Sexism Flashcards
Woman Score Higher Than Men in Most Leadership Skills - Harvard Business Review
Women in Leadership Effectiveness: Research from 360-degree reviews shows that women in leadership are perceived as just as effective, if not more, than men. Women scored higher in 84% of leadership competencies, such as resilience, integrity, and initiative.
Corporate Leadership: Only 4.9% of Fortune 500 CEOs and 2% of S&P 500 CEOs are women. The percentage of women in top leadership roles has remained stagnant, and is even declining globally.
Status Quo Bias in Hiring: Studies found that when at least two women or minorities are among a pool of finalists, their chances of being hired significantly increase. The odds of hiring a woman are 79.14 times greater, and for minorities, 193.72 times greater, if there are at least two finalists from these groups.
Self-Assessment Gap: Women tend to rate themselves lower in leadership ability compared to men, especially under the age of 25. By age 40, confidence levels between genders converge, and women’s confidence surpasses men’s after age 60.
Hiring Bias: Unconscious bias plays a significant role in hiring decisions. For example, if 96 out of 100 people in similar roles are men, decision-makers may perceive it as safer to promote a man over a woman, even if both candidates are equally qualified.
We see a similar trend in women’s perceptions of their overall leadership effectiveness, with their rating rising as they get older. This data is from a study that includes 40,184 men and 22,600 women and measures the overall effectiveness rating of males and females on 49 unique behaviors that predict a leaders effectiveness. Again, women at younger ages rate themselves significantly lower than men but their ratings climb — and eventually supersede those of men — as they get older. This data continues to reinforce our observations from our previous research — women make highly competent leaders, according to those who work most closely with them — and what’s holding them back is not lack of capability but a dearth of opportunity. When given those opportunities, women are just as likely to succeed in higher level positions as men.
