Study Finds Women Leaders Encounter 30 Distinct Types of Discrimination in the Workplace

Dr. Diehl

According to a new report published in Human Resource Development Quarterly, women leaders face as many as 30 distinct types of discrimination in the workplace.

The study was led by Amy Diehl, chief information officer at Wilson College in Pennsylvania, in partnership with Leanne Dzubinski, dean of faculty development and global education at Westmont College in California, and Amber Stephenson, professor of healthcare management at Clarkson University in New York. The three scholars have previously collaborated on several research projects aimed at identifying the ways women experience gender-based discrimination in the workplace.

Dr. Dzubinski

For their latest project, Dr. Diehl and her co-authors recruited a sample of 913 women leaders from the United States who worked in one of four industries where men represent the majority of leadership roles, but the overall workforce is either women-dominated or gender-balanced: healthcare, higher education, faith-based nonprofits, and law. The participants were asked a series of open-ended questions to gauge their experiences with identity-based bias at work.

Dr. Stephenson

In analyzing the participants’ responses, the authors found 30 distinct identity-related factors that have been used against women while at work. These include facets related to their demographics, appearance and physical qualities, marital and parental status, health, political preferences, personality traits and communication styles, educational background, employment history, and more.

Dr. Diehl and her co-authors believe this variety in workplace discrimination against women suggests “almost any facet of their identity can be declared problematic for a specific woman in a specific context.” The research team recommends that human resource leaders should develop more inclusive policies that protect women’s identities and create training initiatives to ensure supervisors can recognize and address these many forms of discrimination when they arise.