WiT Vietnam Workshop

Leanne Meyer, Executive Director

Accelerate Leadership Center
Tepper School of Business
Carnegie Mellon University
leanneme@andrew.cmu.edu
• When did you realize that you
felt differently from the other
gender?

• When did you first become

aware of gender differences in
the workplace?
The Leadership Gap
 Percentage of Female Faculty
(Schools Ranked 1-25)
2015 2000 2000 2011 2016
P&Q School Female Female Female Female Differenc
Rank Faculty Faculty Faculty Faculty e

1 Harvard 20 22 22 28 8

2 Stanford 15 17 19 23 8

3 Chicago (Booth) 12 13 15 15 3

4 Wharton 15 17 19 20 5

5 Northwestern (Kellogg) 24 17 19 19 -5

6 Columbia 16 13 18 19 3

7 MIT (Sloan) 17 12 22 21 4

8 California-Berkeley (Haas) 17 22 30 22 5

9 Dartmouth (Tuck) 18 24 21 21 3

10 Yale 11 15 19 25 14

11 Duke (Fuqua) 20 22 18 17 -3

12 Virginia (Darden) 27 23 22 25 -2
Percentage of Female Faculty (Cont‘d.)

2015 2000 2000 2011 2016

P&Q School Female Female Female Female Differenc
Rank Faculty Faculty Faculty Faculty e

13 Michigan (Ross) 20 26 23 24 4

14 UCLA (Anderson) 14 9 17 22 8

15 Cornell (Johnson) 20 27 25 22 2

16 New York University (Stern) 20 19 16 22 2

17 North Carolina (Kenan-Flagler) 19 17 23 25 6

18 Texas (McCombs) 19 25 29 26 7

19 Carnegie Mellon (Tepper) 9 17 19 20 11

20 Emory (Goizueta) 25 28 22 26 1

21 Indiana (Kelley) 22 NR 27 24 2

22 University of Washington (Foster) NR 28 27 32 4

23 Georgetown (McDonough) 22 28 24 28 6

24 Notre Dame (Mendoza) 13 23 24 26 13

25 Michigan State (Broad) 14 21 NR 33 19

Female academics ‗interrupted more in interviews
than men‘
Stereotype Quiz: Which Gender is…

Viewed as warmer and more likable?

Viewed as more helpful, supportive, nurturing?

Viewed as more trustworthy and moral?

Viewed as more arrogant and egotistical?

Viewed as more dangerous and aggressive?

Viewed as more selfish (e.g., more likely to pursue

own goals at others‘ expense)?

Q: What does this pattern tell us?

 We Like Women More than Men
Male respondents
Glick et al. (2004) 1.2
Female respondents
1
• Participants in 0.8
various nations
reported traits they Women 0.6
rated
associate with 0.4
more
women/men favorably 0.2
0
• Rated each trait‘s Men rated
favorability more -0.2
favorably -0.4
Discrimination Quiz: Which Gender is…

More likely to be offered help on a technical task?

More likely to be treated gently, not harshly?

More likely to be asked to serve in a support role?

More likely to receive challenging assignments?

More likely to receive a higher salary?

More likely to be promoted?

Q: What does this pattern tell us?

We Respect Men More than Women
1.2
Male respondents
Glick et al. (2004) Female respondents
Women0.7
• In some nations, rated
participants rated higher 0.2
degree to which
gendered traits are
associated with status Men -0.3
and power rated
higher -0.8

-1.3
Additional Information

Harvard‘s Implicit Association study showed

that 76% people are gender-biased and tend to
think of men as better suited for careers and
women as better home-makers

https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/
Critical Differences in the Workplace

Women experience a different organization

environment than men, affecting how women
perform.

The Double Bind M-shaped Careers

The Double Bind
• Too soft, too tough, but never just right
– When she acts in ways that are inconsistent
with gender stereotypes, she is viewed as
unfeminine; too tough.
• Competent or likeable—rarely both
– When she acts in ways traditionally valued for
leadership (assertive) she tends to be seen as
competent, but not effective interpersonally.
• Women face higher standards and lower
rewards; they must prove they can lead, over
& over.
The M-shaped Career
 Consistent theme in the data:

STEADY FOCUS wins the day, yet…

CALL TO ACTION:

5 Areas Where We Can Make a Difference

1 Hiring

2 Women in Meetings
5
3 Performance Feedback

4 Career Development

5 Work-Life Integration
Hiring

TAKE ACTION

 INTERVIEW: Make sure there is a diverse interview

panel which includes the decision makers
BE CONSCIOUS
 GENDER NEUTRAL :Ensure gendered language is
deleted in job descriptions. Evaluate people comparatively
 Interview panels often lack diverse representation
and not anchored in gender stereotypes
 Job descriptions with traditional male attributes
 ROLE CLARITY: Make sure there is a clear job
often make it unattractive for women
description and what you are looking for
 Success and likeability are correlated positively for
men and negatively for women.

 Women are hired based on accomplishments, men

are on potential. Unclear criteria lead to
pronounced bias
 Women in Meetings

TAKE ACTION

 ENCOURAGE PARTICIPATION: Expertise of women

BE CONSCIOUS
 Women speak less, are interrupted more, and have their
ideas more harshly scrutinized
to be leveraged and be encouraged to meaningfully
contribute
 INCREASE VISIBILITY: Women need to sit in front
and center at meetings to get visibility

 Male executives who speak more often than their peers  ACKNOWLEDGE RIGHTFUL OWNERS: Look for
received competence ratings 10 percent higher. But opportunities to provide credit for ideas to the person
female executives who speak out more were rated 14 who first proposed them, irrespective of gender
percent less competent than less talkative women.

 Women are often invited to meetings as gender

representation

 Men sit in the front and center seats, while women tend
to gravitate toward the ends of the table or edge of the
room
Performance Feedback

TAKE ACTION

• CREATE CLARITY : Be specific about what constitutes

excellent performance. Feedback model: What? So What?
Now what?
BE CONSCIOUS
• BE CONSCIOUS : When evaluating performance, be
aware of and listen for possible gender bias and use
 Feedback discussions anchored in gender gender neutral verbiage
stereotypes and not objective
 EVALUATION: Evaluate people comparatively
 Risk of patronizing approach and providing softer
and non-specific feedback to women

 Women are very likely to be promoted based on

accomplishments, men on potential
Career Development
BE CONSCIOUS
 Men typically attribute their success to internal
qualities and skills, women attribute success to
external factors
 When a woman fails, she is more likely to cite lack
of ability. When a man fails, he often cites situational
factors
TAKE ACTION
 ENCOURAGE SELF-ADVOCACY: Communicate to
all associates the importance to negotiate and advocate
for themselves.
 QUESTION THE OBVIOUS: Seek clarifications- when
women say that they‘re ―not ready‖ or ―not qualified‖ for
an opportunity
 ENCOURAGE RISK TAKING: Encourage women to
take stretch assignments.
 CELEBRATE SUCCESS: Encourage rising stars to
pursue line roles and celebrate the women who set an
example of this
Work-Life Integration

TAKE ACTION

 EVEN PLAYING FIELD: Don‘t assume mothers won‘t

take on challenging assignments or travel.
BE CONSCIOUS  BE SUPPORTIVE: Let all associates know you support
their decisions to take leave and plan for their return
 Women experience a ―maternal wall‖ when they accordingly. Avoid statements like ―I don‘t know how you
have children do it‖.

 Motherhood triggers assumptions that a woman is  FLEXIBLE OPERATING MODELS: Plan to allow
less committed to their career. This impacts primary scheduling and location flexibility, when possible, to
care-givers too accommodate key talent

 Women with family commitments are often  DISTRIBUTE WORK EVENLY: Audit who‘s doing
overlooked for growth opportunities and get most operational and support work and make sure it‘s
of the operational and support roles and potentially distributed evenly.
less challenging work as well
 Critical
Differences in
the Classroom
Do women students
have a different
experience than male
students in the
classroom affecting
how they act and
perform?
Differences in Student Behavior

A number of influential studies have found that female students are:

• less likely to raise their hands immediately in response to initial

questions than male students
• less likely to blurt out answers or demand the teacher's attention
• less likely to receive peers' approval if they "break rules"
• less likely to receive feedback, whether praise, help, or criticism
• less likely to have their comments credited, developed, adopted, or
even remembered by the group
• more likely to be interrupted when they speak or to have other
students answer questions directed to them.
Differences in Student Behavior

Male students tend to…

• Speak more frequently and longer in class discussions.

• Are more likely to blurt out answers without raising their hands or
being recognized by the instructor
Female students tend to…

• Be less likely to take part in class discussions. When they do, these
students are more likely to be interrupted before they complete
their response (sometimes by other female students).
• Make their statements less loudly and at less length.
• Express their ideas in a more hesitant, tentative, indirect, less
assertive, or more polite manner. Examples include phrasing a
statement as a question or appending such phrases as "I guess" or
"Don't you think" or "I may be wrong‖
Differences in Self-image and Self-preservation

Still other studies conclude that female students…

• Are more likely than men to attribute success to hard work or luck
rather than skill.
• Require higher grades to persist in a field than men do.
• Are more likely to blame themselves for a lack of success than are
male students.
• Are more likely to refer to personal experiences in class.
• Tend to feel less comfortable in public debate.
• Are more likely to be interrupted when they speak.
• Are more likely to make one-time contributions and not speak again.
• Are more likely to phrase their comments in a hesitant manner.
• Are less likely than male students to shape the agenda of the
discussion.
A large body of research shows that
instructors:

• Call on male students more frequently than female students.

• Are more likely to use male students‘ names when calling
upon students and in attributing ideas advanced in
discussion.
• Ask male students more abstract questions and female
students more factual questions.
• Are less likely to elaborate upon points made by female
students.
“The first question is: Can learning take place if in fact it silences
the voices of the people it is supposed to teach? And the answer
is: Yes. People learn that they don’t count.”
-Henry Giroux, Border Crossings:
Cultural Workers and the Politics of Education
Two psychological phenomena that impact a students‘ self-
confidence and feeling of belonging in the classroom:

• Stereotype Threat
• Imposter Syndrome
Stereotype Threat
Imposter Syndrome
Top Strategies for Inclusive Teaching

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Establish Guidelines for Interaction
Be Transparent About Expectations

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Do Not Ask Individuals to Speak for an
Entire Group
If Conflict Arises, Acknowledge It

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Illustrate Concepts with Multiple and
Diverse Examples

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Promote a Growth Mindset

Stay Curious!
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Include a Diversity Statement in the Syllabus

―Respect for Diversity: It is my intent that students from all

diverse backgrounds and perspectives be well served by this
course, that students‘ learning needs be addressed both in and
out of class, and that the diversity that students bring to this
class be viewed as a resource, strength and benefit. It is my
intent to present materials and activities that are respectful of
diversity: gender, sexuality, disability, age, socioeconomic status,
ethnicity, race, and culture.Your suggestions are encouraged
and appreciated. Please let me know ways to improve the
effectiveness of the course for you personally or for other
students or student groups. In addition, if any of our class
meetings conflict with your religious events, please let me
know so that we can make arrangements for you.‖
Source: University of Iowa College of Education
Include a Diversity Statement in the Syllabus

―The topics that we‘re covering in this class are often difficult, not
just intellectually but emotionally. While I expect there to be
rigorous discussion and even disagreement in the course of our
class discussions, I ask that you engage in discussion with care and
empathy for the other members in the classroom. Aim to disagree
without becoming disagreeable. In this class we will not shy away
from the uncomfortable. Critically examining and assessing our
most basic assumptions and values is not just one of the tasks of
philosophy but is an activity vital to living an authentic life. I urge
you to have the courage to the uncomfortable in this class. In
exchange for your courage, I will work to ensure a classroom
environment that supports your taking these intellectual and
emotional risks.‖
Source: Whitman College
Include a Diversity Statement in the Syllabus

“A university is a place where the universality of the human experience manifests itself.”
-Albert Einstein

In keeping with the spirit of Einstein‘s viewpoint, the Department of

Communication Studies is committed to providing an atmosphere of learning that
is representative of a variety of perspectives. In this class, you will have the
opportunity to express and experience cultural diversity as we focus on issues
such as: gender and communication in small groups, communication in the
multicultural group, and cross-cultural and intercultural workgroup communication.
In addition, writing assignments and daily activities have been designed to
encourage individuality and creative expression. You are encouraged to not only
take advantage of these opportunities in your own work, but also, learn from the
information and ideas shared by other students.‖
Source: University of Alabama, Department of Communication Studies
If you want to create your own diversity
statement
• Your statement should articulate to your students why being
inclusive matters to you, specifically, and how that relates to your
discipline, course, and desired classroom climate.
• It can be helpful to consider your discipline's history with
underrepresented groups.
• After drafting your statement, check whether the rest of your
syllabus and course design matches your diversity statement in tone
and spirit—that is to say, is it also positive and inclusive?
• Be inclusive by recognizing different types of diversity in your
statement.
Communicate high standards and confidence
in students through feedback

This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND

Model inclusive language

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Women and Confidence:
A Coaching Conversation
How Confident Are You?

Confidence Continuum
Weak Strong
Do you aspire
to top
management
within your
organization?
 Do you have
the
confidence
you can reach
top
management?
Companies Drain Women‘s Ambition After
Only 2 Years
The Confidence Conundrum
When do you experience the most self-
doubt and why?
Confidence, then?
Confidence

• Confidence is a belief in one‘s ability to succeed, a belief that

stimulates action. In turn, taking action bolsters one‘s belief in one‘s
ability to succeed. So confidence accumulates—through hard work,
through success, and even through failure.
• It is the factor that turns thoughts into judgments about what we are
capable of, and that then transforms those judgments into action.
• Confidence is the stuff that turns thoughts into action.
Confidence

• Confidence is linked to doing.

• One of the essential ingredients in confidence is action–the belief that
we can succeed at things and make them happen.
• Its about not letting your doubts consume you.
• It is a willingness to go out of your comfort zone and do hard things.
• Its about having resilience and not giving up.
• Its about doing things instead of just thinking about doing them
What differences, if any, do you see in how
men and women display confidence?
Honest Overconfidence

Men tilt toward overconfidence:

• Honest overconfidence
• Men on average rate their performance to be 30% better
than it is.
• They are not trying to fool anyone
Do men doubt themselves?

Of course. But they don‘t examine those doubts in such

excruciating detail and they do not let those doubts stop
them as often as women do.
What is the impact of under- confidence?

• When women don‘t act, when we hesitate because we aren‘t sure, we

hold ourselves back at key moments in our careers (job application
and/or promotion, presentation, pitch)
• We shy away from the promotion and self-select out of new
opportunities because we think we are under-qualified. We avoid risks
and miss new opportunities that would push us past our comfort
zones. This hesitation has consequences (e.g., whose ideas adopted,
who gets the job, the promotion).
Common Confidence Mistakes
Women Make
Over-thinking
Inability To Let Go of Defeats; Believing
Failure Is A Failure.
People Pleasing

―Occasionally I‘ll be sitting There is only one way to avoid

somewhere and I‘ll be listening criticism: do nothing, say nothing,
to someone perhaps not saying be nothing.
the kindest things about me. And —Aristotle
I‘ll look down at my hand and I‘ll
sort of pinch my skin to make
sure it still has the requisite
thickness I know Eleanor
Roosevelt expects me to have.‖
—Hillary Clinton

This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA-NC

Perfectionism… We never leave our comfort
zones

Life begins at the

end of your
comfort zone.
—Neale Donald Walsch
―I‘ve been absolutely terrified
every moment of my life – and
I‘ve never let it keep me from
doing a single thing I wanted
to do.‖
—Georgia O‘Keeffe
What is ―Executive Presence‖?
Executive presence is about the brand or impression
that comes to mind when people see you, hear your
name, or think about you. Presence is about how you
package and tell your story. It's about how you engage
with others. It's about understanding how others see
you.
Understanding Your Leadership Brand

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Whether you like it or not, you have a brand!

?
Building Your Leadership Brand
Whether you like it or not, you have a brand!

• It‘s the impression that comes to mind when people see you,
hear your name, or think about you.
• It defines who you are, what you stand for, what makes you
unique, special, and different, how you are great, and why you
should be sought out.
• A brand conveys your identity and distinctiveness.
• It communicates the value you offer.
• If you have the wrong brand for the position you have or the
position
Building Your Leadership Brand

• What professional or business attributes would you say

people recognize you for?
• What value would you say you provide? What problems do
you easily solve for others?
• What makes you unique?
• Who would benefit the most from what you have to deliver?
• What results do you want to achieve in the next year?
• What do you want to be known for? How do you want to be
perceived?
 I want to be known for ______________ so that I can
deliver __________.
How to Plan for Equal Partnership as a
Woman
If I had an equal partner at home this would allow me to:

Ask questions about his or her background:

• What kind of career do you want to have?
• Who was responsible for child care and housework when you
were growing up?
• What type of parent do you want to be?

Look for the markers of a good partner:

• Notice if your potential partner is a good listener
• Are they open to new ideas?
• Other qualities you‘re looking for in a partner?
What are the essential soft skills for graduate
students when they enter the job market ?

And how can they develop these skills?

Roles of education on reducing prejudice
between girls and boys
Roles of education on reducing prejudice
between girls and boys
Using Textbooks and Curricula for Gender
Equality in Viet Nam

• Recent textbook reforms in Viet Nam have worked

to improve gender equality.

• Textbooks and curricula contain more than just facts

and figures that should be learnt at school: they
hold the transformative power to shape the
attitudes, beliefs and values of children and young
people of all ages and backgrounds.
Viet Nam’s Actions towards Gender
Equality in Textbook and Curricula
Job Interview Evaluator Rubric
Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao
President of VietJet Air
• BILLIONAIRE 2018 : #766
• POWER WOMEN 2017 : #55 :
• AGE: 48
• SOURCE OF WEALTH: airlines,
Self Made
• RESIDENCE : Ho Chi Minh City,
Vietnam
• CITIZENSHIP : Vietnam
• MARITAL STATUS : Married
• CHILDREN: 2
• DEGREES: 2
• https://www.cnbc.com/2016/05/24/nguyen-thi-phuong-thao-takes-
vietjet-from-bikini-flights-to-ipo-in-5-years.html