Gender Socialization In Society

From birth we are assigned a gender and we are socialized to conform to certain gender roles based on the assigned sex. These gender roles are based on standards or norms, created by society. In certain countries like the U.S. masculine roles are usually thought to be closely associated with strength, dominance and aggression while feminine genders are usually associated with nurturing, passiveness and subordination.

However it is a lot more complicated than that. Some scientists claim that certain aspects of human biology, from hormones to chromosomes to brain size differences and genetics all contribute to the innate differences between men and women. Since all societies have unique norms and values that vary there can be no archetype

The first study group who thought that they were playing with the baby boy, offered the baby toys such as rattle or toy car. The other study group who thought they were playing with a baby girl offered the baby a doll. The two study groups even handles each child differently. The first group who thought that were playing with the baby boy, bounced it on their knee and stimulated the baby 's entire body, whereas the other group who though they were playing with a baby girl were much more gentle and less vigorous. Perhaps this is because the study group perceived the baby girl as fragile compared to the baby

This means that those at the top of the company, who are predominantly men, will have a major influence how the organisation manages its talent pool. Those that get promoted will often mirror traits and biases of those at the top of the company. This is a vicious cycle causes men to dominate executive positions.

In another study, senior managers were asked to rate leadership attributes that they associated with a man or a woman. It was found that "taking charge" was perceived predominantly as a male trait and "taking care" was associated with a woman.

Certain traits that are perceived as feminine can also be seen as less vital to leadership. This can lead women being evaluated more negatively than a man for positions in leadership.

This does not only have a negative impact on women but also the company itself. Women are less likely to be chosen to work in positions of power because of false stereotypes. To combat this, organisations must become vigilant in identifying and eliminating these stereotypes to overcome gender bias and take advantage of their full talent