{"id":3614,"date":"2024-09-10T07:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-09-10T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/ccf\/?p=3614"},"modified":"2024-07-05T15:23:56","modified_gmt":"2024-07-05T20:23:56","slug":"was-it-me-or-was-that-gender-discrimination-research-finds-women-turn-inward-when-they-experience-ambiguous-workplace-incidents","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/ccf\/2024\/09\/10\/was-it-me-or-was-that-gender-discrimination-research-finds-women-turn-inward-when-they-experience-ambiguous-workplace-incidents\/","title":{"rendered":"Was it me or was that gender discrimination? Research finds women \u201cturn inward\u201d when they experience ambiguous workplace incidents"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Untitled by Peggy_Marco licensed by Pixaby<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Reprinted with permission from Rotman School of Management<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

That gender discrimination is wrong is beyond argument. But identifying which incidents are cases of it is not always so clear cut.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s why researchers are recommending that organizations develop processes that encourage workers to share their concerns when they suspect but aren\u2019t sure that they have experienced discriminatory treatment based on their gender. While employees may want to keep suspicions to themselves for fear of reprisal if they\u2019re mistaken, the consequences of doing so carry risks to workplace culture and performance, the researchers say.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNot every ambiguous incident is discriminatory \u2014 some are simply misunderstandings,\u201d says researcher Laura Doering, an associate professor of strategic management at the University of Toronto\u2019s Rotman School of Management. \u201cIn order to adjudicate between discrimination and misunderstandings, we suggest that organizations look for patterns. Are people repeatedly sharing concerns about the same person or situation? If so, it\u2019s worth investigating as possible cases of discrimination.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

More than 2000 women working in professional roles participated in the research through personal interviews, a survey, and a study where respondents were asked what they would do when faced with scenarios involving different levels of certainty. Prof. Doering and two co-researchers found that women were likelier to speak up when they experienced what felt like overt discrimination, such as a supervisor assigning male workers a more challenging project while giving their female peer a less valued administrative task.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But when women weren\u2019t so sure — for example, when a supervisor might<\/em> have overlooked a woman\u2019s contribution because a phone rang while she spoke and he couldn\u2019t hear her idea — the researchers found that they \u201cturned inward,\u201d doubling down on their own work habits and keeping the incident to themselves. \u201cThey plan to change things about themselves like speaking louder, working harder, and calling more attention to their efforts at work,\u201d says Prof. Doering. Ambiguous incidents happened more frequently than overt ones, the researchers found, becoming a ruminating distraction for the women and even interfering with their confidence to advance through their organization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Organizations can reduce uncertainty, the researchers suggest, by making internal processes more transparent such as widely advertising job opportunities and spelling out their criteria, and clearly explaining the process and rationale for particular hiring and promotion decisions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cultivating an environment where employees feel comfortable to share their concerns informally, such as through an equity and diversity officer or ombudsman\u2019s office, and where colleagues and leaders can serve as supportive allies if they witness potential gender discrimination can also help, says Prof. Doering. Employees unsure whether they\u2019ve experienced gender discrimination might also seek out a trusted colleague as a sounding board if they don\u2019t have other places to go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When women stay silent about ambiguous incidents, it limits not only their careers but the potential for change that benefits everyone. \u201cIf organizations don\u2019t know about experiences that are discriminatory \u2013 and, if these things are happening to multiple women suffering in isolation \u2013 then there\u2019s no capacity for leaders to take action to address these problems,\u201d says Prof. Doering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The research was co-authored by Andr\u00e1s Tilcsik, the Canada Research Chair in Strategy, Organizations, and Society and a professor of strategic management at the Rotman School, and Jan Doering, an assistant professor of sociology at the University of Toronto.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The study appears in Sociological Science<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bringing together high-impact faculty research and thought leadership on one searchable platform, the Rotman Insights Hub offers articles, podcasts, opinions, books and videos representing the latest in management thinking and providing insights into the key issues facing business and society. Visit www.rotman.utoronto.ca\/insightshub<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Rotman School of Management is part of the University of Toronto, a global centre of research and teaching excellence at the heart of Canada\u2019s commercial capital. Rotman is a catalyst for transformative learning, insights and public engagement, bringing together diverse views and initiatives around a defining purpose: to create value for business and society. For more information, visit www.rotman.utoronto.ca<\/a>  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Laura Doering, is an Associate Professor of Strategic Management and is cross-appointed in the Department of Sociology. As an economic sociologist, she examines how interactions and social psychological processes shape outcomes for households, organizations, and markets.\u00a0You can follow her on Twitter @Laura_B_Doerin<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jan Doering is an Assistant Professor of Sociology at the University of Toronto. His research is situated in two, sometimes overlapping areas: 1) social control and conflict in urban neighborhoods and 2) individual experiences and responses in relation to discrimination<\/em>. You can follow him on Twitter @jandoering<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Andr\u00e1s Tilcsik holds the Canada Research Chair in Strategy, Organizations, and Society and is a Professor of Strategic Management at the University of Toronto\u2019s Rotman School of Management. He also serves as the Deputy Editor of Administrative Science Quarterly. Tilcsik studies organizations, occupations, and work.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Reprinted with permission from Rotman School of Management That gender discrimination is wrong is beyond argument. But identifying which incidents are cases of it is not always so clear cut. That\u2019s why researchers are recommending that organizations develop processes that encourage workers to share their concerns when they suspect but aren\u2019t sure that they have experienced discriminatory treatment based on their gender. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2124,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3614","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/ccf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3614","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/ccf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/ccf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/ccf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2124"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/ccf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3614"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/ccf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3614\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3623,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/ccf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3614\/revisions\/3623"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/ccf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3614"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/ccf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3614"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/ccf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3614"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}