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公司每年在多元、公平和包容(DEI)方面投入数十亿美元。然而,专家预测,实现性别平等仍需要151年。更糟糕的是,最近的一份报告显示,多年来,从事领导岗位的女性人数首次出现下降。我们必须要承认,当今社会忽视了性别平等难题中的关键一环。
女性在领导岗位、任期和薪酬方面都落后于男性。在这个话题中,我们经常看到一种“我们对他们”的范式,即女性与男性对立。
就连我们的术语也强调这种观念。例如“玻璃天花板”和最近出现的企业领导阶梯中的“断裂的阶梯”,都指向限制女性职业发展的社会性别偏见。虽然破坏性的偏见依旧存在,但我们显然忽视了女性职场经历中的另外一个因素:女性之间不健康的动态关系。
在我的职业生涯中,我曾经在项目中遭到破坏,在开会时被排斥,还曾多次受到失去职位的威胁,但给我带来这些经历的并不是男性,而是女性。
一位女性领导曾提出要给我安排一个总监级别的职位(我已经在从事相关工作,但薪水没有增加)。我对此持怀疑态度,因为在与她共事的过程中我了解到,她每次这样说,接下来都会提出一个令人不舒服的要求。我很快意识到,为了换取对这个职位的正式认可,我需要同意一些条件,而这些条件在我看来会引发道德问题。
当我表达了我的担忧并拒绝了这次所谓的“晋升”时,她告诉我,我将不再被允许参加会议,我的其他活动也受到了限制。换句话说,“除非有人找我,否则我必须保持沉默。”
毋庸置疑,这段经历影响了我的心理健康和工作安全感。我最终选择了离职,但在其他地方又遭遇了类似的情况。
尽管“女性支持女性”的说法很受欢迎,但数据显示,我的经历并不罕见。一项调查发现,对于职场女性霸凌现象,有65%的霸凌者是女性。
男性可能会选择更公开或更直接的策略,但另外一项调查发现,女性往往会采取隐蔽或间接的霸凌行为,例如社交孤立、散播谣言或者施加同伴压力,以引发他人做出某种行为等,而公司很难发现和管理这种情况。
还有多项研究发现,女性之间的不良动态关系非常严重,以至于女性会考虑离职,这个问题让雇员和雇主都付出沉重代价。
尽管有这些严峻的统计数据,但在关于为什么公司高层女性较少的讨论中,很少会涉及到女性之间的动态关系。
让我们敞开心扉,进行一场更加平衡的对话,认识到男性和女性都需要努力,才能提高女性的领导地位。
“断裂的阶梯”出现的原因应该不分性别。作为女性,我们必须认识到我们对待彼此的方式,会影响有多少女性坚持下去并成为领导者。我们应该为彼此做得更好。
重要的是,单纯增加女性领导者的数量,并不能解决根深蒂固的问题,例如竞争或隐性性别偏见等。虽然人们认为从事高层岗位的女性,会倡议更多女性进入领导层,但数据却并没有完全反映出这一点。耶鲁大学(Yale)的一项研究显示,即使候选者履历相同,女性也会选择男性候选者,而不是选择同性。
女性可能认为,领导岗位数量有限,那些令人垂涎的岗位必然会引发竞争。公司应该鼓励女性高层提拔能胜任的基层女性。这可以确保女性不断晋升到领导层,又能减少对竞争的恐慌。
至于领导层级,许多公司采用垂直报告结构,即有一个人负责把关,直接向上级领导报告,以此类推。
首先,这会孤立高层领导者,使他们更难了解员工的实际经历。如果领导者不知道公司文化正在遭到破坏,他们就无法解决问题,因此问题变得更加普遍。
其次,研究显示65%的霸凌行为是自上而下的,因此报告结构不应该依赖员工与上司之间可能存在的不良人际关系。横向领导结构让员工有机会接触多位高层领导,以解决他们关心的问题。
对于领导岗位上的男女不平等问题,我们的传统看法忽视了一个重要部分,而这部分有强有力的证据作为证明。我们必须承认女性相互之间的影响,并通过赋能女性修复“断裂的阶梯”。(财富中文网)
本文作者凯瑟琳·普雷斯顿是一位主题演讲人、企业顾问、创业者和研究职场女性动态关系的专家。她面向科技、医疗等领域的团队、组织和领导者,就如何提高职场对女性的包容度提供指导,倡导人们了解女性在生活和事业中的独特经历。
译者:刘进龙
审校:汪皓
公司每年在多元、公平和包容(DEI)方面投入数十亿美元。然而,专家预测,实现性别平等仍需要151年。更糟糕的是,最近的一份报告显示,多年来,从事领导岗位的女性人数首次出现下降。我们必须要承认,当今社会忽视了性别平等难题中的关键一环。
女性在领导岗位、任期和薪酬方面都落后于男性。在这个话题中,我们经常看到一种“我们对他们”的范式,即女性与男性对立。
就连我们的术语也强调这种观念。例如“玻璃天花板”和最近出现的企业领导阶梯中的“断裂的阶梯”,都指向限制女性职业发展的社会性别偏见。虽然破坏性的偏见依旧存在,但我们显然忽视了女性职场经历中的另外一个因素:女性之间不健康的动态关系。
在我的职业生涯中,我曾经在项目中遭到破坏,在开会时被排斥,还曾多次受到失去职位的威胁,但给我带来这些经历的并不是男性,而是女性。
一位女性领导曾提出要给我安排一个总监级别的职位(我已经在从事相关工作,但薪水没有增加)。我对此持怀疑态度,因为在与她共事的过程中我了解到,她每次这样说,接下来都会提出一个令人不舒服的要求。我很快意识到,为了换取对这个职位的正式认可,我需要同意一些条件,而这些条件在我看来会引发道德问题。
当我表达了我的担忧并拒绝了这次所谓的“晋升”时,她告诉我,我将不再被允许参加会议,我的其他活动也受到了限制。换句话说,“除非有人找我,否则我必须保持沉默。”
毋庸置疑,这段经历影响了我的心理健康和工作安全感。我最终选择了离职,但在其他地方又遭遇了类似的情况。
尽管“女性支持女性”的说法很受欢迎,但数据显示,我的经历并不罕见。一项调查发现,对于职场女性霸凌现象,有65%的霸凌者是女性。
男性可能会选择更公开或更直接的策略,但另外一项调查发现,女性往往会采取隐蔽或间接的霸凌行为,例如社交孤立、散播谣言或者施加同伴压力,以引发他人做出某种行为等,而公司很难发现和管理这种情况。
还有多项研究发现,女性之间的不良动态关系非常严重,以至于女性会考虑离职,这个问题让雇员和雇主都付出沉重代价。
尽管有这些严峻的统计数据,但在关于为什么公司高层女性较少的讨论中,很少会涉及到女性之间的动态关系。
让我们敞开心扉,进行一场更加平衡的对话,认识到男性和女性都需要努力,才能提高女性的领导地位。
“断裂的阶梯”出现的原因应该不分性别。作为女性,我们必须认识到我们对待彼此的方式,会影响有多少女性坚持下去并成为领导者。我们应该为彼此做得更好。
重要的是,单纯增加女性领导者的数量,并不能解决根深蒂固的问题,例如竞争或隐性性别偏见等。虽然人们认为从事高层岗位的女性,会倡议更多女性进入领导层,但数据却并没有完全反映出这一点。耶鲁大学(Yale)的一项研究显示,即使候选者履历相同,女性也会选择男性候选者,而不是选择同性。
女性可能认为,领导岗位数量有限,那些令人垂涎的岗位必然会引发竞争。公司应该鼓励女性高层提拔能胜任的基层女性。这可以确保女性不断晋升到领导层,又能减少对竞争的恐慌。
至于领导层级,许多公司采用垂直报告结构,即有一个人负责把关,直接向上级领导报告,以此类推。
首先,这会孤立高层领导者,使他们更难了解员工的实际经历。如果领导者不知道公司文化正在遭到破坏,他们就无法解决问题,因此问题变得更加普遍。
其次,研究显示65%的霸凌行为是自上而下的,因此报告结构不应该依赖员工与上司之间可能存在的不良人际关系。横向领导结构让员工有机会接触多位高层领导,以解决他们关心的问题。
对于领导岗位上的男女不平等问题,我们的传统看法忽视了一个重要部分,而这部分有强有力的证据作为证明。我们必须承认女性相互之间的影响,并通过赋能女性修复“断裂的阶梯”。(财富中文网)
本文作者凯瑟琳·普雷斯顿是一位主题演讲人、企业顾问、创业者和研究职场女性动态关系的专家。她面向科技、医疗等领域的团队、组织和领导者,就如何提高职场对女性的包容度提供指导,倡导人们了解女性在生活和事业中的独特经历。
译者:刘进龙
审校:汪皓
Companies spend billions annually on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). However, experts predict that gender parity will lag for another 151 years. Worse, a recent report showed that, for the first time in years, the number of women in leadership is declining. It’s time to recognize society has overlooked a key piece of the gender parity puzzle.
Women trail men in leadership roles, workplace tenure, and compensation. Understandably, the conversation often assumes an us-versus-them paradigm in which women are pitted against men.
Even our terminology emphasizes this construct. Terms like the “glass ceiling” and, more recently, the “broken rung” in the corporate leadership ladder point the finger at society’s gender biases for limiting women’s professional advancement. While damaging biases still exist, we notably neglect to acknowledge another factor in women’s workplace experiences: unhealthy dynamics between women.
In my career, I’ve been undermined in projects, excluded from meetings, and threatened with loss of my position on multiple occasions, but not by men—by other women.
A female leader once offered me a director-level position (for work I was already doing, with no increase in pay). I was skeptical, as I had learned through working with her that an offer almost always precedes an uncomfortable ask. I quickly realized that, in exchange for official recognition in this role, I’d need to agree to terms that raised ethical questions in my mind.
When I expressed my concerns and subsequently declined this so-called “promotion,” she informed me that I would no longer be permitted in meetings and restricted my other activities. In other words, “Don’t speak unless spoken to.”
Needless to say, this experience impacted my emotional health and sense of safety in my job. I ultimately left this role but encountered similar dynamics elsewhere in other ways.
Despite the popular narrative that “women support women,” the data reflects that my experience isn’t uncommon. When considering female bullies in the workplace, one survey found women target women 65% of the time.
While men may opt for more overt or direct tactics, another survey found that women tend to engage in covert or indirect bullying, such as social isolation, spreading rumors, or peer pressure to elicit a behavior from someone, all of which can be difficult for organizations to detect and manage.
Multiple studies also found that toxic dynamics between women can be serious enough that women consider leaving their jobs, which poses an expensive problem for employees and employers alike.
Despite these stark statistics, dynamics between women are rarely (if ever) part of the discussion about why there are fewer women at the top of organizations.
Let’s open ourselves to a more balanced conversation that recognizes both men and women have work to do in elevating women to leadership roles.
The cause of the “broken rung” should be seen as gender-neutral. As women, we need to recognize that how we treat one another impacts how many of us stick around to rise in leadership. We should do better for one another.
Importantly, simply increasing the number of women in leadership doesn’t address deep-rooted issues, like competition or implicit gender bias. While it was thought that women in senior roles would advocate for the rise of other women entering leadership, the data doesn’t entirely reflect this. A Yale study demonstrated that women chose a male candidate over another woman, even when they had identical resumes.
Women may believe there are limited seats available at the leadership table, which inherently drives competition for those coveted spots. Company incentives should exist for senior-level women to promote qualified junior-level women. This ensures the continuous advancement of women into leadership while diminishing fears of competition.
As for leadership hierarchies, many organizations have vertical reporting structures, where a single person serves as the gatekeeper to the leader directly above them, and so on.
First, this isolates senior leadership, making it more difficult for them to understand their employees’ actual experiences. If a leader is unaware that the company culture is being undermined, they can’t address the problem and, therefore, it becomes more pervasive.
Second, since research shows that 65% of bullying occurs top-down, reporting structures shouldn’t rely on the potential for poor interpersonal dynamics between an employee and their supervisor. Lateral leadership structures provide employees with access to multiple senior-level leaders to address their concerns.
Our traditional approach to the disparity between women and men in leadership ignores an important part of the discussion that is strongly backed by evidence. It’s time to recognize women’s impact on one another—and empower them to fix the broken rung.
Kathryn Preston is a keynote speaker, corporate consultant, entrepreneur, and expert on dynamics between women in the workplace. She coaches teams, organizations, and leaders in tech, healthcare, and beyond on how to make workplaces more inclusive for women, advocating for awareness of the unique experiences women face in life and business.