28 / Rotman Management Spring 20 19
Rony Hacohen
Advisor, UK Behavioural Insights TeamAT THE HEART OF OUR WORK is improving the evidence base around
‘what works’ in terms of increasing gender equality in the work-
place, and supporting employers to try approaches that have
promise. We have taken on three concrete challenges. The first
is that the public doesn’t quite ‘get’ the gender pay gap yet, and
that is important because we need to start holding companies ac-
countable. Two thirds of people still think the ‘gender pay gap’
and ‘equal pay’ are the same thing, but they are not. Equal pay
is about paying people who do similar things differently, while
the gender pay gap is about comparing the average hourly wageAlice Eagly
Professor of Psychology, Management
and Organizations, Northwestern University
STEREOTYPES ARE NOT JUST MYTHS. They are grounded in everyday
experience, and they tend to take on a life of their own. If you
think about a particular group in a certain way, it affects your be-
haviour towards them. The roles we play in life also influence
stereotypes. Throughout the day, most people move between
their family role and their employment role, and in general,
men and women are thought to have different traits as a result
of these roles.
It is true that in the workplace, gender segregation has de-
creased over time, but it is still substantial. For one thing, we still
see plenty of vertical segregation — a concentration of men in the
most powerful and highest-paying roles—and there is also con-
siderable horizontal segregation. That is, men and women occu-
py roles that require different kinds of physical and psychological
attributes: Men tend to be in jobs favouring physical strength, ro-
bustness and interaction with ‘things’ — jobs requiring analytical,
mathematical and technical skills, and being competitive is often
part of the mandate. Meanwhile, women are concentrated in jobs
requiring social interactional skills and offering opportunities for
social contribution — jobs where you directly help others, like so-
cial work, nursing and teaching.
Segregation also occurs within occupations. People might
point out that ‘there are plenty of female physicians and lawyers’,
but the fact is, female physicians are concentrated in specialties
like pediatrics, family practice, gynecology and psychiatry — the
most socially-demanding work; and if you look at lawyers, lots
of women work in public interest law and family law.
There is still a belief that women are less assertive and
competitive than men, and this places women at a disadvantage
for leadership roles. Because such ‘agentic behaviour’ is often
disapproved in women, they experience backlash, which is
half of what I call the ‘double bind’ for female leaders. The oth-
er half comes from the belief that women should be selfless and
modest, but that such individuals are also weak and lack agency.
One solution to these problems is that women ought to ‘lean
in’ more. Sheryl Sandberg’s book on the topic sold over four mil-
lion copies, but the reaction to it in the feminist community has
been quite negative. Many feminists feel, ‘We don’t need to be
fixed!’ But in my view, to achieve equality in leadership, women
do need to become more agentic — despite the possibility of
backlash. If more women take that message seriously and act on
it, we will achieve gender parity faster.