Are you a college or university administrator, department chair, member of a hiring or tenure committee, female professor and/or an academic with family responsibilities? This section describes patterns of gender bias in the academy that are important to recognize. Then, read on to learn about steps you can take to prevent and stop it.

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The ivy-covered walls of our nation's academic institutions have long been havens for research and teaching and incubators of discovery. But hidden gender bias can hinder the progress of these intellectual pursuits. Deep-seated biases, whether we are aware of them or not, can throw unfair obstacles in the paths of women with and without children, hinder fathers in their attempts to co-parent, and more. Besides harming the careers and livelihoods of professors, administrators and others, these patterns of behavior ultimately impact an institution's financial resources and slow the progress of scholarship these institutions were founded to sustain. Simply becoming more aware of these biases and learning new ways to interact can make a profound difference.

Patterns of Gender Bias in the Academic Workplace

Double Standards: Women have to work harder to prove competence.

Women may feel they have to "work twice as hard to get half as far"; their abilities may be questioned while their male counterparts' competence is assumed. 

Men are often judged on their potential, while women must rely on their achievements. He may be considered a "nascent scholar" who just needs the opportunity to show what he's made of; she is more likely to be seen as a novice who has not yet met the publication requirements expected for promotion.[2]

DO YOU RECOGNIZE THESE SCENARIOS?

What's luck got to do with it?

Men's successes are often attributed to their innate abilities, while women may be said to have "lucked out" due to circumstances (such as a sympathetic committee).[3]

Risk-taking men vs. mistake-making women.

Men who take risks and fail are often let off the hook more easily than women, with their failures being written off to poor conditions as opposed to women's mistakes being caused by character flaws ("She doesn't manage her time well. Does she really have the drive and focus for this?").[4]

She who hesitates is timid.

A man who benefits from the assumption of competence may be considered thoughtful or prudent if he is slow to decide. A female colleague in the same situation can be perceived as timid, passive or hesitant.[5]

Prove it... and prove it again.

Women may have to prove their worth again and again, since they frequently do not start from the baseline assumption of competence.[6]

Why can't they just let it go? 

Women's mistakes can haunt them much longer than those of their male colleagues. Why does this "recall bias" occur? Because information that confirms and reinforces a stereotype (such as "women are incompetent") is more easily recalled than information that contradicts a stereotype.[7]

Judgment Day

While superstar women may fare very well, women who are merely excellent tend to get sharply lower evaluations than comparable men. Women who "push the envelope" or are otherwise non-traditional teachers are at a greater risk of receiving sharply negative student evaluations. [8]

You're in... but not all the way in.

Once hired, female professors may encounter additional barriers, such as a department head who acts as a gatekeeper of information, selectively opening doors of opportunity to a chosen few, and leaving the women out.[9] 

Double jeopardy

African American women can trigger racial as well as gender stereotypes, forcing them to work even harder for equal footing. Asian women, often assumed to be passive and deferential, may also face "double jeopardy."

Double-Binds and Deference-Challenged Women: When the job requires a "go-getter" but assertive women are seen as "difficult."

Brilliant, assertive women may hear that colleagues think of them as "difficult" or "noncollegial."

DO YOU RECOGNIZE THESE SCENARIOS?

He's incisive; she's abrasive.

Time and again, women report being called abrasive or unprofessional for delivering critical remarks without apology, while their male counterparts are perceived as admirably direct for the same behavior. Heaven help two women who disagree with each other; they are usually perceived as having a "catfight" or an argument with loaded emotional baggage.[10]

He knows his own worth; she's a shameless self-promoter.

Women who use hedges and disclaimers to minimize their accomplishments ("Do you think?" "I'm no expert, but...") are often seen as more palatable than those who speak directly and with confidence about their ideas and experiences.[11]

How come it was okay when he did it?

Women often face what's known as "leniency bias": a double-standard of accountability when blazing a new trail or bending a rule. Says one female professor, "You follow the same path in doing a particular task as the men that you've seen do it, and then you get slapped on the wrist . . . I just saw five men do it and they've been doing it the past six months and nothing was said!"[12]

Better be "one of the boys."

Women have often tried to succeed by becoming "one of the boys." It's a delicate balance, though, between adopting a traditionally masculine interpersonal style and being "too assertive."[13]

Catch-22

Search committees seek the best candidates, and exclude those who are not assertive, intense and single-minded. This eliminates many women who are perceived as not fitting these criteria. At the same time, women who do fit this model often are eliminated on the grounds that they lack collegiality or are abrasive. This is the Catch-22: because assertive, single-minded women grate against cultural stereotypes of nurturing, supportive women, they must navigate the tricky minefields between "not competent enough" and "what a witch!"[14]

Double jeopardy

Stereotypes of "deference-challenged" women vary by race, and include the "angry black woman" and the Asian-American "dragon lady."[15] Latina women often struggle to express themselves powerfully, confronted with "fiery, hot-blooded" stereotypes when they do.[16]

The Maternal Wall: Motherhood is linked to lack of competence and commitment.

It's a boy! Motherhood is one of the key triggers for gender stereotyping. Shouldn't she be home with the baby? And if she is, shouldn't she be more committed to her career?

DO YOU RECOGNIZE THESE SCENARIOS?

The pregnancy plummet

Expectations of women to be nurturing and gentle go into overdrive when a female colleague is pregnant. When she acts authoritatively, she may evoke confusion, discomfort or even hostility from subordinates.[21]

The good mother

A "good mother" is always available when her children need her... day or night.[22] A "good worker" is always available when her employer needs her... day or night.[23] This obvious conflict leads to clashes when women break either expectation: when they go on maternity leave (bad worker!), and when they put in long hours on the job (bad mother!). One woman writes, "At my campus, most women are afraid to admit that they even have children."[24]

"Of course we support you... but we need you here."

Family leave and maternity leave policies may be on the books, but attitudes have not necessarily caught up with them. In one case, a female professor used a "stop the clock" policy after the birth of her children, in accordance with university policy. Upon her return, she was denied tenure, even though she had the unanimous recommendation from her tenure committee and an endorsement from the dean. What happened? The provost allegedly told another professor that the mother's decision to "stop the clock" was "a red flag," and the department chair wrote in a memo that the woman "knew as the mother of two infants [that] she had responsibilities that were incompatible with those of a full-time academician." The result? A reported tentative settlement for the female professor of nearly half a million dollars.[25]

And the flip side: "John is better suited for this fellowship. She just had a baby; she needs some family time right now."

Mothers often suffer from the seemingly benevolent gestures of management that end up "killing them with kindness." Opportunities are given to others so that women can "stay home with the little ones," rather than take an important fellowship or be given a leadership position on a high-profile research team.[26]

"Lesbians don't have children... do they?"

Lesbians are sometimes hired with the misguided assumption that they will not have children. If they do become mothers, lesbian professors and administrators may face even more negative evaluations by supervisors who feel "misled," even if it was by their own biased assumptions.[27]

Double jeopardy

Stereotypes of mothers differ by race. One woman reported that "the stereotype that women of certain groups have 'too many babies' affects perceptions of which women take time for family leave."[28]

The Frigid Climate for Fathers

Mr. Mom: Fathers who take on a strong parenting role are seen as showing signs of weakness.

DO YOU RECOGNIZE THIS SCENARIO?

The wimp effect.

The stereotype of a good father is that of a breadwinner -- not a caregiver.[29] When fathers take paternity leave, it is seen by some as less than manly. The result? One study found that 40% of faculty men wanted to, but did not take, parental leave.[30]

Men report facing "The Wimp Effect" from all sides in academia:

• One male professor who requested parental leave was met with "sneering denial by my chair."[31]
  
  
• An untenured professor said that he did not dare even ask about parental leave, because he feared that merely inquiring about it -- let alone taking it -- would jeopardize his career.[32]
  
  
• One father requested parental leave and was told, "Your wife should take it."[33]

Good Girls/Bad Girls

In some workplaces, women are expected to fit into a limited number of traditionally feminine roles -- and penalized if they don't.

DO YOU RECOGNIZE THESE SCENARIOS?

Mother, princess, pet

In some workplaces , in order to succeed, women need to play into stereotypes that their male colleagues find easier to accept. Traditionally feminine roles that are common in the workplace include the "mother," who takes care of everyone around her, the "princess," who aligns with a powerful man without challenging his dominance, and the "pet," who acts as an unthreatening cheerleader for the men.[34] Men, of course, are not required to fit into tightly cabined roles in order to be accepted. This pattern is called "ambivalent sexism": women who play traditionally feminine roles receive benevolent approval, while deference-challenged women encounter hostile disapproval.

Gender wars

Ambivalent sexism often leads to fights among women, as "deference-challenged" women who are unwilling to play these roles often clash with those who feel more comfortable meeting the expectations of the men.[35]

The mommy wars

Women in academia become mothers at sharply lower rates than women in the general population. [36] Some are regretful; others are "childfree." Gender wars can arise between mothers and each group. Regretful, "childless" women sometimes feel: "Mothers can't expect to have it all. Look what I had to give up to succeed." Joyfully "childfree" women may feel that mothers are reinforcing stereotypes that women can't succeed without "special treatment." Mothers may feel that "women are less supportive than the men." These dynamics are not just "catfights": they stem from a particular pattern of gender bias.[37]

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Best Practices to Combat Hidden Gender Bias in Academia

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Bibliography on Hidden Gender Bias in Academia here.

Endnotes