Williams Melissa J, Esianor Brandon, Hendrick Sara, Farlow Janice L, Farrell Annie, Kupfer Robbi A, Meyer Tanya K, Vinson Kimberly N, Wandell Grace M, Chen Amy Y
Goizueta Business School, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322.
Department of Otolaryngology, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC 29425.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2025 May 20;122(20):e2415826122. doi: 10.1073/pnas.2415826122. Epub 2025 May 12.
While most people believe that women (vs. men) experience more discriminatory treatment at work, especially in male-dominated professions, relatively few women report experiencing such treatment themselves. These low levels of reporting may arise either because discriminatory treatment has declined, even while laypeople's assumptions of widespread discrimination persist, or because it is difficult for individuals to know when they are experiencing discriminatory treatment, leading to underreporting. In investigating this puzzle, we theorized four types of nonsexual workplace experiences that may target women and accumulate to harm well-being, yet may be difficult to recognize as discrimination. To test our predictions, we conducted a longitudinal, multisite experience-sampling study of surgeons, capturing workplace experiences over 5 mo. This approach addresses methodological limitations of past research, which include recall biases, demand characteristics, and low external validity. Consistent with hypotheses, female (vs. male) surgeons had more experiences in which their role was challenged or their authority questioned. Moreover, the frequency and severity of these experiences predicted increased burnout over time and decreased intentions to persist in surgery, regardless of whether participants attributed their experiences to their gender. Contrary to hypotheses, female surgeons did not encounter more presumptions of their helpfulness. Female surgeons also received more positive feedback, especially from other women, which yielded increases in professional efficacy and intentions to persist in surgery. Thus, while difficult to detect, workplace discriminatory treatment continues to harm women's well-being and career opportunities, impede organizations' efforts to recruit and retain women professionals, and exacerbate burnout among health care providers.
虽然大多数人认为女性（相对于男性）在工作中会受到更多歧视性待遇，尤其是在男性主导的职业中，但相对较少有女性报告自己经历过这种待遇。报告率较低可能是因为歧视性待遇已经减少，尽管外行人对普遍存在歧视的假设仍然存在；或者是因为个人很难知道自己何时正在经历歧视性待遇，从而导致报告不足。在研究这个难题时，我们提出了四种非性方面的职场经历类型，这些经历可能针对女性并累积起来损害她们的幸福感，但可能难以被识别为歧视。为了检验我们的预测，我们对外科医生进行了一项纵向、多地点的经验抽样研究，记录了他们在5个月内的职场经历。这种方法解决了过去研究中的方法局限性，包括回忆偏差、需求特征和低外部效度。与假设一致，女性（相对于男性）外科医生有更多经历，她们的角色受到挑战或权威受到质疑。此外，这些经历的频率和严重程度预示着随着时间的推移倦怠感会增加，以及继续从事外科手术的意愿会降低，无论参与者是否将他们的经历归因于自己的性别。与假设相反，女性外科医生并没有遇到更多关于她们乐于助人的假设。女性外科医生也收到了更多积极反馈，尤其是来自其他女性的反馈，这提高了她们的职业效能感以及继续从事外科手术的意愿。因此，尽管职场歧视性待遇难以察觉，但它仍在损害女性的幸福感和职业机会，阻碍组织招募和留住女性专业人员的努力，并加剧医疗保健提供者的倦怠感。
