Overcoming Gender Bias in Leadership

Gender bias often goes unnoticed, but its impact is profound. It limits women’s career potential, impacts their wellbeing, and reinforces harmful stereotypes.

Evidence shows that gender-balanced leadership teams are more productive, innovative, and financially successful. So addressing this issue is essential for both individual and organizational success.[1]

This article and video explore strategies for how female leaders, and their organizations as a whole, can tackle bias. However, it’s important to note that overcoming gender discrimination isn't solely the responsibility of those who experience it.

Gender bias is a societal issue and requires collective action. Women should be empowered to address it, but male allies and leaders of all genders also play a vital role in fostering equality.

What Is Gender Bias?

Broadly speaking, gender discrimination manifests in two forms, each carrying its own unique harms and challenges.

1. Explicit bias

This is overt discrimination — where actions and beliefs unfairly favor men. These are often easier to spot.

Examples include pay inequity, barriers to promotion (the "glass ceiling" or "sticky floor"), and exclusion from informal networks ("the old boys' club").

Another is "role congruity bias," which happens when people believe assertive traits don’t suit women, making it harder for women to lead confidently.

2. Implicit bias

This is more subtle and harder to recognize because workplace cultures often normalize it. An example is the "double bind," where female leaders are judged negatively no matter how they behave, such as being seen as either too aggressive or too amenable.

People naturally tend to favor others who are similar to them. As a result, male leaders are more likely to hire and promote others like them, which in male-dominant teams simply perpetuates gender imbalance.

This kind of "affinity bias" can have serious consequences — some even say it played a role in the 2008 global financial crisis. [3]

"Maternal bias" shows up when women with children are seen as less committed to their jobs. You see it when they're asked about how they juggle work and family — a question men are rarely asked.

Similarly, "benevolent bias," or paternalism, occurs when women are excluded from opportunities under the guise of protecting them from stress, such as when leaders assume a mother wouldn't want to travel for work, thereby limiting her career growth.

Another example of implicit bias is "performance attribution bias." This downplays a woman's abilities by crediting her success to external factors (for example, being in the right place at the right time).

Additionally, women can be subject to the phenomenon known as the "glass cliff," a bias which sees them more likely to be promoted into leadership roles in times of crisis or when failure is likely. [4]

Spotting Microaggression

Many biases manifest as microaggressions, which often feel anything but "micro." They are behaviors or actions which undermine female leaders and reinforce gender roles. Examples of microaggressions include:

• dismissing your ideas.
• someone interrupting or talking over you.
• stereotyping you into administration roles.
• expressing doubt about your competencies.
• expressing surprise at your achievements.
• excluding you from important conversations.
• calling you diminutive terms such as "sweetie" or "dear."
• invalidating your feelings, such as telling you to "calm down."

By spotting these patterns early, you can take control and tackle them head-on, using the strategies covered in the next section.

4 Practical Steps for Women to Overcome Gender Bias

1. Assert your voice

When interrupted, calmly say, "Please let me finish my point." This redirects the conversation without creating confrontation.

2. Call out microaggressions in the moment

If you're repeatedly assigned "office housework" such as taking meeting notes, say, "I’ve noticed I've been asked to do this multiple times, perhaps we could rotate the responsibility?" A measured response highlights the bias and subtly corrects it.

3. Reclaim credit for your ideas

A tactful response to this situation is to say, "I’m glad my earlier suggestion is resonating with the team." This reminds colleagues of your idea's origin without sounding defensive.

4. Hold the floor with strategic questioning

If you find your ideas overlooked in meetings, try following them up with questions, such as, "What are your thoughts on this approach?" This reengages the room, signaling your authority without demanding attention.

Long-Term Strategies for Women Leaders for Overcoming Bias

In addition to the tips and techniques listed above, to handle in-the-moment biases and microaggressions, there are things you can do navigate around the obstacles of bias and discrimination. Let's look at some of them here:

Leverage your network

Your connections, whether female peers or male allies, provide support and reinforce that you're not alone in facing these challenges.

Master self-advocacy

Embrace your worth and consistently remind yourself of your accomplishments. One way is by creating an achievements journal: documenting wins, big or small.

Be your own sponsor

Ask for that promotion and negotiate for what you’re worth. Don’t just focus on your achievements to date; emphasize your future potential. If your request is denied, ask for constructive feedback and a clear roadmap for succeeding next time.

Develop emotional resilience

Facing discrimination can be exhausting and demoralizing; it’s even been shown to contribute to burnout. [5] Prioritizing your emotional wellbeing enhances your ability to thrive as a leader.

Continuous learning

The goal of learning isn’t to prove yourself, but to give you more tools to succeed. Strengthening skills like emotional intelligence and assertive communication can really boost your confidence when handling tough situations.

Use formal channels

If everyday approaches don’t seem to be working and the bias is deeply rooted, don’t hesitate to go through HR. Make sure you collect clear examples, such as emails or specific incidents. Reporting can make a big difference when things need to change.

What Organizations Can Do to Combat Gender Bias

Businesses as whole play a crucial role in addressing gender bias. Here are some steps that everyone at every level can take to encourage inclusivity in their workplaces:

First, highlight the business case for eliminating gender bias and discrimination. There's enough credible research available that demonstrates the tangible benefits of a diverse, inclusive and equitable workforce.

In its 2023 report, "Diversity Matters Even More," global business consultants McKinsey & Co found that, "companies with representation of women exceeding 30 percent (and thus in the top quartile) are significantly more likely to financially outperform those with 30 percent or fewer."[6]

There's always scope for improving learning and development within organizations. Businesses should consider mandatory or enhanced training programs for hiring managers to help raise awareness about conscious and unconscious biases and their effects.

As well as policies around hiring, firms should make available clear and transparent policies around promotions and pay to ensure fairness and accountability.

Inclusion policies are more likely to succeed when they’re embedded in a culture, in which leaders practice what they preach.

Policies are more likely to succeed when metrics are baked into organizational KPIs. Some companies have made strides by publicly sharing their diversity goals to hold themselves accountable. [7]

Mentoring, sponsorship, and quality learning and development programs are vital for attracting, retaining and advancing women.

Finally, gender networks — groups that support women in the workplace — or Employee Resource Groups can provide both individual support and cultural intelligence to inform policy making. Organizations should ensure that theirs are adequately funded and supported by highest management.