We are accustomed to judging others by external data. And we also judge professional skills by a characteristic image. If you are asked to introduce a woman – the head of a large company, the image of a strict boss, a kind of man in a skirt, pops up before your eyes. Why do we associate masculinity with competence?
If we were to judge a person’s abilities by their outward appearance, we would find that competence and masculinity go hand in hand. This is confirmed by a study by scientists from Princeton University, published in the journal Psychological Science.
Competence image
The scientists first presented the participants with photographs of different faces and asked them to rate how capable the depicted people seemed to them. Based on their results, they developed a model that allowed them to manipulate photographs on a computer in such a way that people seemed more or less competent. So it was possible to form an image of competence.
A group of researchers went further and offered to evaluate the masculinity of people in photographs. The researchers found that traits assessed for competence were also named as signs of masculinity.
At the last stage of the experiment, the researchers changed the male and female faces on the computer so that they became even more masculine. As a result, a pattern was revealed: the more masculine the facial features were, the more competent people seemed to the viewer. But what’s interesting? female faces, which became as masculine as possible after computer processing, seemed less competent to the participants in the experiment.
Women are brought into leadership positions in times of crisis or when the company’s business deteriorates.
“The study shows catastrophic gender biases associated with our perception of others,” commented the author of the experiment, Dongwon Oh. “We believe that people with a masculine look, facial features are more competent, and this can influence our decisions and the choice of a leader.”
The scientists’ findings are part of a larger study that shows that leadership is still considered “male”. In our stereotypes, competence and masculinity are closely related, which was confirmed by the experiment. But, unfortunately, the perception of competence from the external data of a person does not always indicate real skills, Dongwon Oh says. Therefore, the next step for researchers will be to try to mitigate this perception effect.
By the way, women do have to overcome more obstacles to career and leadership than men. Women leaders are still in the minority. Only every twentieth board of directors of the largest German companies has at least one woman.
“Glass ceiling”
One of the important reasons is gender stereotypes: they persist and change very slowly. On the career ladder, women run the risk of hitting a glass ceiling or being promoted to managerial positions when the company is in trouble.
Michelle Ryan and Alex Haslam of the University of Exeter found that women are brought into leadership positions in times of crisis or when a company’s business is failing. Two business psychologists called their discovery “the glass cliff”: when a company struggles to survive, the chair wobbles and the risk of failure is especially high.
But why is it that the hotter it gets, the more female leaders are in demand? Are they capable of taking on a challenging leadership role? Or are men protecting themselves from a losing position by putting women at risk? There is no answer to this question, but researchers have learned that men in critical situations tend to downplay the problem or even question its existence.
Not only politicians and economists, but also psychologists are dealing with the well-known phenomenon that highly educated women often face insurmountable obstacles to their careers. The woman rests her head against the so-called “glass ceiling” and cannot move forward, despite her high professional qualities. But what is the reason for this?
Gender stereotypes
According to psychologists, gender stereotypes are mainly responsible for this: both men and women are not protected from them. Research has shown that both genders are increasingly conferring socially acceptable, caring traits on women. Women are socially recognized as helpful, compassionate, friendly, and collaborative. Men, on the other hand, are action-oriented, independent, ambitious and assertive.
When asked what a successful leader should be, the majority of respondents name precisely these traits that are characteristic of a “man in action”. Thus, the concept of leadership in our minds is closely related to “male” personality traits. In the English-speaking world, the phrase “think manager, think male” appeared, which means “Thinking about the manager, I think about men.”
Women take on about 70, and men – 30 percent of the total parental functions
“The idea of a typical man, a typical woman persists,” says social psychologist Melanie Steffens of the University of Koblenz-Landau. But sexism, which is often mentioned in the context of a career, is becoming less and less popular.
Sexism today works more subtly, openly denying discrimination against women. But at the same time, women themselves support “hidden” privileges. Behind the “knightly” attitude lies a paternalistic view: they say that men should take care of women and protect them.
Men who fall outside the social “norm” also face discrimination. Participants in a 2013 trial rated a man asking for 12 weeks of parental leave as more insecure and less ambitious.
But stereotypes don’t stay the same, they can change. “It’s a slow process,” explains Steffens. On the one hand, stereotypes are changing. On the other hand, full-time women still do most of the housework. Women take on about 70, and men – 30 percent of the total parental functions. And the “second shift” after work makes women experience a lack of time for communication and career growth. And this can make them refuse to perform their usual functions.
Source: spektrum.de