How Men and Women Treat Deadlines in the Workplace Differently – Ashley Whillans and Grant Donnelly
In this article from the Wall Street Journal, it highlighted some interesting aspects about how men and women treat deadlines differently. As a serial procrastinator, I can fully attest that deadlines have become my best friend and my worst enemy. But as this articles explains, in workplaces, women tend to negotiate less for extended time on deadlines, despite the fact that they actually may have more work to do than men. This is quantified in a study which showed that of the men and women in the testing group, the men were 2 times more likely to ask for an extension on a project that was worth 20% of their grade than the women were. These apprehensions about asking for extensions is founded from the belief that they will come across as incompetent and as a burden to their bosses or colleagues, even though most of the time, it’s not. The article outlines some potential solutions like making project extension policies that make it clear that there are protocols in place for asking for an extension and limiting the gender bias that might’ve taken place.
As a woman, I can fully attest to these sentiments because at times, I still have trouble trying to advocate for myself when it comes to trying to ask for deadlines in fear of what it would come across as to my teachers. Women, especially those who feel a need to prove themselves, are oftentimes faced with internal difficulties when trying to meet deadlines and don’t ask for help when they most need it because of the fact that women have more to lose than men most of the time. I think this bias comes inherently for some women because we feel that based on our history, that we should count ourselves lucky to be at the same level as men in the workplace or school.
As weird as it sounds, I think that sometimes the acknowledgement of the gender gaps and inequalities that are highlighted in the news are actually harmful to the inherent thinking of women when we consider what our worth is in the workplace. If you think about it like this, by telling women that they are not valued as much as men in the workplace despite the fact that they might be doing twice the work, it places a strain on how much we see our inherent self-worth. Then we feel as if we have something more to prove so that we might feel equal to our male counterparts and as a result, we think that if we show any signs of weakness to the world, let alone our bosses or teachers, that we might come across as unable to handle the workload that might be the same given to men. So instead, we see that women tend to be more averse to conflict in the workplace in order to keep their place and potentially move up the corporate ladder.
In no way am I saying that we shouldn’t publish those results of the gender inequalities, but instead change the narrative of what we are saying. We don’t need to victimize women but instead we need to start empowering them to think and know that they are equal to men in every aspect. In order to obtain equality, we need to demand it in the most candid way possible and that is starting at the very root of our identities.
