November 4, 2007 12:37 PM

The problem with women is that they are women
Posted by Diane Danielsonat 12:37 PM

Lisa Belkin over at the NYTimes conveys the frustration many of us feel with all the conflicting studies about women in the workplace. 

Catalyst's research is often an exploration of why, 30 years after women entered the work force in large numbers, the default mental image of a leader is still male. Most recent is the report titled "Damned if You Do, Doomed if You Don't," which surveyed 1,231 senior executives from the United States and Europe. It found that women who act in ways that are consistent with gender stereotypes -- defined as focusing "on work relationships" and expressing "concern for other people’s perspectives" -- are considered less competent. But if they act in ways that are seen as more "male" -- like "act assertively, focus on work task, display ambition" -- they are seen as "too tough" and "unfeminine."

Women can't win.

Click here to read the whole article.

One of Belkin's experts sums it up by pointing a finger at corporations:

But Professor Glick also concedes that much of this data -- like his 2000 study showing that women were penalized more than men when not perceived as being nice or having social skills — gives women absolutely no way to "fight back." "Most of what we learn shows that the problem is with the perception, not with the woman," he said, "and that it is not the problem of an individual, it's a problem of a corporation."

Although Professor Glick lets me down in the final paragraph where his upcoming studies are mentioned:

And Professor Glick has some upcoming projects, too. One looks at whether women do better in sales if they show more cleavage. A second will look at the flip side of gender stereotypes at work: hostility toward men.

Yep, I can see it now, The Today Show will take its fembots story to a new low to show that working women really hate men and use their feminine wiles to get ahead ...