Did Walking the Tightrope Just Get Even Trickier?

In 2003, a CV was handed to students at Columbia Business School. Half the class received the CV of Heidi. The other half the CV of Howard. Both Heidi and Howard were successful venture capitalists, driven, results-oriented, with outgoing personalities and a powerful network. Students in each group were asked if they would want to work for Heidi and Howard.

Though both sets of students recognized the achievements of the leaders, only those who received Howard’s CV said they would be ready to work for him. Those with Heidi’s CV decided explained she seemed too aggressive, so they wouldn’t want to work for her.

There was one catch. The CVs were exactly the same - just the names were different.

The upshot of this research?

Balance Warmth and Competence

It seems that women walk a fine line between being so nice that they are considered a pushover - and being so competent that they are perceived as unlikeable.

I frequently share the Heidi and Howard ‘test’ among women I work with. Many say they still feel this challenge. They need to show up as warm, friendly and helpful, whilst also showcasing their competence and capabilities in a way that isn’t intimidating. It’s akin to walking a tightrope. Too nice or too competent, and you may fall.

I recently read research that adds another layer to this ‘tightrope’ challenge.

Not So Nice?

Jennifer Chatman, a professor at UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business, noticed that as she grew older and was excelling in her field, she was being rated more harshly by students than her male counterparts. She was seen as less warm than male professors. And after further investigation, she found other seasoned female colleagues shared the same experience.

Probing further, Chatman and co-researchers found that both men and women are seen as growing in competence as they age, but women, not men, are perceived to be less warm as they grow older.

In a similar study to that of Heidi and Howard, researchers provided participants with two profiles – this time, Sue and Steve. The profiles contained the same information. Participants rated both Steve and Sue as high on agency, but Sue was judged to be lower on warmth-related characteristics.

Not only are women walking the tightrope of balancing competence and warmth, it seems they need to up the warmth quotient as they get older. Maybe this is related to the tightrope act. If women are gaining in competence, then to maintain a balance, they need to inject a larger dose of warmth into the behaviour mix!

What To Do?

There is no one simple answer. Chatman herself is concerned that women may take away the message that they need to change to suit others’ expectations.

Are you able to read the room and balance diverse expectations with the greater need of the situation – all the while managing your own emotions and response so that you are effective?

If yes, you’re doing a great job of exercising emotional intelligence.

Observing others behaviour may provide clues to their perceptions, but that doesn’t mean you need to pander to expectations that don’t align with your values. Again, it’s a balancing act – perhaps a helpful guiding question is: what will be most effective in this moment?

Looking more broadly, and with a view to achieving deeper systemtic change, are you in a position to raise awareness of the warmth/competence bias – and ensure implementation of processes and policies that reduce the scope for bias? And can you engage organizational stakeholders to monitor and review progress?

The key message from these studies: When it comes to equity, there is still work to be done.

References:

https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/the_nice_bias_that_middle_aged_women_face_at_work

https://newsroom.haas.berkeley.edu/research/how-negative-stereotypes-about-middle-aged-women-hold-them-back-at-work/

From the research by Jennifer Chatman and Laura Kray published in Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0749597822000796

© Andrea Stone, Stone Leadership