Changing Gender Bias in the Workplace

Over the past few weeks, I've slowly been reading Katharine Graham's book, 'Personal History,' a book which won the Pulitzer Prize in 1998, just three years before Graham's death.

Following the death of her husband, Graham took the reins of the Washington Post and became the very first female CEO of a Fortune 500 company.  Although she was a major player in the world of business and later in life was considered to be one of America's greatest publishers of the 20th century, Graham often felt that she wasn't respected by both her male staffers and male competitors because she was a woman. She spent years feeling very much alone and as though she had no one to look up to.

This is an excerpt from 'Katharine Graham: Personal History' that almost made me choke on my coffee when I read it because I wasn't expecting such a powerful woman to say such a thing. I know it was written about Graham's feelings of being insufficient in the workplace in the 1960s, but it still pertains to today:

Women traditionally have also suffered- and many still do- from an exaggerated desire to please, a syndrome so instilled in women of my generation that it inhibited my behavior for many years, and in ways still does. Although at the time I didn't realize what was happening, I was unable to make a decision that might displease those around me. For years, whatever directive I may have issued ended with the phrase "if it's all right with you." If I thought I'd done anything to make someone unhappy, I'd agonize.

However, instead of wallowing in self pity, Graham decided to take it upon herself to promote gender equality at her newspaper and in doing so, she opened the world of journalism to women who may never have had the chance to dabble in such a field.

I suppose I was living with blinders on to think that someone as powerful as Katharine Graham might not have dealt with the same insecurities so many woman to this day struggle with when it comes to the workplace.

While the working world has come leaps and bounds since Graham entered it as a CEO in 1963, there are still some very obvious gender discriminations. It's no secret that there's already a wage gap between men and women in the workplace, but now we're learning that there's also a praise gap.

Researchers at Harvard found a bias toward men when men and women work together on projects. When men and women work together, guys end up getting more credit for the work than the women do. Researchers suggest that because of this, women are actually better off working alone or with other women in order to receive full credit.

Just as Katharine Graham stepped forward to make a difference, we can too. Women- myself included- have shied away from standing up for ourselves because there's a bizarre misconception that strong, outspoken women in business are bossy and difficult. However, when a man stands up for himself, he's seen as powerful. Maybe it's all in the way we ladies approach things.

The Huffington Post offered up some fantastic ideas on how women can work toward getting the recognition they deserve for the work they do. You know when you come up with a phenomenal idea and you get so exited over it that you immediately share it with your male boss or colleague? And then, before you know what's happened- that same guy is sharing YOUR idea as HIS and in front of higher ups who applaud him for being a genius.

I've been there. I'm absolutely guilty of getting so excited about an idea that I can't wait to share it and I end up sharing it with someone who hijacks it. I do this to myself and I need to change that. It's not often that men will rush to share a genius idea in a somewhat private setting. Have you ever noticed this?

One of the ideas the Huffington Post suggested to prevent idea hijacking from happening is to publicly share your ideas. Instead of getting so excited that you can't help but spill the beans, sit on your idea and then share it in a group setting with a bunch of people so that nobody can claim your brilliant idea as their own.

Please don't take what I'm saying as a slam on men as a whole, because that isn't fair. There are some amazing men who take a stand for women. And, just as there are some men who steal ideas as their own, there are women who do the same. However, most women do tend to be better at giving credit where credit is due.

You can see some of the other suggestions on how to get recognized at work here.  One can only hope that maybe we'll start getting things right by the time our baby girls begin entering the workforce in 2033.

[NY Times/Harvard/Huffington Post]