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The No Club
Putting a Stop to Women’s Dead-End Work
Linda Babcock, Brenda Peyser, Lise Vesterlund and Laurie Weingart •
From THE NO CLUB: Putting a Stop to Women's Dead-End Work by Linda
Babcock, Brenda Peyser, Lise Vesterlund, and Laurie Weingart. Copyright
© 2022 by Linda Babcock, Brenda Peyser, Lise Versterlund, and Laurie R.
Weingart. Reprinted by permission of Simon & Schuster, Inc. • 320 pages

Women in Business / Women’s Careers

Human Resources / Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
Society / Gender Equality

Take-Aways
• Although your organization may value particular tasks, doing them might not help advance your career.
• Women – and particularly women of color – take on a disproportionate share of the non-promotable
tasks in most organizations.
• Social expectations lead women to say yes to non-promotable work.
• Both sexes tend to ask women rather than men to take on non-promotable work.
• Taking on too much non-promotable work leads to imbalance at work and home.
• Learning to say no requires practice and putting effective strategies in place.
• You can’t completely avoid non-promotable work, but you can ensure it fits in a balanced work portfolio.
• Dividing up non-promotable work fairly pays off for organizations.
• The gender imbalance for non-promotable work is an organizational and societal problem, but
individuals can help to bring about change.

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 Recommendation
A disproportionate number of women perform workplace tasks that do nothing to advance their career
– or even damage it – while their male counterparts fail to share the burden of these tasks. Professors
Linda Babcock, Brenda Peyser, Lise Vesterlund and Laurie Weingart argue that the inequity arises from
an underlying problem: Society still expects women to say yes when asked to help and punishes them
if they say no. Drawing on research and their personal experience, the four professors give women and
organizations tools to create more just and equal workplaces where everyone can flourish.

Summary

Although your organization may value particular tasks, doing them might not help
advance your career.

The term non-promotable task (NPT) refers to work that matters to your organization but doesn’t contribute
to advancing your career: It doesn’t help you get a promotion, score top marks in performance evaluations,
land interesting assignments, boost your salary or become marketable for another job. Categorizing specific
tasks as promotable or not depends on whether they contribute to the organization’s “currency” – the things
decision-makers care about, such as making a profit or growing market share. Tasks that directly contribute
to an organization’s currency have high promotability. Identify your organization’s currency by looking at its
mission statement, strategy, annual reports and marketing materials. Look at key performance indicators
and the accomplishments it publicizes externally or internally.

“All tasks are not equal, even those you are asked to do and that need to be done.”

Tasks that require specialized skills or that help you build valuable connections tend to have high
promotability. In contrast, NPTs typically lack visibility, don’t require special skills or qualifications, and
have a negligible impact on the organization’s currency. NPTs include, for example, helping others with
their work, organizing office events, serving on committees, assisting with recruitment and onboarding, and
“office housework,” such as making coffee or cleaning up after meetings.

Women – and particularly women of color – take on a disproportionate share of the

non-promotable tasks in most organizations.

Research consistently shows women take on much more non-promotable work than men do across
organizations, job titles and industries. In academia, three large surveys, with more than 6,000 participants
across the United States, revealed significant gender disparities in non-promotable work. For example,
women in academia prove far more likely than men to sit on committees or a faculty senate, even though
these service roles don’t offer opportunities for career advancement.

“Given the evidence that people of color may face backlash for behaving assertively, there
are strong expectations that they will agree to do non-promotable tasks.”

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 The overrepresentation of women in non-promotable work also occurs in government agencies and in the
private sector across all industries and levels of seniority. At one prominent professional services firm, the
difference between the median woman’s non-promotable work and the median man’s amounted to 200
hours per year – roughly a month of additional burden on female consultants. And women of color bear an
even heavier burden: Studies show faculty of color take on more non-promotable work than do their white
counterparts; in one study, faculty of color performed an additional three hours per week of service work.
This work serves the university but doesn’t benefit the careers of those who perform it.

Social expectations lead women to say yes to non-promotable work.

Women wind up doing non-promotable tasks more regularly than men for two reasons: First, women are
asked more often than men; second, they tend to say yes. Women don’t volunteer more often out of altruism
or because they enjoy doing certain tasks. When researchers put men and women into mixed-gender groups
and asked someone from each group to volunteer, women put up their hands almost 50% more often than
did the men in the group. When the researchers put the participants into all-male and all-female groups,
they saw similar volunteering rates among the groups – that is, the men volunteered more and the women
volunteered less. The difference in behavior between the mixed-gender and single-gender groups suggests
that both men and women expect women to step up to do unrewarding tasks.

“The reason we don’t reward a woman for helping is because she’s ‘happy to’.”

In addition, when women defy the expectation that they’ll volunteer – when they say no – they risk negative
consequences, whereas men do not. People see volunteering as the norm for women, don’t reward it and
tend to punish women who fail to step forward, whereas when men fail to volunteer, they experience no
negative repercussions. When men do volunteer, people tend to see them in a positive light. And women,
aware of the social expectation, often feel guilty when they fail to fulfill it – another reason they tend to say
yes.

Both sexes tend to ask women rather than men to take on non-promotable work.

Not only do women tend to say yes to NPTs, but they receive more requests to take them on than do their
male counterparts. Several reasons, often subconscious, underlie this imbalance. First, people dislike and
experience stress when they hear a no to their requests. Therefore, they tend to ask the person they think
will most likely say yes. Given the social expectation for women to say yes, and the fact that they often do so,
people usually turn to them first. Second, people tend to see women as a better fit for NPTs. NPTs appear to
fit women better than men because women often actually do these tasks, because helping others matches
expected behavior for women, and because female stereotypes – such as having lower skills and lower status
than men – correspond to the characteristics of NPTs.

A third reason people tend to ask women to take on NPTs: Women frequently have performed these
tasks in the past, and the person who’s done a job before – and done it well – becomes the go-to person
for it. If a woman agrees to take on an NPT and does a good job, she’ll very likely be asked to do it again.
Fourth, members of an underrepresented demographic group often find themselves drawn into non-
promotable work in order to speak for their group. This often happens to women and even more so to

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 women of color. Those who issue these invitations to women often have the good intention of giving a
voice to underrepresented groups, but the work can become burdensome and constitutes a form of cultural
taxation – an extra demand placed on members of underrepresented groups.

“If you have a non-promotable task to assign, you think of asking a woman first, even if
your workplace consists mostly of men, because she seems like a good fit.”

Finally, requests to perform NPTs sometimes result from “benevolent sexism,” when someone desires
to give women special projects or put them on committees, so they can learn about the organization and
prepare for leadership roles. Very often, men don’t have to undertake these leadership preparation tasks,
and they still get promoted.

Taking on too much non-promotable work leads to imbalances at work and home.

Taking on non-promotable work has two potential effects: If you can’t increase your working hours by
working into the evening or the weekend, you could find yourself doing more NPTs than promotable tasks
(PTs). This creates a work/work imbalance. But if you work extra hours to complete both NPTs and PTs,
you’ll have to sacrifice personal time, creating a work/life imbalance. Both of these scenarios have serious
negative effects.

Work/work imbalance can undermine your career aspirations, as someone who does more NPTs than
her colleagues will wind up less likely to receive positive performance reviews, a pay rise or a promotion.
Spending too much of your time doing tasks that don’t correspond to your education, skills and job
description could lead you to question your professional identity and ability. And the frustration can result
in emotional exhaustion and conflict with colleagues, in particular those who are advancing in their careers.
For women in this situation, mounting dissatisfaction and stress can lead them to leave a job.

“Even if you get all your work done and you do it well, your reputation as being the ‘non-
promotable task person’ may overshadow all the good work you do on your promotable
tasks.”

If you try to make up for the time spent on NPTs by working longer hours, your partner or family will be the
first to feel the impact. You’ll spend less time at home and, when you are at home, you’ll often be thinking
about work. The stress of working extra hours and having a long to-do list could also cause you to become
short-tempered with your partner or family. Work/life imbalance can also affect your social life, as you
won’t have much time to spend with friends or socialize with colleagues. Social isolation harms your mental
and physical health, and eventually, working too many hours will lead to stress and burnout. On top of
this, trying to accomplish all the PTs necessary for your career progression alongside doing too many NPTs
probably won’t pay off: People will still see you as less qualified than those who spend less time on NPTs and
more on PTs.

Learning to say no requires practice and putting effective strategies in place.

When you’re asked to take on a task, give yourself time to think before you answer yes or no. Clarify the
scope of the work and how much time it’s expected to take, and consider whether you’ll have to give up other

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 activities to complete the task. Reflect on how saying no will affect the way others perceive you: If you work
in a very hierarchical organization and your manager has asked you, you might not have the option of saying
no. Be realistic in your estimation of the task. Remember that tasks usually take much longer to complete
than you initially think.

“The key to a good no is that it sticks. It has to be clear, concise, understood and airtight.”

Remind yourself of the things you implicitly say no to when you agree to do a task – for example, time with
your family or the opportunity to do research. Be aware of the situations and circumstances that often cause
you say yes, such as when you feel flattered to have been asked. Be honest with yourself about these triggers,
so you can act differently. When you say no, be clear – it’s easy to leave the impression that you’re open to
being persuaded, or that you’d be willing to take on the same task at a later date.

You can’t completely avoid non-promotable work, but you can ensure it fits in a
balanced work portfolio.

Organizations rely on NPTs for their success, so they need to be done. However, you can choose which
NPTs to take on. To decide which NPTs to accept, look holistically at your work portfolio, including both the
promotable and non-promotable tasks. First, determine how much of your time you should spend on NPTs.
Consider the organization’s expectations. Ask colleagues, mentors and potentially your supervisor to get a
better picture of how many hours to spend on NPTs.

“Determining the right amount of time you should spend on non-promotable

tasks involves assessing the best use of your time and knowing what others expect of
you.”

Calculate how much time you already spend on NPTs, and think about the opportunity costs of these tasks –
that is, what do you lose out on by devoting your time to NPTs rather than to other activities? Next, identify
the NPTs you’d like to take on alongside your PTs. Not all NPTs will feel draining and counterproductive;
some tasks will align with your passions and give you a sense of fulfillment. Others will enrich your current
position or tasks and allow you to practice your skills and expertise. Still others can simply provide a
mental break from more challenging tasks or, if they’re easy and quick to complete, give you an instant
accomplishment. Some NPTs can also offer some return on your time invested: Indirectly promotable tasks
help prepare you for long-term goals.

Dividing up non-promotable work fairly pays off for organizations.

Organizations should allocate NPTs strategically rather than overburdening the people most likely to
say yes, because failing to do so creates harm across the whole organization. To be strategic about NPT
allocation, decision-makers must first identify employees’ relevant strengths. When new people come on
board, managers should ensure these new employees all have similar opportunities to demonstrate where
their strengths lie. Only then can managers determine how to assign specific NPTs to make good use of each
person’s time. Managers should never assign tasks by asking for volunteers.

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 “Using people’s time well drives organizational success, which means that organizations
lose money and productivity when the assignment of tasks – including non-promotable
tasks – is not strategic.”

When everyone carries a fair share of NPTs, an organizational culture emerges where people willingly help
each other out, because they’re not worried about being left to carry the burden alone. Fair distribution of
non-promotable work also helps to keep employees engaged and aids retention.

The gender imbalance for non-promotable work is an organizational and societal

problem, but individuals can help to bring about change.

The problem of gender imbalance in non-promotable work can only be solved at the organizational level,
but individuals can contribute to bringing about change. You can start by raising awareness of the existence
of NPTs and the gender imbalance in non-promotable work. Introduce these terms into conversations, and
explain the problem in ways that your colleagues will understand – for example, refer to data or use visual
aids. Make sure leaders at your organization understand that failing to address this gender imbalance can
prevent the business from achieving its goals.

“Improving the management of non-promotable tasks doesn’t only help women; it helps
organizations meet key business objectives.”

Get yourself some allies – whether they’re others in the same situation as you, colleagues who understand
the problem, existing workplace groups, people in management or informal leaders. Suggest alternative
approaches to allocating tasks. For example, if your manager asks for a volunteer for an NPT, you could
suggest drawing a name at random instead. And when you see another woman being saddled with an NPT,
speak up – particularly if you hold a leadership position.

About the Authors

Linda Babcock is a professor of economics at Carnegie Mellon University. Brenda Peyser retired
in 2018 from a 35-year career in leadership in the academic and corporate worlds, including 18 years
as associate dean of the Heinz College’s School of Public Policy and Management. Lise Vesterlund
is a professor of economics at the University of Pittsburgh, and Laurie R. Weingart is a professor of
organizational behavior and theory at Carnegie Mellon University.

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