What Works for Women at Work: Four Patterns Working Women Need to Know

2. Spotting Prove-It-Again! Patterns

23 2 Spotting Prove-It-Again! Patterns People might not get all they work for in this world, but they must certainly work for all they get. — frederick douglass imagine the typical professional. What are they wearing? A suit? A tie? Do they have long hair or short hair? how do they act? Are they independent or attuned to others? Dominant or sensitive? Assertive or retiring? When they get angry, do they yell or cry? in other words, when you think of the typical professional, do you think of a man or a woman? if you’re like many Americans, your image of a successful professional is both male and masculine. think gordon gekko and his anger, think Don Draper and his arrogance, think Mark Zuckerberg (real or fictional) and his notorious lack of people skills. All three are men, all three are leaders, and all three are severely lacking in characteristics we think of as feminine, whether that means gentleness or modesty or empathy. the link between professional success and both maleness and masculinity has deep roots. When we look at Ceos, at law firm partners, or at engineers, we quite literally see men—because that’s who are in those positions. And in part because we get used to seeing men there, jobs higher in prestige are generally typed masculine, and most of us unconsciously link men with the idea of a successful professional.1 24 • Spotting Prove-It-Again! Patterns As a result, women tend to be evaluated less favorably than men. in practical terms, this pattern works in two ways: one is that women receive fewer opportunities than men do in the first place. the other is that even when they are given the chance to try, women’s work product may well be held to higher standards than men’s.2 Just over two-thirds (68 percent) of the women interviewed for this book reported Prove-it-Again! bias. one might assume that Prove-it-Again! would be much more common among women of color, who often trigger negative competence assumptions based on race as well as gender. but we found that women of color were only 4 percentage points more likely than white women to report Prove-it-Again! problems. this was the smallest gap we found; the gap was larger with respect to each of the three other patterns of bias. (this issue is discussed further in chapter 11.) the key principle underlying Prove-it-Again! bias is that information that supports preexisting stereotypes tends to be noticed Professor ben barres, Professor of neUrobiology at stanford “I was born a woman. Thirteen years ago, at the age of 40, I decided to change my sex. “By far, the biggest difference I have noticed is that people who do not know that I was a woman treat me with far more respect. I can even complete a whole sentence without being interrupted by a man. Some people even think that my research is better. Shortly after I changed sex, a faculty member was heard to say, ‘Ben Barres gave a great seminar today, but then his work is much better than his sister’s work.’ “And also, men tell me things that I don’t think they would have told me when I was Barbara. A neurosurgeon at Stanford told me that he has never met a woman surgeon who is remotely as good as a man. Another told me he thinks women are like small children. Many have told me that they think gender stereotypes are generally true.”a Spotting Prove-It-Again! Patterns • 25 and remembered, while information that contradicts them tends to be overlooked and soon forgotten.3 As a result, men have to prove their competence. Women have to prove it again—and again and again.4 Men Are Judged on Their Potential; Women Are Judged on Their Achievements Popular wisdom holds that one of the best ways to negotiate a higher salary is to be willing to move to a new company. this is true for men, who the nonprofit Catalyst found earned nearly $14,000 more if they were at their second post-MbA job than if they were at their first post-MbA job.5 no such advantage was found for women. Women who had worked at three or more companies since receiving their MbAs earned an average of $53,472 less than those who...