles than men, says Science Daily, citing a new study from the University of Delaware. When men speak up with ideas about how to improve their teams, they gain their peers' respect, the study found.
- When it's time to choose team leaders, men who speak up are much more likely than women to be chosen for the role, says Kyle Emich, assistant professor of management at the university's College of Business and Economics. On 10-member teams, men who speak up are chosen, on average, as the No. 2 candidate to lead the group, whereas women who speak up are chosen, on average, to be the No. 8 candidate.
- The study also found that men were given more credit than women even when both were expressing similar ideas. "Of course, when I discuss this with women they are not shocked," Emich told Science Daily.
Dive Insight:
Various recent studies have shown how bias works in the workplace. A Harvard Business Review study observed the daily activities of women and men on the job and found no differences in their behavior. Researchers concluded that the disparity between women's and men's advancement in the workplace largely was due to how women were treated, rather than anything they were doing differently from men.
By hiring and promoting more women into leadership roles, organizations can sustain a culture of tolerance and inclusiveness. To do that, companies will have to take a hard look at their practices via data analysis, employee interviews and feedback management.
Establishing a formal program in which influential leaders sponsor women to enhance their careers is another way to support gender parity in the workplace, Betty Spence, president of the National Association for Female Executives, told HR Dive. She also recommends that employers encourage men to sponsor women.
