The Role of Data Analytics in Assessing Gender Equality in the Workplace

A fascinating piece of research conducted by Ben Waber (January 2014) addresses a constant concern in the business world: work-life balance and equitable treatment of women. As Sheryl Sandberg, COO FaceBook) claims, "Who isn't going to choose life over work?"  Waber makes the argument for women to scale the peaks of professional stature they have to be wealthy, superhuman, or self-employed. The equal treatment for women in the workforce is littered with economic and cultural obstacles.
To get a better read on the contrasting styles of men and women and to determine if the difference is linked to career outcomes, Waber analyzed behaviors in three different companies:

• banking call center (more than 10,000 employees)
• office products manufacturer (about 10,000 employees)
• pharmaceutical company (1,000 employees)

He tracked conversations, speech patterns (he ignored actual content to protect privacy), who interacted with whom, e-mail, instant message and phone call data. Sociometrics is a technique that analyzes patterns of relationships and social engagement; in short, this is hard behavioral data. Here are his findings:

• At the call center women were more productive than men (this was the only company that had quantifiable productivity) completing calls 24 seconds more quickly; a 9% difference in productivity.
• No difference in workplace performance or collaborative styles were observed to support the idea that men and women perform or interact differently.
• Women were disadvantaged when it came to winning promotions and reaching the upper echelons of management.
• At the pharmaceutical company despite a 50/50 gender split, women were only 13% of the top executive positions.

In another study conducted by Cornell University researchers submitted 1,276 fake resumes for real jobs listed in the classified section of the local paper. The resumes were identical but varied in gender and whether the candidate had children. The faux male candidates with kids were most hirable. Next were men and women without kids. And least desirable were women with children.
Subjects told researchers they

• viewed women as more likely than men to sacrifice work duties for family commitments
• Male candidates with kids were viewed as more responsible

Conflicting attitudes about a mother's role complicate a woman's career in ways that are of no concern for men. This is an issue that has been around for decades and continues today. To change these deep seated attitudes will require a sustained and conscious effort. Every organization should ask:

Do Men Get Bonus Points for Being Fathers
and
Are Women Penalized for Being Mothers?

US Forest Service
Missoula, MT
Smart Talk
April 2014

• My only complaint was the program was only 4 hours long. Such great hands on guidelines for ways to enhance our credibility through our communication style.
• Audrey is such a professional and really knows communication. I especially liked the Code Switching Quotient self-assessment. It helped me identify the possible gaps in my credibility. This should be a required course for anyone who wants to be taken seriously!
• I liked Audrey's stories. They help me relate to the points being made about how we communicate credibility. We were all engaged and wished the program was longer.