Female managers face more harassment, study says

The authors of a new study on gender and workplace control says that female supervisors are more likely to be sexually harassed at work than women who do not supervise others
because male employees target them as a way to balance power in the office. �

About 50% of women supervisors surveyed reported sexual harassment in the workplace, compared with one-third of women who did not manage others.

“Male co-workers, clients and supervisors appear to be using harassment as an ‘equalizer' against women in power, consistent with research showing that sexual harassment is less about sexual desire than about control and domination,” wrote the American researchers.

The harassers “aren't trying to get into relationships [with their bosses], but they're just trying to exert control over other employees,” said Heather McLaughlin, a University of Minnesota sociologist and the study's lead author.

More than 500 women responded to the sexual harassment surveys.� The respondents were women who were about 30 years old. �

One woman, named Holly, who was the first woman manager at her company, recalled her subordinates joking, “If we had somebody with balls in this position we'd be getting things done.”

Another woman, Marie, who worked as the only female project manager for a contracting company in construction, noted the day an older male subcontractor said to her, “This isn't the job for a woman.”

After she helped him with some paperwork, Marie said, “I think he just thought I was being a nag and that I didn't know what I was doing.”

“By objectifying women, it strips them of any power or prestige that they hold in the workplace,” McLaughlin said.

A similar survey showed that women supervisors were 137% more likely to be sexually harassed than women who did not hold managerial roles. Some of the things these women dealt with were unwanted requests for dinner to inappropriate touching, staring or leering.

The findings speak to a “double problem of women moving into positions of authority,” said John Kervin, a sociology professor at the University of Toronto who teaches courses on women in the work force.

“The first part of the problem is getting into those positions in the first place. That requires overcoming reluctance from upper male managers for promotions, for hiring,” said Prof. Kervin.

“Once you get into positions of authority, actually exercising that authority becomes problematic for many women. Male and even some female subordinates may hinder in direct ways or, more commonly, in indirect ways. Orders don't get carried out, subordinates come up with excuses and women have to work much harder to get their particular commands carried out.”

Prof. Kervin calls it gender, not sexual, harassment.

“It's the notion that women aren't welcome, women are less competent, women are not to be trusted with authority, and so on.”

So what did guys get out of it?

McLaughlin said that mostly, men harassed their bosses in order to impress other men at work. She cited a 2002 analysis of “girl watching” by Montana State University professor Beth Quinn.

“She argued that it wasn't really the women that were the intended audience, but rather other men.”

McLaughlin said that in the workplace cases, “it's not that they're trying to get the women fired or get her to quit her job; it's about proving your manhood and masculinity to other men.”

Read more here�

Posted by: suhujitha on 2009-08-19 11:13:35

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