Sexism at work is worse than we think
07/11/2018
Olivia Petter | independent.co.uk Even in 2018, prejudice towards women in powerful roles is widespread – but new research claims the problem is worse than statistics might indicate. While there have been numerous surveys conducted on the topic, a team of German professors claim these may not accurately represent the scale of the problem because people don’t give honest answers unless they’re guaranteed complete confidentiality. Gender stereotypes can have adverse effects on a woman’s progression in the workplace, and the study found that both sexes consider women less qualified for leadership positions than men. Adrian Hoffmann and Jochen Musch of the Heinrich-Heine-University Düsseldorf in Germany published their findings in Springer’s journal Sex Roles. Instead of conducting self-report surveys, which is how similar studies have been conducted in the past, they collected responses from 1,529 German students via an indirect questioning technique which offered people full anonymity. They did this so as to avoid people lying about their opinions on controversial topics in fear of not being socially accepted by others. The results revealed that 37 per cent of participants held prejudiced views towards women in powerful roles, compared to the 23 per cent as claimed by studies involving self-report surveys. |