Female supervisors are significantly more likely to be sexually harassed at work than women who do not oversee others because male co-workers target them as a way to equalize power in the office, say the authors of a new study on gender and workplace control.
Nearly 50 per cent 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, whose large-scale longitudinal study was presented at the annual meeting of the American Sociological Association this weekend.
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.
The study involved data from the Youth Development Study, which began in 1988 with a sample of 1,010 ninth graders in the St. Paul, Minn., public school district and has continued ever since. More than 500 women responded to the sexual harassment surveys, which were conducted in 2003 and 2004, when the respondents 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,” Ms. McLaughlin said.
Another survey revealed that women supervisors were 137 per cent more likely to be sexually harassed than women who did not hold managerial roles. These respondents had dealt with everything from 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.”
Given that some of the study respondents were responsible for pay raises and advancement opportunities, the findings are somewhat surprising, Ms. McLaughlin said. “It's kind of counter-intuitive,” she said of the harassment.
So what did guys get out of it?
Ms. 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.”
Ms. 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.”
