Sexual harassment and implicit gender-career biases negatively impact women's life expectancy in the US: a state-level analysis, 2011-2019

BACKGROUND

Despite some gains, women continue to have less access to work and poorer experiences in the workplace, relative to men. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships among women's life expectancy and two work-related factors, sexual harassment and gender-career biases.

METHOD

We examined the associations at the state level of analysis (and District of Columbia) in the US from 2011 to 2019 (n = 459) using archival data from various sources. Measures of the ratio of population to primary health providers, year, the percent of adults who are uninsured, the percent of residents aged 65 or older, and percent of residents who are Non-Hispanic White all served as controls.

RESULTS

Results of linear regression models showed that, after accounting for the controls, sexual harassment and gender-career biases among people in the state held significant, negative associations with women's life expectancy.

CONCLUSION

The study contributes to the small but growing literature showing that negative workplace experiences and bias against women in the workplace negatively impact women's health.

Racialized Sexism: Nonverbal Displays of Power in Workplace Settings are Evaluated as More Masculine When Displayed by White (vs. Black) Women With Implications for the Expression of Ambivalent Sexism

We hypothesized that White (vs. Black) women in high- (vs. low-) power poses would be evaluated as particularly masculine and unfeminine due to greater perceived violations of gendered racial stereotypes. As predicted, White (vs. Black) women in high- (but not low-) power poses were evaluated as more masculine and less feminine (Studies 1-3). Moreover, greater perceived masculinity of White (vs. Black) women in high-power poses predicted more hostile sexism; and, lesser perceived femininity of White (vs. Black) women predicted less benevolent sexism. Finally, these associations between masculinity/hostile sexism and femininity/benevolent sexism serially mediated reduced hiring desirability of White (vs. Black) women (Study 2). Study 3 replicated these serial indirect effects and found that these effects emerged regardless of job status and even when controlling for socially desirable responding. We conclude that gendered racism leads sexism to be expressed toward White and Black women embodying power in distinct ways.

Seeking support through solidarity: female leader's experiences of workplace solidarity in male-dominated professions

Introduction

While there is a plethora of research that documents the numerous barriers affecting female leaders in the modern workplace, there is a lack of literature which focuses on strategies or motivating resources that women use to navigate the workplace environment. Despite facing significant barriers in their leadership journeys, there are female leaders who are able to overcome these barriers to achieve leadership positions. These women leaders draw on personal and external motivating factors to assist them in dealing with the challenges associated with being a female leader as a result, research on motivating strategies for women's career progression is a research topic that warrants immediate attention. Female solidarity as a motivating resource has been gaining traction in the field of leadership studies and can be seen as a supportive resource that can be used by current and aspiring female leaders to progress in underrepresented environments. Although female solidarity is but only one of the many strategies that can be implemented to motivate women in leadership positions, the increase of female solidarity in the workplace is expected to alleviate the conditions that reinforce essentialist notions of the "queen bee syndrome" in which women are seen as unsupportive of each other.

Method

A qualitative research approach was used for this study, following an interpretive descriptive design. A total of 13 semi-structured interviews were conducted with female leaders in male-dominated professions within South Africa. Data was analysed using thematic content analysis.

Results

Results of the study were analyzed in line with three primary content areas, i.e., barriers to female solidarity in the workplace, benefits of female solidarity in the workplace and workplace interventions to increase solidarity.

Discussion

In the context of the study the predominant barriers to female solidarity within male-dominated workplaces were identified as unfair workplace behaviours, generational beliefs, societal expectations, organisational cultures, stereotypes and stigmas. The benefits of female solidarity within male-dominated workplaces were identified as career shaping mentorship, female recognition, female representation and female support. Lastly, the interventions that can be implemented to increase female solidarity within male-dominated workplaces were conceptualised as networking, transforming the company culture, socialisation and mentorship.

Women With Mandarin Accent in the Canadian English-Speaking Hiring Context: Can Evaluations of Warmth Undermine Gender Equity?

Although many workers speak with a non-native English accent, our understanding of this phenomenon is limited because prior work predominantly focused on men. This overlooks whether the biases women experience due to their accent manifests differently. To address this omission, we use an intersectional lens to examine how non-native accents associated with more gender-traditional countries may affect women's hiring outcomes. We argue that the bias women with these accents face is subtle due to an association of non-native (vs. native) accents with perceptions of women's warmth (whereas there are no such effects for men) and consequently higher perceptions of hireability. Yet we posit that the indirect effect on hireability occurs within feminine, but not masculine, industries, which ultimately undermines equity by pushing women with these non-native accents into lower pay and prestige occupations. We found support for our hypotheses in three vignette-based experiments conducted in Canada using a Mandarin accent. Managers and decision-makers need to be aware of the insidious bias women with these non-native accents experience because it may not be immediately apparent that an association of accent with higher ratings of warmth may undermine women at work. Additional online materials for this article are available on PWQ's website at https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/suppl/10.1177/03616843231165475

Benevolent and hostile sexism in a shifting global context

The theory of and research on ambivalent sexism - which encompasses both attitudes that are overtly negative (hostile sexism) and those that seem subjectively positive but are actually harmful (benevolent sexism) - have made substantial contributions to understanding how sexism operates and the consequences it has for women. It is now clear that sexism takes different forms, some of which can be disguised as protection and flattery. However, all forms of sexism have negative effects on how women are perceived and treated by others as well as on women themselves. Some of these findings have implications for understanding other social inequalities, such as ableism, ageism, racism and classism. In this Review, we summarize what is known about the predictors of ambivalent sexism and its effects. Although we focus on women, we also consider some effects on men, in particular those that indirectly influence women. Throughout the Review we point to societal shifts that are likely to influence how sexism is manifested, experienced and understood. We conclude by discussing the broader implications of these changes and specifying areas of enquiry that need to be addressed to continue making progress in understanding the mechanisms that underlie social inequalities.

Understanding the relationships among self-ascribed gender traits, social desirability, and ambivalent sexism

The stereotypical gender traits used in self-descriptions could contribute to shape ambivalent sexist attitudes toward women, including antipathy toward women who appear to threaten the gender hierarchy (i.e., hostile sexist attitudes) and affection for women who embrace traditional feminine roles (i.e., benevolent sexism). Empirical evidence associates more stereotypically feminine traits with benevolent sexism and masculine traits with hostile sexism but does not offer a clear picture, likely because of the non-controlled effect of social desirability and other gender traits in those relationships. We examine whether self-ascribed masculine traits moderate the modulating influence of social desirability in the linkage between feminine traits and benevolent sexism, and whether self-ascribed feminine traits moderate the modulating effect of social desirability in the association between masculine traits and hostile sexist attitudes. Results reveal that stereotypical gender traits and social desirability are connected to benevolent and hostile sexism, although differently. The gendered profile of those with benevolent attitudes (i.e., participants who self-attribute largely feminine traits) is different from those with hostile attitudes (i.e., participants who self-ascribe mainly masculine traits). In addition, the need to gain others’ approval or, more importantly, to avoid their disapproval, leads individuals to offer more socially desirable responses that mask their hostility toward women, whereas this need is less evident when hiding benevolent attitudes. As benevolent sexism is more pervasive in society and, unlike hostile sexism, is not easily recognized as a type of prejudice, it is harder to counteract and, therefore, to eliminate.

Is Feminist Identity Beneficial for Women’s Career Aspirations? Examining Feminist Identity Profiles

Using latent profile analysis, we examined whether different feminist identity profiles are differentially related to career-related cognitions among women. We identified profiles of feminist identity based on feminist attitudes, feminist self-identification, and participation in feminist activism. In addition, we examined whether the profiles are differentially related to women’s career aspirations, anticipated family-interference-with-work, and willingness to compromise career for family. In Study 1, three profiles of feminist identity (Non-labeler, Passive feminist, and Active feminist) emerged from responses of 282 female undergraduate and graduate students ( Mage = 20.47). In Study 2, three profiles of feminist identity (Non-feminist, Non-labeler, and Active feminist) emerged from responses of 490 adults recruited from Mechanical Turk ( Mage = 38.62). Results showed that the profiles characterized by stronger feminist self-identification were more positively related to women’s career-related cognitions than the profiles characterized by weaker feminist self-identification. Moreover, the profiles characterized by stronger participation in feminist activism were more positively associated with career-related cognitions. These findings suggest a potential benefit of feminist identity and participation in feminist activism for women’s career aspirations.

An Evolutionary Explanation for the Female Leadership Paradox

Social influence is distributed unequally between males and females in many mammalian societies. In human societies, gender inequality is particularly evident in access to leadership positions. Understanding why women historically and cross-culturally have tended to be under-represented as leaders within human groups and organizations represents a paradox because we lack evidence that women leaders consistently perform worse than men. We also know that women exercise overt influence in collective group-decisions within small-scale human societies, and that female leadership is pervasive in particular contexts across non-human mammalian societies. Here, we offer a transdisciplinary perspective on this female leadership paradox. Synthesis of social science and biological literatures suggests that females and males, on average, differ in why and how they compete for access to political leadership in mixed-gender groups. These differences are influenced by sexual selection and are moderated by socioecological variation across development and, particularly in human societies, by culturally transmitted norms and institutions. The interplay of these forces contributes to the emergence of female leaders within and across species. Furthermore, females may regularly exercise influence on group decisions in less conspicuous ways and different domains than males, and these underappreciated forms of leadership require more study. We offer a comprehensive framework for studying inequality between females and males in access to leadership positions, and we discuss the implications of this approach for understanding the female leadership paradox and for redressing gender inequality in leadership in humans.