In the words of retired consultant psychiatrist Rafa Euba: “Mistrust of and prejudice toward women has unfortunately been a constant throughout human history.”
Although in recent decades progress has been made towards achieving political, economic and cultural equality between the sexes, disparities still exist. Women may have fought for and won various rights (such as access to education and paid work, property rights, and voting rights), but harmful views and biases continue to prevail, even in subtler ways.
In this article, we’ll talk about sexism in the workplace: what it looks like, what effects it has on individuals and organizations, and what can be done to combat it.
What is sexism?
In simple terms, sexism refers to the process of making assumptions about a person solely based on their sex, whether consciously or unconsciously. These assumptions can translate into behaviors, influencing the way we interact with others, which, left unchecked, can become hurtful or even harmful.
In the workplace, sexism can manifest in different ways, all of which are characterized by the unequal treatment of the sexes. For example, right now in the US:
- Women educated at bachelor’s level earn 28.4% less than men who hold the same qualification and do the same work, according to the US Census Bureau.
- Only 8% of CEO positions in the S&P 500 are held by women.
- Nearly 8 in 10 reported cases of workplace harassment are filed by women, according to EEOC.
The effects of sexism in the workplace
Sexism in the workplace can have a negative impact on both workers and the organizations that employ them. Let’s talk about five of these undesirable effects:
It perpetuates harmful stereotypes
In workplaces where biases and microaggressions (or full-on aggressions) are left unaddressed, men and women can have a hard time deviating from the behaviors that are expected from them and behaving genuinely.
For example, if the general (unspoken) consensus is that being kind equals being weak (and therefore unsuitable for managerial positions), male leaders may be reluctant to show empathy, which can seriously harm their team’s morale.
It harms people’s wellbeing
Discrimination and mistreatment can be harmful to a person’s mental health. This in turn can manifest in physical symptoms, too.
According to a paper published in the American Sociological Association: “Among women, exposure to more sexism at the macro and meso levels is associated with more chronic conditions, worse self-rated health, and worse physical functioning.”
It harms employee productivity
A company that fails to prioritize employee equity in its practices cannot expect to maintain a healthy work environment and retain all of its best talent.
When employees are treated unfairly, their job satisfaction, sense of belonging and engagement dwindle. Combined with the negative effects that discrimination can have on people’s mental and physical health, this can lead to a significant dip in productivity.
It stops people from reaching their full potential
According to a study by Danielle Li, associate professor at MIT Sloan, women are 14% less likely to be promoted than men. This holds true even in the many cases where women outperform their male colleagues and show higher loyalty to their employers.
When biases dictate who gets the chance to evolve professionally, and an employee’s performance, character and commitment are not enough to sway that decision, people are unable to fully utilize the breadth of their ability and potential.
It harms businesses’ financial performance
According to a Moody’s Analytics report, “the underutilization of women in the workforce [...] causes an economic loss at the individual and macroeconomic levels. Bridging the gender gap in management positions and raising women in the workforce to their potential would raise productivity and economic output across the globe.”
If you’re wondering how much money that would boost the global economy by, the answer is $7 trillion dollars.
Examples of sexism at work
Sexism can manifest itself in many ways, some subtle and others not so much. Some examples of this form of discrimination at work include:
1. Condescending remarks
Condescending language is a type of microaggression that people experience in the workplace (sadly all too often). Where a person’s sex or gender is concerned, these remarks typically hint at disbelief around a person’s competence.
For example, this can take on the form of a manager overexplaining things to a female employee or stepping in to provide assistance even when it’s not required.
Although there’s nothing inherently wrong about going out of your way to help someone, doing it only with a particular group of people can be problematic, especially when there is no need for it.
2. Sexist “jokes”
Much like patronizing remarks, insults “disguised” as jokes are another type of microaggression. (“Disguised” has been placed in quotation marks here because those who become the brunt of such humor can tell when the intention behind it is, in fact, malicious.)
3. Stereotyping
Stereotyping refers to having (often unfair) beliefs about people based on a characteristic of theirs such as sex, race or religion. In the workplace, this can look like being handed a particular task because you’re a woman — such as decorating the office for Christmas.
Of course, it’s not just women who find themselves faced with preconceived, false views. As far as stereotyping goes, men are certainly no more immune. This, sadly, can create exclusion and a lack of unity within teams.
4. Gender labeling
Gender labeling is when people feel the need to specify the gender of a person they are talking about for no essential reason. For example, this can sound like “female CEO” when talking about a leader who happens to be a woman.
Unless you’re talking about a listicle on America’s top-paid female CEOs, let’s say, there is no real need to specify gender, as all it does is create an unnecessary distinction between female leaders and “plain”, prefix-free leaders — which, in this case, would be men.
5. Missed promotions
With female employees being likelier to get passed over for promotions, as mentioned previously, women can end up advancing their careers a lot less compared to their male colleagues.
This can lead to losing a significant amount of money over the course of a person’s career, as well as missing out on learning new things and taking on additional responsibilities.
Women of color in particular are “the least likely demographic to get promoted from entry-level to first-time manager”, according to a McKinsey & Co study.
6. Gender pay gap
As touched upon earlier, women and men are often not compensated equally for carrying out the same type of work. The International Labor Organization states that, on average, women around the world earn approximately 20% less than men, although the percentage varies greatly across different regions.
The Center for American Progress reports that “women of color experience persistent economic inequality in part because they have the largest gaps in wages when compared with their male counterparts”.
7. Pregnancy and maternity discrimination
The World Economic Forum points out that 80% of the gender pay gap is due to what’s known as the “motherhood penalty”. As mothers are often the ones who step away from the workforce to raise their children, their incomes are slashed, dropping after childbirth and remaining low in years to come.
Although federal laws in the US prohibit pregnancy discrimination in the hiring process, many countries around the world have no such rules.
8. Hiring discrimination
A survey of over 1,000 female participants by The Muse and Recruitment Marketing showed that 42% of women encounter gender-based or otherwise inappropriate questions during interviews. Another 38% reported that they have hesitated applying for a role in the past due to perceived gender bias. (Not all job advertisements are written using inclusive language, sadly!)
These statistics indicate a clear need to educate hiring managers and business owners on recognizing and addressing unconscious bias.
9. Unequal representation in leadership
According to a UN report, women hold an estimated 24% of managerial roles around the globe. Underrepresentation, regardless of context, can cause people to feel invisible, reinforcing harmful stereotypes about who belongs where.
10. Sexual harassment
Sadly, anyone, regardless of gender can become a victim of harassment. According to the National Institutes of Health, sexually harassing behaviors include unsolicited touching and nonverbal dominance (for example, facial expressions that cause someone to feel unsafe or intruded upon).
The medical research center also points out that:
- Women are more likely to be sexually harassed than men and to experience sexual harassment at higher frequencies.
- Women with multiple marginalities (like women of color and gender-minority women) experience certain kinds of harassment at greater rates than other women.
How to combat sexism at work
Below, we’ll outline five ways of combating sexism at work, so that no one, regardless of gender, feels belittled, criticized or marginalized.
1. Educate yourself
Familiarizing yourself with the various issues that people can face in the workplace because of their sex or gender is a good way to ensure that you identify incidents when they happen. As we’ve seen, prejudice can present itself in subtle (yet still harmful) ways, so it’s important to know what you should be looking out for.
2. Call people out
Whether it's you or a colleague that experiences microaggressions or otherwise unfair treatment, it’s not a good idea to stay silent. Although it can be intimidating to stand your ground and confront someone for their behavior, failing to do so will only encourage that person to repeat the same patterns.
Though it’s a good idea to avoid personally attacking them, let them know that you will not tolerate such behavior or remarks under any circumstances.
If a colleague who is generally kind and well-meaning accidentally makes an offensive comment, it may be useful to try and calmly explain why that’s not okay. Although it’s not your personal responsibility to educate those around you (there is an abundance of information on all sorts of issues readily available on the internet), it’s good to give people a chance if their behavior does not appear intentionally malicious.
3. Report incidents
If you call someone out and they keep repeating the same patterns, regardless, you will want to consider speaking to your manager or boss, or someone from your HR department if your company has one.
When doing so, review your employee handbook for any policies that might be relevant to reporting offensive or discriminatory incidents, and follow the procedures outlined there to ensure that your complaint reaches the right person as quickly as possible.
The other thing you will want to ensure is that you are keeping written records of all the details regarding an incident. Your notes should be clear, specific, and as objective as possible, including the full names and departments of those involved, as well as where and when the incident happened.
4. Take action with others
Encouraging your colleagues (especially the ones you have formed a closer bond with) to “team up” with you in an effort to hold people accountable for their actions can be a great way to bring about change in the workplace.
After all, several voices are always going to be louder than one. Not to mention how standing alongside others can make calling people out and reporting incidents less intimidating.
5. Trust your instinct
Sometimes, when people are called out for something they have done, they might try to deny or downplay the effect that it had on others.
No one really likes to be seen as the “bad guy” — especially if what they did unintentionally caused harm. However, if you find yourself treated unfairly (and you know that what you experienced was unacceptable), hold your ground.
If you confront others and report incidents to no avail, with colleagues and managers downplaying or dismissing what you are saying, it might be worth considering moving on to a more supportive, inclusive team elsewhere.
Key takeaways
Although women today undoubtedly have rights and access to opportunities that, until fairly recently, they did not, the workplace can still appear like an obstacle course. That’s what makes educating ourselves and those around us, and taking collective action, so important.
To wrap up on everything we talked about:
- Sexism can be just as harmful to men as to women, as it perpetuates harmful stereotypes that reduce individuals to mere caricatures.
- Black, Indigenous, Hispanic, Asian and other women of color are likelier to experience sexism and other forms of discrimination.
- Confronting sexism at work becomes easier through unity.
- When reporting incidents, follow any guidelines provided by your employer to ensure the case reaches the right person at the right time.
Have you ever encountered sexism or other forms of discrimination in the workplace? How did you handle it, and what was the outcome? Let us know in the comments section below.
This article is a complete update of an earlier version originally published on November 23, 2017.