Women at Corporations Still Navigate Stereotypes
女性在職場 仍然背負刻板印象
【2010-03-23/聯合報/G9版/夏嘉玲譯】
【PEGGY KLAUS／ESSAY／The new York Times_UNITEDDAILYNEWS／Page.8】
Last fall, while working with corporate women across various industries, job levels and generations, an age-old issue reemerged at a near-fever pitch. Women were obsessed about being labeled a “bitch,” and to a degree I hadn’t seen since the 1990s.
The reason for their nervousness? Sure, they saw obnoxious women on reality TV shows. And they endured all the talk-show lampooning of Sarah Palin and Hillary Rodham Clinton during the 2008 presidential campaign. Yet one issue was even more personal: A recession was in full swing, and jobs were on the line.
As one woman put it, “Even in this day and age, a guy barks out an order and he is treated like someone who is in charge and a leader. But when a woman communicates in the exact same way, she’s immediately labeled assertive, dominating, aggressive and overbearing.”
|-How Should women deal with a double standard-|
Today, women make up half of the work force, and half of the enrollment at medical and law schools. With numbers like these, you’d think that women could finally relax and stop worrying about how they are being perceived at the office.
But women must still deal with a well-entrenched double standard when it comes to genderacceptable behavior. Because of that, they often fall victim to self-defeating actions that can undercut their careers. They may assume a strident command- and-control approach or else turn passive — by clamming up, being indirect, failing to ask for what they want or need, and refusing to delegate junior-level tasks and responsibilities.
Consider one of my clients, whose male subordinate had botched a financial analysis. Though he was at fault, she was reluctant to tell him how badly he had done because of how she would be perceived. Instead of asking him to redo it, she planned to fix the report herself.
It’s hard to blame women for this type of behavior, especially when you look at the research.
One study from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh and Harvard University gave participants descriptions of men and women with equivalent qualifications who had applied for a fictitious job. <<FORMAL AND INFORMAL DISCRIMINATION AGAINST WOMEN AT WORK>>
When told that some candidates had tried to negotiate for a higher salary, the study participants — whether men or women — found fault at twice the rate with the women who negotiated than with the men who negotiated. Translation? Pushy women are less likely to be hired.
So how do women stay strong and in control, given this narrower band of acceptable behavior? They can start by revamping their communication style, resisting the extremes of acting too forcefully or shyly.
When I suggest to women that they make communication adjustments, there’s often a huge pushback. “Why do we have to change? It’s not fair,” they tell me. But women must be more mindful and use greater finesse when conveying their messages. We need to become better chameleon communicators and to carefully read our audience, adjusting our style to the circumstances.
Let me be clear. I’m not asking you to give up your soul — but rather to exercise new communication muscles so you can be heard in a variety of situations by a wide range of people.
The ultimate goal: for them to get the message without wanting to get back at you.
(中譯網頁: udn個人理財 - 理財百寶箱 - 商英精選情報 - 女性在職場 仍然背負刻板印象)
去年秋季，我和涵蓋不同產業、職級、世代的企業女員工共事時，一個老掉牙的議題再度火熱出現。女性對於被貶為「機車女」十分在意，而且在意的程度是1990年代以來我不曾見過的。
她們為什麼如此緊張？當然啦，她們在電視真人實境秀看到一堆惹人厭的女性；2008年總統大選競選期間，也忍受了脫口秀節目對莎拉．裴林和希拉蕊．柯林頓的冷嘲熱諷。然而有個問題更切身：眼前正在經濟衰退的當口上，飯碗可能不保。
如同一名女性說的：「即使到了這年頭，男性喝令他人，仍會被視為具有主管或領袖的架式。換成女性這麼樣和人溝通，馬上會被說成武斷、霸道、咄咄逼人且專橫。」
如今，勞動人口有一半是女性，醫學院、法學院招收的學生也有半數是女性。諸如此類數據會讓你認為，女人終於可以鬆口氣，不必再擔心在職場上被別人另眼看待了。
然而若論到不同性別所能為人接受的行為，女性仍得因應根深柢固的雙重標準。基於這個原因，她們往往在行為上弄巧成拙，反而傷害了自己的事業。她們可能會採取強硬的命令控制方式，也可能轉為被動─默不作聲、間接、不提出她們的要求或需要、拒絕把較低階的任務和責任分派出去。
我有這麼個客戶，她一個男下屬把財務分析報告搞砸了，雖然錯在他，她卻因為顧忌別人對自己的觀感而不願告訴下屬他做的多差。她沒叫他重做報告，打算自己動手補救。
也難怪女性會有這類行為，看到相關研究的結果後，你更能明白。
匹茲堡卡內基美隆大學和哈佛大學合作了一項研究，告訴受測者有資格相當的男男女女應徵一個假設的工作。
受測者被告以有些應徵者想把薪水談得高一點時，受測者不分男女，挑女應徵者毛病的比率是挑男應徵者毛病的二倍。如何解讀？盛氣凌人的女性比較不會受到聘雇。
因此，在可被接受行為尺度比男性嚴的情況下，女性如何才能維持強勢、掌控大局？她們可以從改善溝通模式開始，避免太強勢或靦腆的極端行為。
當我建議女性調整溝通方式時，往往引起強力反彈。她們對我說：「為什麼我們必須改變？這不公平。」但女性傳達訊息時，必須更用心，手腕要更細膩。我們溝通時要更能隨機應變，謹慎體察對方的心思，依情況調整溝通模式。
我挑明說好了，我不是要你們出賣靈魂，而是要你動用新的溝通力量，讓你的聲音在種種情況下都被更多人聽見。
終極目標是，讓對方明白你的意思，卻不會回過頭來找你算帳。
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ps. 網路無國界也是學習的優質方式. 
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