Feedback Primary Source Of Gender Bias In Workplace

In workplace feedback, women are more likely to be seen as coming on too strong, and their accomplishments attributed to the team rather than individual effort, according to new research from Stanford University’s Clayman Institute for Gender Research. The disparity in workplace assessment, the result of unconscious bias and just as likely to happen with female or male bosses, is holding women back in the workplace. “We hold women to a higher standard in evaluations, and women also tend to evaluate themselves to a higher bar,” said Caroline Simard, director of research at the Clayman Institute. The result is “cumulative disadvantage over a woman’s career over time, resulting in lower access to key leadership positions and stretch assignments, advancement, and pay,” she said. Men are three times more likely to get feedback linked to specific business outcome, and twice the number of references to their technical expertise. Women, on the other hand, got 2.5 times the number of comments about aggressive communication style, and two times the references to team accomplishments as opposed to individual contributions.