Based on the work of Joan Williams and Rachel Dempsey, this slide deck describes the four major patterns of bias women face in the workplace, and offers advice on how to manage those biases to succeed in your career.

1. MANAGINGTHE
FOURPATTERNSOFGENDERBIAS
jessica lucci // @luccacabra
ACT-W 2017

2. DISCLAIMER
not every solution works for every woman in
every situation
based on factual research
for navigation in the current day workplace

3. 1%v a r i a n c e
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
0 25 50 75
F E M A L E
M A L E
53%
35%

4. 5%v a r i a n c e
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
0 25 50 75
F E M A L E
M A L E
58%
29%

5. F E M A L E
M A L ESTART
prove-it-again
femme
tomboy

6. TOMBOYFEMME
respected
dislikedwell - liked
disrespected

7. START
prove-it-again
femme
tomboy
the tightrope
get pregnant
have baby
the maternal wall
the tug of war
F E M A L E
M A L E

8. PROVE - IT - AGAIN

9. menarejudgedbytheirpotential;
womenarejudgedbytheiraccomplishments

10. w r i t e e v e r y t h i n g d o w n
o v e r p r e p a r e
a s k f o r f e e d b a c k i n
r e l a t i o n t o a m a l e p e e r
p i c k a s p e c i a l t y

11. "I've noticed my code reviews have more comments
and take longer to push through than John's reviews.
What can I learn from his reviews to help me increase
my ticket throughput?"
"What are my strengths and weaknesses in relation
to other engineers at my level?"
"I saw that Nick was chosen to lead the new project.
What can I change about my performance to get a
similar opportunity?"

12. men'ssuccessesareattributedtoskill.
women'ssuccessesareattributedtoluck.
and mistakes are just the opposite.

13. WHO'S AWESOME ?
Y O U A R E

14. THE TIGHTROPE

15. TOMBOYFEMME
respected
dislikedwell - liked
disrespected

16. find a balance ... but stand your ground
start where he is ... but never compromise your values
never. ever. get the coffee.
stop apologizing ... unless you actually made a mistake

17. THE MATERNAL WALL

18. Oh, you're a mother now?
you must be:
uncommitted to your work
unable to juggle work and family life
incapable of handling difficult work
femme

19. make your commitment explicit
" I don't know how you do it! Don't you feel bad leaving your kids
at home? Don't you miss them? "
address the issue
don't leave before you leave
present solutions

20. THE TUG OF WAR

21. TOKENISM
the practice of making only a perfunctory or symbolic effort to do a
particular thing, especially by recruiting a small number of people from
underrepresented groups in order to give the appearance of sexual
or racial equality within a workforce

22. start getting women working together
stop embracing the "only one" mindset
stop competing against gender
start networking with other women

23. TOMBOYS
FEMMES
vs.

24. there is no right way to be a woman
but remember, every woman is fighting the same
battles as you
you don't have to be friends with every woman,
every woman has found her own balance
be each other's advocates
stand up for one another

25. Because I am a woman, I must make unusual efforts to
succeed. If I fail, no one will say 'She doesn't have what it
takes.' They will say, 'Women don't have what it takes.'
"
"
- CLARE BOOTHE LUCE

26. LOVE YO' SELF

27. PROVE-IT-AGAIN TIGHTROPE
MATERNAL WALLTUG OF WAR
keep a track record
there is no right way to be a woman
don't leave before you leave
find your balance
don't compromise your values
embrace your successes
be each other's advocates
force objective comparisons
don't embrace token-ism
don't accept menial work
beware the back-handed compliment
make your commitment explicit

28. SAUCE
What Works for Women at Work
Gender Bias Bingo
Male-Female Differences: A Computer Simulation
5 Ways to Avoid Black Tokenism