How do gender norms hold women back in the workforce

Encouraging a growth mindset and being more subtle about the pursuit of power and dominance are among the ways women might rise through the ranks in the workplace, according to a new model that maps women's pathways to influence.

Of two potential pathways - power or status, with an emphasis on collaboration - status is easier for women to attain, but power typically provides more authority and resource control, the model shows.

The model - introduced in a review co-authored by ILR School postdoctoral researcher Charlotte Townsend - maps the two leadership pathways, pointing out that women who use "gender congruent" strategies that fit feminine stereotypes gain influence more easily than those who use "gender incongruent" approaches that match more masculine stereotypes.

The article, "Psychological Drivers of Gender Disparities in Leadership Paths," was published Nov. 3 in Trends in Cognitive Sciences.

The ILR School spoke with Townsend about the research.

Question: Why did you want to study this topic?

Answer: I've been interested in the barriers women face when rising in an organization since entering graduate school. In my previous job as a consultant, I found very few women at the senior manager and partner levels. I wanted to know more about why women have such a difficult time reaching leadership positions and about how hierarchies work.

Q: What were you trying to accomplish?

A: We wanted to create a more comprehensive theory about gendered pathways to leadership, where power is associated with men and status with women. We wanted to know about the unique challenges facing women who want to get into leadership positions in organizations.

Q: How did you go about creating your review?

A: We married recent research with our own ideas about our own data, and then we presented this fully formed theory about what's happening. We had research assistants review a list of journals to see what recent work addressed topics related to gender and leadership, or women and leadership. We tried to be exhaustive. And then we distilled it down to what we are theorizing rather than just having it be a literature review of everything that's come out. We then focused on what was really relevant to what we're interested in.

Q: What were your key findings?

A: Our main finding was our model of leadership pathways, where one pathway a woman can take to influence is through status, which is in keeping with gender norms. But another pathway is through power, and that bucks traditional gender roles. Status can be gained through strategies like showing your knowledge, skills and competence, whereas power can be acquired through strategies like aggression, initiative-taking and confidence. Women have a harder time traversing the power pathway, but it encompasses more actual authority and control of resources.

Certain pathways to influence or to leadership positions align more with masculine or feminine gender stereotypes. If a woman is taking a gender-incongruent path, it can lead to more backlash and barriers.

Q: What can women do to break through these barriers?

A: We talk in the review about the idea of mindsets as a potential solution. People hold growth mindsets, which are beliefs that personal attributes are changeable with effort, or fixed mindsets, which are beliefs that our attributes are unchangeable. One facet of growth mindsets is that those who hold them are less likely to endorse gender stereotypes. Therefore, we hope that by encouraging growth mindsets, we can reduce stereotyping of these pathways to influence.

Q: How can workplaces help women reach higher levels of leadership?

A: Awareness that these gender pathways exist and persist is important. Ideally, organizations will think about how they can counteract this or support female employees and help them succeed, including through male allyship. Further, increasing women's representation in leadership can reduce stereotypes within organizations.

I think that managers espousing a growth mindset around the people who they work with would lead to better outcomes for women, because with less stereotypes, it would be easier for women to navigate both kinds of leadership pathways.

Q: Do you have any tips for women who aspire to leadership roles?

Based on our model, women will have more success when they prioritize status hierarchies, which can still lead to power. Women who also signal a desire for status alongside their desire for power can minimize backlash.

In terms of behaviors, the more you are explicit about dominance, the more threatened people are, and the more likely to lead to backlash. If you can do it through subtler ways, like sustained eye contact, as one example, it's less explicit and may be more successful.

Women tend to end up in charge of smaller groups than men do. Awareness about not falling into that trap could be helpful: If you are a manager, you may need to add more people to your direct reports. You don't want to be seen as someone who can handle only a small group.

Tonya Engst is a writer for the ILR School.