“Men are from mars, women are from Venus” [1] this saying often appears as common knowledge. Particularly the sexuality of men and women is often considered to be fundamentally different. Research, however, demonstrates that the physiological processes underlying sexual arousal in men and women are surprisingly similar [2]. This finding is in marked contrast to men’s and women’s reports of subjectively experienced sexual arousal. When asked about their subjective sexual arousal to erotic stimuli, men consistently report higher sexual arousal than women, even though their measured physical...
To decrease inequality between men and women in the workplace, multiple European countries have introduced legislated quota regulations in favor of women. Since 2016, a gender quota has been entrenched in German law followed by a significant rise in the representation of women in target positions. But do quota regulations have additional effects on everyday work life? This article presents empirical research on positive and negative side effects of gender quota regulations. We discuss for instance effects on women’s interest in leadership positions, the performance evaluation of “quota women...
Stereotypical self-characterizations of women and men can result in different career decisions – contributing to the continuing gender imbalance in leadership and many career fields. We explain how stereotypical self-characterizations develop and how they influence career decisions, behavior, and even performance. We give practical tips on how people themselves as well as organizations can minimize the influence of self-stereotyping to foster more equal gender distributions and career trajectories. “We must reject not only the stereotypes that others have of us but also those we have of...
School grades do not only provide students with feedback on their current performance, they also determine the chances of admission to universities and the success of job applications. The question of whether teachers evaluate irrespective of gender is therefore very important. Traditionally, the issue of gender fairness has mostly focused on discrimination against girls. In recent decades, however, there has been much media debate about whether the school system also discriminates against boys. This article summarizes the current state of research on whether the same school performance by...
Derogatory labels are offensive words that can be reclaimed by a stigmatized group; however, the process of reclaiming can carry risks.
In 2020, Black Lives Matter (BLM) protests took place around the world, reminding us about social inequalities and racism. Through these protests, we became particularly attentive to the language and labels we use. On July 29 th , BBC News aired a news report where the N-word was used. Thousands of complaints from viewers followed [i] . After an initial defense of the news report, the BBC director apologized and recognized the distress the N-word had...
The newest installment of the Star Wars saga, The Last Jedi , was released last month. Despite critical success, the film has been met with a polarized audience reaction online. Although likely not the primary reason for polarization, some of the negative reaction can be attributed to the perceived...
The word bossy has been heavily discussed recently, thanks, at least in part, to the Ban Bossy campaign. To date, this debate has centered on why women get called bossy. But what about men? In this blog post, I will share some new research on the word bossy, and what happens when both men and women act bossy, specifically within a workplace context.
In this post I review research showing that women do not care about partner’s income as much as people may think. In fact, the research suggests that both men and women overestimate the degree to which the other gender cares about money in relationships. These findings are particularly relevant given that some opponents of the 2014 U.S. Paycheck Fairness Act have stated that women prefer to make less money than their romantic partners.
In this blog post, I review a number of studies that suggest that telling women to focus on their MRS degree (aka getting married) while in college can make women less interested in earning a STEM degree (Science, Technology, Engineering & Math). Why does this matter? Because the STEM fields are in desperate need of women. Luckily, research also suggests that women in STEM are more desirable than women may realize.