Subtle sexism: 10 things you could be encountering daily at work

In the public awareness campaign, “That’s Harassment,” writer and director Sigal Avin uses her short films to show the toll more overt sexual harassment can take on one's career or personal life.

While not all sexism is necessarily harassment, sexist attitudes from a manager or co-workers can be emotionally damaging, and can quash confidence and stunt otherwise promising careers. Depending on the type and severity of workplace sexism, different actions should be taken.

But whether you need to leave the company, address it with your boss or have a casual conversation with co-workers about your concerns, the first step is identifying if the problem exists in your workplace.

Would you recognize these 10 subtle forms of sexism that can occur in the workplace?

It’s never appropriate for an employer to ask questions about an employee’s plans for children or their personal life, especially in an interview or performance review. A person’s decision to have a child should not be a factor in a raise or promotion. Whether you’re planning for a stop-gap employment or not, a hiring manager assuming or considering your family plans is sexism.

With the majority of recreational golfers being male, female executives say more decisions than you may think are made on the green instead of the office, often putting women at a disadvantage.

But the lack of inclusion can continue past the golf course. A woman’s career can be affected by guys-only lunches or football game watch parties, where females are simply excluded. In an effort to reduce workplace inequality, men and women should be aware of this, focus on inclusivity or keep work separate from leisure activities with co-workers.

Kathy Higgins, a vice president at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina, is a recreational golfer, which she says has consistently served her career well.

“You’re networking with men who are in leadership positions, you have access to information,” Higgins said.

Higgins said women should consider picking up the game or at least be aware of the conversations that are happening on the course, and how it could be affecting their colleagues’ career opportunities.

Unless it is part of her job description, a woman should not always be fetching the coffee or organizing the retirement celebrations. Event planning or calling the company caterer should not automatically be a woman’s role, taking her away from more important tasks that will move her career forward. Next time there’s a company lunch or party, take note of the person coordinating.

Especially if you work in the private sector, you likely don’t know what your peers are making. It might not necessarily be appropriate to directly ask your co-workers about their salaries, but it’s important to recognize that pay discrepancies occur in nearly every single field examined by the United States Census.

From restaurant workers to financial planners, men on average tend to earn more money than women in nearly every profession. In general, the higher the salary, the larger the discrepancy between males and females.

While these aren’t necessarily bad characteristics, when a supervisor is considering candidates for a role traditionally performed by men, the assumed characteristics already put her at a disadvantage. This “lack of fit” assumption can affect both male and female superiors.

Heilman describes the the expectations as “lethal,” when a role requires someone expected to be assertive, decisive and rational instead.

On the other side of the same coin, prescriptive bias occurs when women don’t conform to those assumed “female” personality traits. When women are expected to be warm, friendly and emotional, a woman who does not possess those traits can throw people off. If she’s disliked for being cold or bossy, and therefore doesn’t get a promotion or project role, she’s likely facing prescriptive bias.

A professional in her 30s, Lindsay Singler has spent the majority of her career in the Triangle. As she moved up the career ladder in biopharmaceutical and health communications, Singler said she had many female co-workers at the start of her career, but they quickly became the minority.

“When you start getting towards the top, it suddenly becomes pale and male,” she said.

In almost every industry or field, you are significantly more likely to have a male supervisor than a female. But, according to polling collected by Gallup in November — around a month after the allegations against Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein broke — the public’s decades-long preference for male bosses has shifted dramatically. Whether that’s a response to recent news or a cultural shift, only time will tell.

Higgins said it’s not uncommon for a woman’s idea to be discarded until a man mentions it. She said being aware of the phenomenon is the first step in recognizing what’s been called “meeting plagiarism.”

“When an idea is proposed, a person should say the name of the woman with the idea. You then recognize the person holding that idea. When that doesn’t happen, someone else, often times a man, is going to get the credit,” Higgins said.

It’s not about agreeing on an idea, it’s about respect, she said.

“It gives her ownership of the idea. We need to have a common decency and respect for one another to rise up.”

A hypothetical CEO or accountant should not always be a “he,” and the hypothetical administrative assistant should not always be “she” during boardroom brainstorming sessions.

“Pet names” in the office by either male and female co-workers are also inappropriate and create an unprofessional hierarchy.

Whether it’s the broken copy machine or more numbers-based work assignments, if you get the sense that co-workers or supervisors are assuming you have a lack of technical or quantitative skills just because you are female, you’re experiencing another form of implicit gender bias.