A Toxic, Dog-Eat-Dog Workplace Atmosphere That Discourages Women Brought On By An Emphasis On Brilliance
Workplaces that emphasize brilliance are perceived to have a masculine work culture that undermines gender diversity, according to a new investigation I conducted with colleagues Andrei Cimpian, Melis Muradoglu and George Newman.
We wanted to understand why women are underrepresented in fields that prize raw intellectual talent – what some people call “brilliance.” This includes many academic disciplines, such as philosophy, mathematics and economics, and industries like information technology. Despite the stereotype equating brilliance with men, women’s continued underrepresentation in these fields is not due to gender differences in intellectual ability. For instance, girls are about half of the gifted student population in the U.S. Why do fewer women go on to enter these professions?
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