Unveiling the subtle nuances of gender bias in performance reviews, we delve into the language used and its implications. We explore how seemingly innocuous words can perpetuate stereotypes and hinder workplace equality, offering insights for a more balanced evaluation process.
Organizational Behavior
A new study pinpoints how and when managers’ beliefs about gender creep into their evaluations of workers
- Gender bias too often influences how supervisors rate employees, resulting in women having to meet a higher bar than their male colleagues to advance professionally
- If we want to get rid of biases, we need to look at the areas where biases are more likely – personality, potential, and who’s truly exceptional
How to Fix It?
Tying evaluations to performance, ensuring that the process is transparent, and holding managers accountable for reviews can reduce the likelihood of gender stereotypes influencing the process
- It’s also important to make sure managers have clear criteria for evaluating employees and that those criteria are applied consistently across all employees.
Ill-Defined Protocols Perpetuate Bias
A poorly defined evaluation process opens the door for gender biases to shape performance evaluations
- Managers perceive the same behaviors differently based on whether a man or woman engages in them
- If we want to get rid of biases, we need to look at the areas where biases are more likely
- Personality, potential, and who’s truly exceptional
- Women in male-dominated professions can’t simply “act like men” to get ahead, because doing so elicits a backlash
- Supervisors do notice when women behave in ways that conform to gender conventions but do not always reward women for these actions
- When women indirectly pursue a promotion by having someone higher up in the company advocate on their behalf, their chances of earning top ratings increase
Gender Biases Hurt Men Too
Although women clearly suffer when gender biases frame performance reviews, so do men.
- Men in the workplace who fail to take initiative or exude confidence are often perceived as being “too soft.”
- The researchers expect that regardless of a manager’s gender, these biases infiltrate the process when evaluation protocols lack clarity and transparency
