Sexist Comments Research: Undervaluing Women’s Contributions

To help continue educating the public on what sexism looks like, I am publishing a series of LinkedIn articles that share a sampling of these comments. This 15th article (of 18) shares comments that focus on undervaluing women’s contributions, which is part of the “undervaluing women” category in our study. Here is some general background about this research: To better understand women’s experiences in the state of Utah, researchers Robbyn Scribner, Dr. April Townsend, and I collected and analyzed a wide variety of sexist comments women have experienced. Overall, about 1,750 comments were provided from nearly 850 participants for this Utah Women & Leadership Project (UWLP) study. The goal of the research was to educate the public (both men and women) on the many forms that conscious and unconscious sexist comments can take, from shocking statements to those that are more subtle.

Background

In this study, the “Undervaluing Women” theme was broad and included 50.7% of all comments reported in the study. Notably, many of the comments coded in this theme were much more explicit and vulgar than those included in this article. The analysis of the responses within the "Undervaluing Women" theme produced five specific categories. I will share comments from one of these sections: Undervaluing Women’s Contributions. We define this topic as the belief that women are less capable, intelligent, and incompetent than men solely due to their gender, including holding low expectations of women because of their gender. This large category drew 389 (22.2%) comments; most were made within the workplace by a man who was between 46 and 59 years old and was in a position of authority.

Comments

First, a large number of comments in this category show the commenters’ tendency to undervalue women’s professional contributions and to see them as less than men’s:

• “While my female colleagues and I were on our way to a women’s network meeting, a manager called after us and asked if we’d really just be baking cookies and discussing makeup tips just so we can have an hour away from our desks.”
• “I was told that I could participate in a vendor meeting, but I should not comment. If I have information to share, I should talk to my male peer and have him provide my feedback.”
• “We were at a senior leader dinner. A man suggested that a very senior female leader received her job because another school within our university wanted her husband.”
• “I was hired at a local firm where I was the only female. I have a master’s degree, and I was often referred to as the receptionist as a joke because I was the only female.”
• “I was in a meeting with executives and was smiling at a text I got about my project. A senior executive said, ‘I know what a smile like that means, you are texting your boyfriend?’ And I said ‘Nope, just got good news about the project,’ and he responded saying, ‘No, you look like you’re texting a boyfriend.’”
• “Without fail when we meet someone new, they ask my husband what he does for a living. They never ask me.”
• “I recently applied for and received a promotion. On at least three occasions, as I have shared the news with male colleagues, they indicate how they saw the job and thought about applying but the time wasn’t right, or they didn’t want to commute. The way they say it infers I wouldn’t have gotten the position if they had applied.”

Second, a number of comments showed women being interrupted by men or seeing their contributions go ignored until a man said the same thing, which was then validated:

• “I told my boss a few times over a period of over a year that I thought one of our company rules was inconsistent with other policies and did not make sense. He ignored me. The last time I brought it up, another male junior to my position was present, and he said he agreed with me. My boss responded to the junior employee ‘I guess I don’t really have a good reason for it. Let’s change it.’ He ignored my feedback until it came from another man.”
• “I shared a great idea in a private meeting with this person, an idea that would benefit the entire team. Directly after that meeting this person met with a man and asked the man to be in charge of implementing the idea.”
• “In a [church leadership meeting], I was interrupted a number of times by the same individual even though I had information the bishop had specifically asked for and only I could give (it had to do with a position I held outside of church).”
• “I was running for office and approached a man running for a partnership office. He asked me a question about my stance and about five words into my response, he cut me off and started talking over me.”

Finally, other comments show women being undervalued or underestimated in church, school, or family settings:

• “I’ve heard the belief that women’s only recognition should come when their children succeeded. Any need for recognition or happiness from anything else was wrong.”
• "When I played basketball in college, men who had never played organized basketball would brag about how they could easily beat me just because they were male.”
• “I work on thoughtful, thorough, comprehensive policy analysis. The policy area is incredibly nuanced and complicated. A relative in my family describes what I do as, ‘You have some opinions from your heart.’”
• “While on a date at BYU Idaho, my date told me that guys are better at communicating and working together than girls because they have served [Latter-day Saint] missions.”
• “I had an assignment to research a career that interested me. When I asked my teacher to approve my topic, he looked at it and said, ‘No woman will ever be president. Pick a different topic.’ He handed my paper back.”
• “After reading a fiction werewolf story at a conference that I wrote, a young woman said to me, ‘Not a lot of women have successfully written monster stories. So, what made you think you could?’”

Based on the findings of how Utah women experience sexist comments, we offer the following recommendations for women and male allies:

1.     Prepare: In the moment, it can be difficult to think quickly enough to respond. Having a go-to phrase such as “What makes you say that?” can give you time and shifts the focus to the person to explain their thinking.

2.     Take Action: When you hear offensive comments or jokes, push back (preferably within the first two to three seconds). Possible retorts include saying, “Ouch,” or, “We don’t do that here.”

3.     Call Out the Behavior: When you observe a man repeatedly interrupting a woman, or when you see only women being asked to take on “office housework” such as note taking, point it out and offer an alternative.

Speaking up against sexism can be a powerful force for reducing gender inequity around undervaluing women, as it can help others challenge their own biases and model more equitable forms of communication. Further, being prepared to respond to everyday sexism can help women feel more confident in their interactions with others. To learn more about the research and ways women responded, read the brief, “Sexist Comments & Responses: Undervaluing Women.”

Prof./Dr. Susan R. Madsen is a global thought leader, author, speaker, and scholar on the topic of women and leadership. She is also the Inaugural Karen Haight Huntsman Endowed Professor of Leadership in the Jon M. Huntsman School of Business at Utah State University and the Founding Director of the Utah Women & Leadership Project. Thanks to Robbyn T. Scribner and Dr. April Townsend for their great work on this study!