In modern society, there has been immense progress when it comes to combating sexism and creating welcoming spaces that embrace women as equal forces in the work industry. Despite this, in career fields such as business, which has been historically dominated by men, this issue unfortunately persists. In this article, I explore how sexism can make its way into the education system, focusing on college students majoring in Business, and how they perceive gender roles and stereotypes pertaining to their fields.
Stereotypes
Throughout history, women haven’t had an easy transition into the workplace. The historical context in which women were assigned roles as housewives, tending to domestic and household chores, has been the perpetrator of creating stereotypes that reinforce these roles and highlight women’s “inability” to participate and succeed in business environments. The problem with stereotypes, according to researcher Alejandro Boada Ortíz, is that they are very resistant to change, even in the presence of contradicting evidence. This is because they are perceived as valid representations of reality and are reproduced automatically in society, where they gain influence that consolidates and reinforces them.
The Glass Ceiling
The concept “glass ceiling” plays a key role in understanding the impact of these stereotypes. The term was first coined by management consultant Marilyn Loden, who explained in a piece she wrote for BBC the following: “I am referring to the biases that assume men are ‘born leaders’, that working mothers are not committed to their careers, that women are too emotional, that sexual harassment is not a problem, and that there is no room on the executive floor for people who speak softly, have a high degree of emotional intelligence and favour participative leadership over autocratic management.”
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The effect of these glass ceilings, explained by Boada Ortíz in his study, is that women tend to have to work harder than their male colleagues in order to prove to others, and sometimes even to themselves, that they’re capable. They have to adapt to different work styles and certain “masculine” attitudes, and are also very frequently excluded from informal networks in the workplace (relationships between employees, the grapevine) dominated by men, which are vital for career development.
Ambivalent Sexism
It’s important to mention that the way sexism presents itself has changed throughout the years. A theory proposed by Glick and Fiste explains that the new form of sexism is ambivalent and it’s made up of two subtypes: hostile and benevolent. As implied by their names, hostile sexism is similar to the more traditional idea of sexism, as it is based on the belief that women are inferior to men; they are different, cannot perform leadership roles, and are manipulative. Benevolent sexism, on the other hand, presents itself as less harmful and it involves the idea that women need protection from men, women’s differences complement men, and men depend on women for home care.
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The Role Colleges Play
As a college student myself, I find that it’s important to identify what role colleges play in preserving and replicating these discriminatory ideas, and how the student body perceives them. Data shows that students pursuing Business Administration and Management degrees present the most sexist attitudes, whereas the least sexist attitudes are observed in Education and Social Work degrees. The feminization of these careers and the inherent values of them is a possible explanation for this behavior. For this reason, it’s necessary to pinpoint weaknesses in the education system that might be perpetuating these ideas.
One aspect that I found to be very influential is gender representation in faculty positions. Not having female mentors can sustain the stereotype of women not being fit or knowledgeable enough to be teaching subjects related to business sciences. A study published in the Harvard Business Review Magazine found that having female instructors not only increased women’s interests in quantitative courses like finance, accounting and tech, but it also increased female students’ actual performance. “While women’s grades in quantitative courses are 11% of a standard deviation lower than that of men on average, when they are taught by female instructors, their performance improves by 7.7%.”
“By specifically employing more female instructors who can teach quantitative courses, business schools can make significant cracks in the glass ceiling.”
Krishna & Orhun 2020
Another aspect present in most colleges that reinforces stereotypes against women in business is the language used to teach students. A study conducted by investigator Frances Foster found that male academics (professors) in senior positions usually stereotyped the manager figure as male. Although this might seem harmless, it creates a model in students’ minds that impacts the way they view and perceive certain roles.
Student Experiences
To gain some firsthand knowledge about what students thought about these gender roles and stereotypes in business and management positions, I surveyed students belonging to the Faculty of Business Administration at my campus. I used an existing survey form used in previous investigations about gender stereotypes as a guide to creating my own, using the Likert Scale format to evaluate and analyze the data, and the results surprised me!
Although 54% of the answers received from the men surveyed were attuned with sexist ideologies, the women did not fall far behind, with their answers being 47% under sexist ideologies. Despite this, 67% of the women reported having experienced a sexist act or comment by a professor and/or colleague. Although all experiences are valuable, some of the comments made by them that stuck out to me are the following:
- “I do believe I have to work harder to be given the ‘same recognition’ as men or at least seen on the ‘same level’ and/or competent.”
- “I have had classmates who get surprised when I get a better grade than them. Whenever they have the opportunity to find out that I got a lower grade, they make fun of me and make jokes about my own intelligence. I also recently participated in an emotional intelligence meeting; a friend mocked me and told my partner that those are ‘for women’.”
- “I grew up looking for ways to open my own path, creating opportunities for myself because I know how few opportunities women are given when men are seen as more intelligent, serious, dedicated, etc.”
- “Being highly involved in the Finance environment, which is mostly composed of men, I have encountered several instances of sexism. For example, a finance colleague once approached me and said, ‘I can see that you’re brilliant, which is not common in women.’ I found the comment offensive. While I partly accepted the compliment about being intelligent, the discrimination accompanying it bothered me. I told him that his comment was highly sexist, to which he responded by stating that statistically, men are more intelligent than women.”
Takeaways
I think it’s pretty obvious that sexism in Business Education is full to the brim with stereotypes and challenges that hinder women’s progress in historically male-dominated fields. The stereotype that women aren’t capable of undertaking leadership positions, creates a cycle where women, having the capacity and intellectual competence to succeed and thrive, avoid putting themselves in business environments and positions because they know they’re going to have to confront hostile and intimidating environments and work double to prove themselves, thus contributing to the lack of women in business positions.
Despite many societal advancements, biases and discrimination persist, affecting the perceptions and experiences of many students. Studying these phenomenons is crucial when it comes to making positive systematic changes that promote a comfortable and equal environment for everyone. It’s imperative to start taking initiatives that contribute to breaking the glass ceiling. Women in business, specifically students, often get overlooked when it comes to their accomplishments because there’s an innate sexism that blinds people from seeing the reality of their struggles. I believe they don’t get nearly as much credit as they should. Working in a hostile, male, testosterone-dominated environment is strong, brave, and empowering.