To map contemporary manifestations of workplace sexism, we have developed the Workplace Sexism Screening Questionnaire that assesses women’s experiences with nine different types of workplace sexism. Notably, we did not only assess the most studied forms of sexism (hostile and benevolent sexism), but also newer and less studied forms of sexism (neoliberal sexism, belief in sexism shift). In several studies, we assessed the prevalence with which women were exposed to different types of sexism within their lifetime and within the past 12 months. We did not only assess how frequently women were the direct targets of sexism, but we also assessed how frequently they witnessed sexism against other women (vicarious sexism) and how frequently they had a general sense of being in a sexist work environment (ambient sexism).
Aiming to create a global map of workplace sexism, we are collaborating with researchers from more than 20 nations (e.g. Brazil, Turkey, Sweden, Poland) to learn more about women’s experiences with sexism at work.
Preliminary findings from five nations showed that women perceive the two most studied forms of sexism (hostile and benevolent sexism) as least prevalent in their workplaces. Instead, traditional sexism (views of women as homemakers) that many psychologists considered an attitude of the past in the Western world was surprisingly prevalent across all nations (also in the UK, US, and Sweden) and subtle traditional sexism (traditional sexism hidden behind concerns for children) was among the most prevalent forms of sexism. Newer and less studied form of sexism, such as neoliberal sexism and belief in sexism shit, were also highly prevalent in women’s workplaces.
Mapping sexism over time, we text-mined more than 2,000 leader obituaries published in newspapers between 1953 and 2019. We found that, over time, female leaders were described increasingly like men leaders, but continued to be evaluated differently (as less likable and less respectable), especially in men-dominated professions.
Investigating the strategic use of sexism, we examined whether men would use the sexist trope of ‘quota woman’ (perceptions of female beneficiaries of gender quotas as incompetent) to hide their own self-interest. Indeed, we found that (1) overall, men tended to be more concerned that gender quotas stigmatize women as incompetent than women themselves, and (2) the concerns for women were predicted by men’s own concerns of loosing out on work opportunities because of gender quotas.
