The case of Heidi and Howard. An experiment with students showed that the problem still exists

I often hear people say: “What else do you want? Women have already achieved everything. What else do you want to fight for?”

Currently, there is no country in the world where women earn more than men. For every $100 a woman earns, a man earns $140. Depending on the industry, the differences in earnings of women and men range from several to several dozen percent.

Research shows that fathers are employed more often than men without children, and in all European Union countries this is the opposite situation than in the case of women.

Men having children and performing fatherly functions are referred to as the so-called a paternity bonus that is not perceived as related to a reduction in their availability as employees. On the other hand, it is still believed that women who are mothers devote themselves to work to a lesser extent and this is referred to as the so-called maternity penalty or mothers' tax.

There is a lack of women at the top of companies and the higher up, the fewer women there are.

Heidi and Howard Roizen

No one will ever admit to stereotyping based on gender, but we still do it. This is confirmed by an experiment examining how women and men are perceived in the workplace.

The research covered MBA students of New York University, who were provided with material containing a case study – a description of the career of businesswoman Heidi Roizen. Some students got a success story with a feminine name, Heidi, others got the same story with their name changed to a masculine name – Howard. The study participants' task was to evaluate their impressions of Heidi or Howard, as well as traits such as politeness, good-naturedness, ambition, tendency to manipulate, caring and other traits that are stereotypically considered feminine or masculine.

The group of respondents – having exactly the same information about Heidi and Howard – perceived Heidi as “a selfish person, less polite and good-natured” than Howard, but “more assertive, power-hungry and manipulative” with whom they “would rather not work” and you probably wouldn't hire her.”

Both women and men found Heidi competent, less predictable and more self-righteous. Howard, in turn, was rated as “an even guy you could go out for a beer with.”

Male evaluators were more critical of the woman than of the man. In turn, women criticized both the woman and the man.

Interestingly, although the group of respondents had previously firmly declared that they certainly did not treat women differently, the confrontation with their own subconscious prejudices was also a big surprise for them.

The case of Heidi Roizen is an example that women – unlike men – experience questioning of their professional competences much more often than men who have the same responsibilities. The same actions, when the only difference was gender, can still cause completely different impressions, feelings and emotions in the respondents.

The “hell” of ignorance and resentment

Not only employers and students are subject to stereotypes, but also from the point of view of customers and consumers, women may be treated through the prism of gender. A business e-mail sent to a client by Martin R. Schneider, who signed off as a colleague named Nicole, was treated very differently than if he had sent it under the name Martin.

The experiment, continued for two weeks, showed that the client – convinced that he was exchanging correspondence with a woman – constantly questioned her competences, treated her rudely and had higher expectations than usual towards the sender, who was a man.

He described the experiences of constant questioning, ignoring and resentment that Schneider felt while pretending to be a woman as “hell.”

We, women, are not keen on politics because it is associated with hate and a dirty game. But it is us, women, who understand our affairs best. We often take care of our affairs in our cities and regions without unnecessary fanfare. And it's not that we want to go into politics, but politics often comes to us because there are a lot of stereotypes that need to be combated.