Sex Discrimination on the Job

sex discriminationSex discrimination is a pervasive problem in America. Over 40% of female workers indicate that they have experienced on-the-job discrimination due to their gender. This discrimination occurs regardless of experience, education, or age. Bias and discrimination in the workplace occur in a number of ways, and include a range of unacceptable behaviors, such as: 

  • Lesser earnings than male counterparts for essentially the same work;
  • Being treated as incompetent;
  • Being subjected to seemingly insignificant slights on a regular basis;
  • Getting less support from superiors;
  • Being overlooked when it came to promotions or projects;
  • Being denied job positions all together.

Consider the case of a California woman who attempted to make telecommuting  work, only to experience sex discrimination from her employer: 

When Drisana Wallace was let go from her position as an account executive at the insurance firm HUB due to a reduction in staff, she suspected the company was playing fast and fancy with the facts. She quickly filed a lawsuit against the company detailing her experience and claiming bias and sex discrimination were the real reasons behind her termination. 

Pandemic Accommodations 

Due to the pandemic, Wallace was allowed to perform duties from her home in San Diego.  According to her claim, her supervisor, Daniel Kabban, had a number of complaints about her job performance. In particular, Kabban did not appreciate the fact that Wallace was caring for two young children at home while working, one of whom was still nursing. Despite her best efforts to manage all of the demands of her busy schedule, including working at night when the children were asleep, Wallace fielded complaints from her employer that sometimes her children could be heard in the background on phone calls. Wallace contacted human resources in an attempt to get direction on how to deal with the situation, and was advised that the company anticipated that their managers would deal with situations with more flexibility. She felt better, but not for long.

According to Wallace, Kabban continued to schedule calls for her during times when her children were active, making it impossible to keep them from being heard. Sometimes he assigned her tasks that were on an expedited turnaround schedule, and he was displeased when she was unavailable to accept them. Wallace accuses Kabban of repeated sexist comments, and asserts that fathers who worked from home were not held to the same standard that she was.

When she contacted HR again, she was laid off. She believes the company is hiding behind the pandemic to justify getting rid of an employee who required some basic scheduling accommodations that any man would have been granted without a second thought.  [Read more…]

Sex Bias in Employee Performance Evaluations?

sex biasThe sex bias referred to in this article may actually surprise you. Sometimes it is difficult to know precisely what is expected in the workplace. You would think that performance evaluations are generally a good indicator of just how well you are performing.  Unless they are not. 

The Sex Bias Study

Researchers studied supervisor responses to essays written by an unknown author. They then were asked to judge the writing on several criteria, with essays appearing to have been written by either Sarah or Andrew. When supervisors assumed the work was done by a female, truthful remarks were rendered less than 10% of the time. In contrast, when essays were presumed to have been written by males, truthful comments were given in more than 90% of cases. In fact, females were given feedback that consisted of outright lies in two-thirds of cases, compared to just 33% of males being given similar feedback.

Why it Happens

Are supervisors acting with ill-will with regard to their female employees? One strategist from a California-based consulting firm believes bosses tend to water-down reviews for female employees in an attempt to salvage relationships and preserve feelings. Females are viewed as less capable of taking hard truths, so employers lean toward soft-selling difficult information. Despite best intentions, it is extremely harmful to women in the workplace.

Why it Matters

It turns out that generally speaking, supervisors give women more positive feedback than they give their male counterparts, and it is often much less honest. Why does it matter? If you are not getting the constructive criticism you deserve from your boss, chances are it will impact your ability to progress and move up the ladder. This formerly unstudied issue has likely led to restricted access in the workplace for women across careers simply because they are not made aware of the shortcomings in their daily performance. In fact, it could be viewed as a form of gender discrimination.

A number of studies indicate that, although females receive fewer negative comments related to their work, and more praise, they are also given significantly fewer resources with which to perform their jobs. Certainly, the connection between feedback and being allocated the means to do a job well are a real problem. 

Meaningful Feedback Matters

Researchers note that all employees, regardless of gender, deserve to be given accurate feedback.  Positive, but untrue comments about a woman’s performance in the workplace are a serious problem, whether or not they are benign in delivery.   [Read more…]

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