In leadership conversations, women are often expected to display a combination of competence and warmth due to gendered societal expectations of them. If they’re unable to display this potent mix, they can often face negative career consequences.

Research from the University of Michigan explores how this affects women and what they can do about it. The researchers examined various first-person accounts of female directors on the boards of a number of publicly traded companies. The analysis reveals six tactics commonly used to manage stereotypes when operating in male-dominated roles or industries.

Selective tactics

The research found that the tactics used were highly context specific depending particularly on the goals they wanted to achieve in each set of circumstances.

“Notably, we uncover that the choice of which participation tactic to employ is a function of women directors’ specific participation aims, or advisory goals on the board, as they attempt to avoid perceived backlash from violating the stereotypical concerns of the double bind,” the researchers explain.

Some participants used so-called warmth-based tactics, such as asking and connecting, in order to diversify conversations, whereas others used more competence-based tactics, such as asserting and qualifying to amplify their expertise. Others used a combination of the two approaches.

“A troubling outcome of our work is that women must never stop adapting to gendered expectations,” the authors explain. “This reality might fuel women’s resistance to taking on advisory positions and explain the disproportionate levels of burnout that women experience from having to regulate their behavior constantly. This may manifest as higher turnover among women in advisory positions, which could signal women ‘opting-out’ of leadership opportunities.

“It may also perpetuate gender stereotypes, reproduce gender inequality on boards and produce potential blind spots in institutional governance and oversight.”

The researchers believe that there are clearly systemic challenges to overcome if women are to make progress in organizations, especially at board level, where expectations are so often gendered.

“Our findings underscore that just adding women to boards is not enough to ensure their participation,” the authors conclude. “It is a timely and important topic given the interest in retaining and engaging women at the highest echelons of business and governance.”