Research: When Employees Identify with Their Company, They’re Less Likely to Recognize Gender Discrimination

Beware the “not here” bias.

by

and

Michelle Ryan

by

and

Michelle Ryan

May 03, 2024

piranka/Getty Images

Summary.

Identifying as an organizational member — or feeling a strong sense of attachment to the organization — is generally a positive thing for employees and employers. But our research on workplace incivility and mistreatment shows that it can also shape when — and if — employees recognize and respond to subtle forms of discrimination against women at work. Evidence shows that leaders, as well as employees, play a key role in identifying and remedying gender discrimination in all its forms. If the goal is to proactively address gender discrimination in the workplace and encourage leaders and workers to remove their rose-colored glasses, this article offers a few suggestions.

You’re in the elevator of your office building. The doors open and two coworkers — one male and one female — enter the elevator in a heated debate. The female employee is trying to explain an issue on a project she’s leading, but the male employee interrupts her: “Geez, I’ve heard enough of you and your opinions!” The woman falls silent, clearly upset and shaken by the comment.

JG

Jamie L. Gloor is a Swiss National Science Foundation professor of Leadership & Diversity Science at the University of St.Gallen in Switzerland. Her research, teaching, and speaking focus on diversity and inclusion, leadership, humor, and sustainability to craft more equitable, enjoyable, and productive workplaces with positive impact.
TO

Tyler Okimoto is a professor of management and academic dean within the faculty of Business, Economics, and Law at the University of Queensland. His research aims to understand the factors that bias employee judgments and lead to discrimination at work, and how organizations can work through biased viewpoints to promote consensus and a greater sense of fairness.
XL

Xinxin Li is an associate professor of management at the Antai College of Economics and Management at the Shanghai Jiao Tong University. Her research focuses on DEI, business ethics, and emotions at work.
BG

Brooke Gazdag is an associate professor and academic director of executive education at the Kühne Logistics University in Hamburg, Germany. Through her research and teaching, she seeks to improve employees’ experience at work through leadership, negotiations, and diversity and inclusion.
MR

Michelle Ryan is a professor of social and organizational psychology and the director of the Global Institute for Women’s Leadership at The Australian National University. Her work centers on understanding the psychological processes underlying workplace gender inequality, and designing and implementing innovative and evidence-based interventions to increase gender equality.

Research: When Employees Identify with Their Company, They’re Less Likely to Recognize Gender Discrimination

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