Organizational Structures that Hurt Women's Relationships

Today at the Harvard Business School's Gender & Work Symposium there were several talks addressing how aspects of organizational structure and culture affect women's relationships with one another and their tendency to embrace or distance themselves from their identity as women.

Few Women at the Top

Robin Ely presented her dissertation research on White professional women in large law firms in which she asked: Does it matter how many women are in senior ranks for the relationships among women lower down in the organization? She expected there to be more supportive peer and hierarchical relationships among women in more sex integrated firms and that the quality of within- group relationships would depend on where that group is positioned in the organizational hierarchy. Her results showed that:

• When the proportion of women in senior management was relatively high, women felt indifferent or good about being a woman, believed senior women were good role models, and reported supportive and positive relationships with other women.
• When the proportion of women in senior management was relatively low, women felt that being a woman was a liability, believed senior women were poor role models (acted too much like men or too sexually), and reported unsupportive and dysfunctionally competitive relationships with other women.

Tokenism

Michelle Duguid and Denise Lewin Loyd presented research on the value threats that members of low status token groups experience to prevent them from advocating on behalf of other members of their group:

1. Favoritism threat: The fear of being seen as illegitimately biased in favor of demographically similar others.
• An experiment showed that women in a token situation (the only woman among four men) evaluated an equally qualified female candidate lower than a male candidate, whereas women in a majority situation (one of four women in a group with one man) evaluated the candidates similarly.
2. Competitive threat: The fear of being compared to a more qualified demographically similar other.
• Another experiment showed that women in a token situation reported more competitive threat than women in a majority situation and were less likely to select a qualified female candidate.
3. Collective threat: The fear of a less qualified demographically similar other devaluing the demographic group.
• A third experiment showed that women in a token situation reported more collective threat than women in a majority situation and were less likely to select a less qualified female candidate.

Gender Bias in Organizational Cultures

Belle Derks presented research on the "Queen Bee" phenomenon, or why senior women might work against the progress of female subordinates. A danger of this phenomenon is that criticism of women by women is especially damaging because it seems credible and women as a group can be blamed for their own lack of advancement.

Derks presented three studies demonstrating that "Queen Bee" behavior is:

• A response to gender bias in the organizational culture.
• Enacted by other minority groups. Devalued ethnic minorities are more likely to distance themselves from their ingroup and act like majority group members at work.
• Rewarded -- by women and by men. When given a choice of candidates -- a man (masculine self-presentation, anti-affirmative action), a "Queen Bee" woman (masculine self-presentation, anti-affirmative action), and a "feminist" woman (pro affirmative action), the Queen Bee was the most popular candidate.

Expectations of Female Solidarity

Leah Sheppard presented research on observers' interpretations of criticism and conflict between women at work. She began by noting that women are held to a higher standard than men in terms of looking out for and supporting same-sex others at work, or that there exists a prescription for solidarity between women that vilifies the women who violate this prescription:

• Senior women are at risk of being viewed as "Queen Bees" if they criticize female subordinates' work performance. In one study Sheppard showed that negative feedback from a senior partner in a law firm toward a junior member of the firm was assumed to stem from jealousy or threat when it occurred between women, but was assumed to stem from legitimate work concerns when directed toward male subordinates (whether from a senior woman or man), and was assumed to stem from sexism when directed toward a female subordinate from a man.
• Women coworkers who experience conflict are assumed to not be able to repair their relationship. In another study Sheppard showed that conflict between coworkers was assumed to be significantly less repairable if it occurred between women than if it occurred between men or between a woman and a man.
• Senior women, but not senior men, are viewed as unsupportive and cold if they respond curtly to advice-seeking from a junior woman. Sheppard had participants imagine a scenario in which a person sought support or guidance from a would-be mentor who responded curtly. This curt response could be attributed to a variety of causes, such as being busy, rude, disrespectful, or hostile. When the person seeking advice and the would-be mentor were both women, participants reported they would expect to feel significantly more disappointed and let down, and rated the would-be mentor as significantly more cold, than when the person seeking advice and the would-be mentor were both men or were a mixed dyad.