If you want to better understand the lack of gender equality in the workplace, look no further than the recent Pew research on how society views gender differences. Their recent study documents how gender, age, political affiliation, race and level of education dictates what we think about these differences. The attitude Americans have about gender differences shape how women are viewed in the workplace and whether or not women’s ambition to reach leadership positions is supported.
Decades after Men are from Mars, Women from Venus, we, as a society, still wrestle with the question of how our viewpoints about gender are formed. Is it societal or biological? Surprisingly, the answer is not straightforward and it differs widely depending on different demographics.
Men see gender differences in the workplace as mostly biological.
Men and women offer different views on the roles of biology and societal expectations when it comes to gender differences in the workplace. Most people believe that gender does not dictate what men and women are good at in the workplace. Of those who do see a difference, 65% of women say they are mostly based on different expectations society has for men and women, while 35% point to biology. In contrast, about 61% of men who see gender differences in the workplace say they are mostly biological.
The belief that the gender differences at work are biological rather than societal can have widespread implications. After all, we can’t argue with biology. Initiatives designed to help advance women will not succeed if the underlying belief of male leadership is that biological differences affect women’s ability to lead.
Americans place a high value on attractiveness for women, leadership and ambition for men.
The most highly valued trait for women was attractiveness (35%), then empathy and nurturing at 30%, with ambition and leadership only 9%. For men, honesty and morality topped the list at 33%, professional/financial success at 23%, and ambition/leadership at 19%.
This data reveals our society’s fixation with women’s physical appearance as well as a lack of support for women’s ambition. In fact, 28% of respondents volunteered that ambition, leadership and assertiveness are traits that women should not have.
The small percentage of people who value ambitious women is indicative of the bias that still remains against women who have the grit and desire to get ahead. This attitude shows up in the subtle (and maybe not so subtle) ways men are favored for sponsorship and leadership. With all the progress women have made in the last few decades, the emphasis on physical beauty remains.
Women feel pressure to be attractive and to be an involved parent.
What’s notable is women feel pressured in three areas: parenting, attractiveness and career. Men recognize the pressure for women in parenting and attractiveness, but not in their careers. Most Americans (77%) say women face a lot of pressure to be an involved parent; 49% say the same for men. But 71% say women face a lot of pressure to be physically attractive and just 27% say the same of men.
Fifty two percent of women reported that they feel pressure to have successful careers. Only 38% of men felt that women are pressured to be successful at their jobs.
Men feel pressured to join in when other men are talking about women in a sexual manner.
Substantial shares of men face say they feel some pressure to join in when other men are talking about women in a sexual way (45%) and to have many sexual partners (40%).
This varies by age. Fifty seven percent of millennial men say men face pressure to join in when other men are talking about women in a sexual way. Fewer men in other generations say the same. This statistic surprises me. Have we been giving millennial men more credit for unbiased attitudes toward women and sex than they deserve?
If you examine this study through the lens of gender in the workplace, you can draw some significant conclusions about how society’s attitudes affect women’s ability to succeed. First of all, many women believe that what they’re good at in the workplace is determined by societal expectations over biology. Maybe they have been channeled into certain career choices more often associated with females over other options more likely associated for men. Those choices are dictated by society not biology. We design programs to advance women by giving them the necessary skills to succeed without addressing the fact some men believe women’s biology is the key factor holding them back.
Secondly, the trait most valued for women is their attractiveness with ambition and leadership ranking very low. What does this say about what a woman needs to succeed in the workplace? What message does that send about the importance of our talent and leadership qualities?
Sexism is still alive and well in our society. The pressure to join in on conversations that are sexual in nature remains prevalent as well. This marginalizes women in the workplace and reduces them to sexual objects. Sexual harassment can be the result of the normality of these conversations.
Women are making some progress advancing in the workplace, but what is evident from this research is that attitudes about gender differences remain a significant factor in gender equality. Our society’s point of view about women, as highlighted in this report, reveals a gap of understanding about how gender dictates our success.
You can take a quiz here from Pew Research to see how your views on gender issues differ from the results of this study.
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