Over the past seven decades, the perception of male and female abilities has changed dramatically. An analysis showed that women look as capable as men, if not more.
But they are still seen as less ambitious, which prevents them from breaking the glass ceiling, according to an analysis published this week in American Psychologist.
In fact, they are still perceived as an “emotional” stigma that has been haunted by women in the workplace for decades.
What affects the career of women and why do they lack ambition?
What is the essence of the study
This was the first study that examined ways to change people's perceptions of gender roles over a long period of time using representative samples. Researchers from Northwestern University have analyzed 16 national opinion polls with more than 30,000 respondents over the past 73 years.
Surveys interested in people's opinions on three grounds, both among men and women: the first is competence - or how smart, organized and creative a person is. The second is how affectionate, compassionate, or emotional they are. Finally, they looked at the agency, or as an ambitious, aggressive, or decisive person.
What are the results
As of last year, almost 90% of respondents (among men and women, by the way) said that men and women are equally smart, while 9% say that women are actually even smarter. This is a big change since 1946, the date of the first survey, said lead author of the study, Alice Eagly, in a statement.
“Stereotypes have changed, but they are increasingly inclined to portray women as more compassionate, affectionate and sensitive than men,” says Eagley, professor of psychology at Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences in the Northwest.
“Men are still considered more ambitious, aggressive and decisive than women, and this agency stereotype has not changed significantly since the 1940s,” adds Igley.
What is the reason
Orly thinks that the reason for this may be that women are still focused on work, where empathy and emotions are valuable assets, such as social work or training. But, she adds, these are not necessarily those jobs that pay a lot of money.
“Most leadership roles require qualities such as ambition or aggressiveness,” says Eagley, which means women are “disadvantaged in relation to leadership.”