New study reveals the depth of unconscious gender bias in UK workplace culture.

UK workplace culture stalls women’s careers say three in four women and two in five men, according to a year-long study by Murray Edwards College, University of Cambridge, involving almost 6,000 UK employees.

The research into unintentional gender-biased behaviour in the workplace looked at how people view the strengths, attributes and potential of men and women and found it was not a simple issue. While few people are intentionally sexist, the study found that both men and women perpetuate gender double standards.

Almost three in four (74%) female employees believe their workplace culture makes it more challenging for women to advance their careers than men. Only 42% of men agreed, highlighting the gulf between the two sexes. The study also identified where the focus is needed to ensure equality of opportunity.

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Murray Edwards College released the findings as part of its Collaborating with Men programme. Delivered through research and workshops with large UK employers, the initiative enables employees across the genders to work together to solve cultural issues in their workplace. It was launched after a 2014 survey of the all-female College’s alumnae reported workplace culture issues to be a more significant barrier to career advancement than challenges relating to balancing work and family life.

Perhaps surprisingly, more senior women report more significant challenges to career progress. Half of senior female employees say their own workplace culture ‘often’ or ‘always’ presents career advancement challenges for women, compared with 36% of junior female employees.

The research also found that the culture of UK workplaces is especially failing women of colour. Over half (56%) of women from a Black, Asian and minority ethnic or mixed race background say their workplace culture ‘often’ or ‘always’ presents career advancement challenges for women. This compares to 48% of white females.

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The study explores seven key ways in which gender stereotypes and unintentionally exclusive behaviour can damage women’s career progression opportunities:

–       Women being judged more negatively when they behave in the same way as men

–       Men and women being evaluated differently due to stereotypes around strengths

–       Informal (social) networks that are important for decision-making being male-dominated

–       Men having more access to sponsorship from senior leaders

–       Women not always being credited for their contribution to meetings

–       “Benevolent sexism”, which is well-intentioned but still hinders promotion prospects

–       Women being interrupted in meetings.

Double standards at root of women’s career progression challenges

Women being judged more negatively for behaviours that male colleagues also exhibit is one of the key examples of gender bias for organisations to address, according to the research.

43% of female employees say they have directly experienced being judged more negatively than men for the same behaviour in the last 12 months.

Armstrong comments: “Both male and female employees acknowledge that in many workplaces men get away with behaving in ways that are not considered acceptable for women. Female anger is still particularly unpalatable – we saw that with the uproar about Serena Williams at the US Open. What is perceived as decisive and strong from men, can be caricatured as bossy or aggressive from a woman.”

More than half (53%) of women have seen these double standards affect other female colleagues in the last 12 months. Yet, only 18% of men have noticed this happening to female colleagues over the same year, suggesting that while many men are aware women face greater career progression challenges, they rarely notice how this manifests.

Crucially, the researchers found these double standards are perpetuated by female as well as male bosses. Well over half of the employees surveyed (55% of men and 59% of women) report personally being treated differently because of their gender by a female boss.

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Stereotypes lead to women losing out on challenging opportunities

According to the participants’ rankings, one of the other most important issues for UK employers to address is stereotypical views on men’s and women’s strengths. This is likely to lead to biased decisions when filling leadership positions.

Previous academic research has established that traits commonly valued in potential leaders such as ambition, a single-minded commitment to work and risk-taking are frequently associated with men. Today’s study found that these assumptions are perceived to affect women’s promotion into leadership positions.

According to two-thirds (64%) of female employees, stereotypical views about feminine traits, such as building good relationships, attention to detail and strong admin skills leads to them being perceived in their workplaces as good managers rather than good potential leaders. Only 29% of men believe this happens.

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“It’s moved the conversations we’re having away from blame and defensiveness towards a positive dialogue, with everyone creating the solutions together. We already have great gender equality policies and processes, but this is enabling us to think about our culture on a deeper level.”

“Gender inclusivity is not a ‘women’s issue’. To class it as such is unhelpful and masks the complexity of the issues, and the nuance required of interventions. Often solutions in the past have focussed on what women need to do to improve the situation. In truth, meaningful change can only occur when women and men work together to improve the workplace culture for all,” added Ghaboos.

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