How to beat gender stereotypes: learn, speak up and react
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Maude lavanchy.
“Life is not fair; get used to it.” The famous first rule of Bill Gates’s “ 11 rules you will never learn in school ” resonates with everybody, but probably more with women than men. According to the Global Gender Gap Index , 108 years are needed to close the global gender gap. While classical economic models predict that discrimination on the basis of characteristics such as gender should naturally disappear thanks to competition, reality seems to tell a different story.
The lack of women in male-dominated and high-paying industries such as STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) is often cited as a critical factor behind the gender gap. Even though girls perform as well as boys in math and science standardized tests at school , fewer women consider a professional career in these fields. Women seem to face different hurdles that have little to do with their abilities. Gender stereotypes are one of them.
What are gender stereotypes?
While men are generally portrayed as having agency characteristics such as competence, achievement-orientation, inclination to take charge, autonomy and rationality, women are associated with communal characteristics such as concern for others, affiliation tendencies, deference and emotional sensitivity. These characteristics are not only different, they tend to be oppositional: lay people on average believe that men should not be excessively warm (communal) and that women should not be excessively dominant (agency). Research on these generalizations has been extensive and shows they are consistent across culture, time and context.
Stereotypes often serve as shortcuts for forming impressions of people and guide our decisions, without people being completely aware of it. Gender preconceptions have important consequences for the workplace. Here are some examples:
• No credit where credit is due
Whenever women are working with men on male gender-typed tasks, men are more likely to be credited for joint successes and women are more likely to be blamed for joint failures. These negative performance expectations can only be overturned when the woman’s individual contribution is unquestionable, or her task competence is very high.
• Men are promoted on potential, women are promoted for proven performance
Research shows that women are held to stricter standards for promotion: promoted women have higher performance ratings than promoted men, and performance ratings are more strongly related to promotions for women than for men.
• The backlash effect: competent but bossy and unlikeable
When women counter their stereotype and break expectations about how they “should” behave, they pay the cost: dominant women are perceived as less likeable and less hireable than men. A 2016 survey of more than 30,000 employees found that women who negotiated for promotions were 30% more likely than men to be labelled intimidating, bossy or aggressive.
The paradox: defy or conform?
When women conform to gender stereotypes (e.g. by showing emotional sensitivity and concern for others), they are likely to be perceived as less competent. But, if they defy these stereotypes and behave “like a man” (e.g. by showing dominance, ambition and rationality), they will be penalized by a backlash effect. Successful women in male gender-typed fields are well aware of this effect. Speaking at the American Economic Association’s annual meeting in January, Susan Athey, a world-renowned economist, said “ I spent all my time hoping that no one would remember I was female. ”
Men, too, can be penalized when they do not conform to these gender stereotypes. A recent study found that the gender of the initial role occupant (a microcredit loan manager in this case) was enough to influence the authority enjoyed by future individuals in that role. In other words, when a borrower was paired with a female manager, he/she gender-typed the role as a female-typed role and was less compliant than if he/she was initially paired with a male manager. This bias remains even after being subsequently managed by the other gender (ie a male manager in our example).
Stereotypes harm us all
Stereotypes are entrenched beliefs perpetuated by both men and women, present in our minds since childhood . Anybody can easily fall into this trap. Curious? You can test your unconscious association between gender and science/arts by taking the Gender-Career Implicit Association Test . Seventy percent of people who took this test across 34 countries associated science as being more male than female.
Unfortunately, anti-discrimination legislation, codes of conduct, diversity criteria or legal actions can’t fight this more subtle form of discrimination . You can’t sue your boss for consciously or unconsciously believing that you don’t have what it takes to succeed.
The ball is in our court
Raising awareness of these challenges alone is insufficient. To change mindsets, women should do three things:
1. Learn – because knowledge is power
Have you ever had the feeling of having been ripped off by your repair shop? If yes, you are not alone. A research paper found that auto-repair shops alter their price quotes depending on how informed callers appear to be about prices. When callers signaled that they had no idea about what the repair should cost, women were quoted a higher price than men. But these gender differences disappeared when a benchmark price was indicated.
This example illustrates how a single piece of information could help reduce any gender-related price discrimination (and might also start changing car mechanics’ expectations about women). Interestingly, the study also found that repair shops were more likely to offer a lower price if asked by a woman than by a man. So, informed women ended up having an advantage over men.
The #SheCANics movement is a powerful example of empowering women through awareness, education and support.
2. Move confidently into male-dominated areas and speak up
Let’s be honest: stereotypes won’t disappear unless people understand they are harmful. Women in male-dominated environments can help raise awareness. Role models play a crucial role in promoting gender equality and fighting gender stereotypes (e.g. Billie Jean King in sport, Sheryl Sandberg’s Lean In initiative and the #banbossy campaign ). Even advertisers are moving into this space and are starting to actively address women (eg Gillette’s ad “ The Best Men Can Be ” or Serena Williams’ Bumble commercial ).
3. Prepare to react
Women should anticipate and prepare to react to inappropriate or discriminating comments. For example, when the American celebrity Lauren Conrad was asked on radio “What is your favorite position?”, she briefly paused and replied “CEO”.
While such questions or comments were acceptable in the past, it is our role today to make sure they will no longer be tolerated. Those perpetuating gender stereotypes should bear the consequences of such behaviour. A recent example is Martin Solveig’s apology after making a sexist comment during the Ballon d’Or ceremony . We must accept that biases exist, own them and retrain our brains to overcome them . Life might not be fair, but we can do something about it.
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Preventing Gender Bias
- Posted November 29, 2018
- By Leah Shafer
Despite gains in gender equality, ingrained biases about males and females still exist — and can have grave consequences. Stubborn beliefs cultivated from an early age such as “girls are bad at math,” “girls are better at cooking,” or “boys don’t cry,” pave the way to sobering statistics about the number of female leaders in business and politics, and disturbing truths about the frequency of sexual harassment.
By talking about gender biases early, parents can blaze a trail toward equity long before girls and boys are engaging in romantic relationships, choosing college majors, or entering the workforce. Here, we provide tips for parents to deconstruct gender stereotypes and prevent bias . These strategies come from developmental psychologist Richard Weissbourd and Leaning Out: Teen Girls and Leadership Biases , a report from Making Caring Common at the Harvard Graduate School of Education.
To Create a Bias-Free Home
- Check your own biases. Be mindful of the language you use, the way you treat people of different genders, and even the perspectives you hold on your own abilities and traits.
- Have open discussions at home about the way chores are divided up. Set expectations that both kids and adults are expected to have a turn at everything: cooking, cleaning, yardwork, and taking out the trash.
- Ask children for their feedback about these family practices. Do they think boys and girls are being held to the same expectations? Are parents dividing work up equally — and if not, do kids understand why?
- Provide children of both genders with books and movies that feature nontraditional gender roles. Talk about female politicians, athletes, and scientists, and male teachers, dancers, and homemakers.
- Encourage kids to try all types of extracurricular activities, and talk about why they might feel more comfortable in some pastimes than in others. Help them distinguish whether they enjoy an activity because they’re surrounded by people like them, or because of the activity itself.
To Teach Kids about Gender Bias
- Show children how biases and gender expectations have changed over time. Share times when you felt you were treated unfairly. Invite them to interview a grandparent or older person of a different generation. Ask kids to think: Has our country changed its expectations of men and women? What challenges do women still face today?
- Talk to kids about the stereotypes they encounter at school, on television, or while shopping. When you both see or hear something degrading, ask kids to interpret it. Do they find it harmful? Unsurprising? Explain to kids how stereotypes can be so ingrained in our society that we don’t always notice them.
- Explain the importance of listening to and appreciating both genders as matter of basic decency. Ask kids to think about what might be challenging about being a person of another gender, or a person who is transgender. Work on developing empathy. “Perhaps nothing more commonly erodes children’s capacity to care and to lead efforts to promote equality and justice than the biases they hold and confront in others,” write the authors of Leaning Out.
Tips for Boys, Specifically
- Intervene immediately when you hear boys making demeaning comments about girls. Explain why some common words and phrases used to describe girls are offensive.
- Help boys understand that it is their responsibility to stand up for girls and counteract stereotypes, and brainstorm strategies for them to use when they hear a friend make a degrading comment.
- Encourage boys to talk about their feelings and worries, and praise them for expressing empathy and care.
Tips for Girls, Specifically
- Make it clear to girls that they can and should be leaders — in the classroom, in clubs and sports, and in their careers. Offer opportunities for them to practice public speaking, give and receive feedback, make decisions for themselves, and collaborate with diverse groups.
- Talk to girls about what worries or scares them about being a leader, and discuss strategies for dealing with disapproval or criticism.
- Familiarize girls with female leaders in politics, business, and STEM fields.
- Support girls’ involvement in activities that can build their confidence. Ensure that they have multiple sources of self-worth that don’t involve their physical appearance. Remind them that they deserve respect from those around them.
Additional Resources
- Making Caring Common’s full report on teen girls and leadership bias.
- Strategies for educators on reducing and preventing gender bias.
- Advice for parents on reducing and preventing misogyny and sexual harassment.
- Teaching Tolerance's lessons on female identity and gender expectations.
- Teaching Tolerance's lessons on exploring gender bias.
Illustration by Wilhelmina Peragine
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Gender Discrimination 101: Meaning, Examples, Ways to Take Action
Every day around the world, gender discrimination impacts girls, women, and anyone who doesn’t fit into society’s idea of what a “man” and “woman” should be. Discrimination threatens a person’s access to career opportunities, good healthcare, housing, justice, safety and much more. In this article, we’ll explore the basics of gender discrimination, including what it means, what it can look like and how you can take action to end it.
Gender discrimination is the unjust and unequal treatment of individuals and groups based on gender. It primarily affects girls and women, but because it’s based on restrictive gender norms and prejudices, it hurts everyone. The gender pay gap, job segregation and gender-based violence are just a few examples of gender discrimination.
What is gender discrimination?
Gender discrimination is the act of giving unequal rights, treatment and opportunities to a person or a group based on their gender. Anyone can be the target of gender discrimination, but girls and women are primarily affected. As the “inferior sex,” the needs and interests of girls and women have been systematically oppressed and dismissed for centuries. Entrenched prejudices, restrictive gender norms and institutionalized discrimination have led to widespread gender inequality.
Gender discrimination impacts every area of society. According to the UN, there are 122 women aged 25-34 living in extreme poverty, compared to every 100 men from the same age group. In power and leadership, there are wide gaps. The next generation of women will spend, on average, 2.3 more hours every day on unpaid work and domestic work compared to men. On a global level, women hold only 26.7% of seats in parliament, 35.5% in local government and 28.2% in management positions. Without increased investments and commitment to gender equality, it could take the world about 300 years to achieve gender parity.
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What can gender discrimination look like?
Gender discrimination is a multifaceted system of oppression touching every area of society. Here are seven examples of what it can look like:
Paying someone less because of their gender
Around the world, women are paid less than men for doing comparable work. In the United States, the gender pay gap has changed very little even as the problem gets increased attention. According to Pew Research, women earned about 80% as much as men in 2002, while in 2022, they earned 82% . That same year, the World Bank found that out of 178 countries, just 95 protect equal pay for equal work. Gender discrimination also factors into how certain types of work are undervalued. Returning to the United States as an example, research from the Economic Policy Institute found that 2.2 million domestic workers are underpaid, three times as likely to live in poverty than other workers and unprotected by labor laws. 90.2% of those domestic workers were women, specifically Black, Hispanic, or Asian American and Pacific Islander women.
Segregating types of work based on gender
The prevalence of women in underpaid and unprotected domestic work is an example of gendered job segregation. Job segregation leads to male domination in fields like engineering and construction, while women tend to fill jobs in domestic work, nursing, teaching and other “feminine” careers. Employers rarely say they only want men or women applying to certain jobs, but discrimination takes many forms. In a report on the “glass ceilings” women encounter in business, the International Labour Organization describes how gender bias , which affects how women and men are viewed, leads to men getting more responsibility and promotions over women. This applies even when men and women have similar skills and experience. According to the Center for American Progress, when a marginalized group – like women – is overrepresented in a job field, it leads to reduced wages and worse working conditions for everyone in that field.
Purposely misgendering someone
Cisgender women and girls aren’t the only people affected by gender discrimination. Trans people, which includes trans women, trans men, non-binary people and others, are often targeted. Intentional misgendering is just one form of discrimination. What does it mean? Misgendering is when a person uses the wrong pronoun for someone, e.g. calling someone “she” when they use “he/him” pronouns. When someone is repeatedly corrected and still insists on using the wrong pronoun, that’s discrimination. Whether or not misgendering breaks a law depends on where you live. In Canada, the Ontario Human Rights Code added protection for gender identity and expression in 2012. The law now recognizes misgendering as a form of discrimination, especially in areas covered by the Code, like employment, housing and educational services.
Discriminating against someone for becoming pregnant
According to global data from 2021, 38 out of 190 economies don’t protect women from being fired for being pregnant. Even in places that do provide legal remedies, the discrimination continues, but it’s more subtle. The United States has three federal laws that protect job applicants and employees, but in a 2019 New York Times article, journalists found that some of the country’s biggest companies were engaging in discrimination. Pregnant women were passed over for promotions and raises, and fired when they complained. In jobs that included physical labor, like lifting heavy boxes, pregnant women were not given reasonable accommodations like rest or extra water. Because pregnancy primarily impacts women, pregnancy discrimination is a form of gender discrimination that limits job opportunities, access to justice and so on.
Sexually harassing someone in the workplace
Everyone deserves a safe workplace free from discrimination. Unfortunately, work is often a place where people’s rights are threatened. According to a global analysis, almost 23% of people experience physical, psychological or sexual violence and harassment at work. Women are more likely to share their experiences than men and more likely to report sexual harassment, but regardless of a person’s gender, harassment in the workplace is discrimination. Because many people never report the harassment they’ve faced, the true numbers are likely much higher. Protections vary by country, but in the United States, harassment can include requests for sexual favors, making unwanted sexual remarks and making unwelcome sexual advances. The law also defines harassment as “offensive remarks about a person’s sex.” It doesn’t need to be overtly sexual. Sexual harassment can involve anyone, including two people of the same gender.
Ending gender discrimination is critical to achieving gender equality. Check out this article on what gender equality is.
Limiting educational opportunities because of gender
Whether or not someone gets a good education has a huge impact on the rest of their life. According to the World Bank, every extra year of schooling results in a 9% increase in hourly earnings , while it also improves economic growth, innovation and social cohesion. Girls have historically been restricted from educational opportunities, but while there’s been significant progress, the gap isn’t closed yet. UNICEF estimates that about 129 million girls aren’t in school. Strict gender norms about girls, motherhood, and work factor into why many girls aren’t educated, but conflict, poor hygiene and sanitation at schools, and poverty are responsible, too. Discrimination isn’t always intentional, but when girls and women are the ones primarily not getting an education, it still counts.
Inflicting violence based on gender
Gender-based violence is the most deadly form of gender discrimination. According to the World Health Organization, 1 in 3 women around the world experience physical and/or sexual violence, usually inflicted by an intimate partner. The intentional murder of women and girls, known as “femicide,” is prevalent globally. 2022 marked the highest number of total intentional femicides. Transgender and gender-nonconforming people are also targeted. In 2023, the Human Rights Campaign Foundation reported yet another year of disproportionate killings of trans people . Most victims were young people of color, specifically Black trans women. Accurate numbers are hard to come by as killings are underreported. Misgendering by police and the media also makes it hard to identify victims.
How can you take action against gender discrimination?
Gender discrimination may feel embedded in society, but we can take action against it. Here are three ways:
Create safe spaces where people can talk about gender discrimination
It’s difficult to get a full picture of gender discrimination because talking about it is still so stigmatized. In some places, talking about topics like workplace harassment, sexual assault and intimate partner violence can put people’s jobs and even physical safety in jeopardy. One of the best things you can do is create and protect spaces where it’s safe to talk about discrimination. These spaces empower people to share their stories, support each other, collaborate and build networks that make real change in their communities. Spaces like survivor groups, internet safety classes, self-defense classes and so on can be good forums.
Support women’s organizations
Many governments are working to improve gender equality, but their current efforts aren’t enough. There are many NGOs around the world addressing poverty, children’s rights, LGBTQ+ rights, women’s rights and other issues that connect to gender discrimination. You can support these organizations by donating money, volunteering your time, sharing campaigns or applying for jobs. If you’re interested in establishing your own NGO focused on gender discrimination, here’s our article on how to start an NGO .
Increase leadership and economic opportunities for women
The gap between male and female leadership, economic and political opportunities is still quite wide. You can take action by focusing your efforts on things that empower girls and women, such as education, healthcare, mentorship and training, childcare, workplace protections and so on. When women are empowered, everyone benefits, including men, families and children. To learn more about women’s empowerment, check out this list of eight classes available online.
Need more ideas on how to stop gender discrimination? Check out our article here.
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