A new book by four academics claims that women spend 200 more hours a year on “housework” than men.
No Club: Ending Women’s Dead End Work says women should do more “non-promotional work” than their male counterparts, including drinking coffee, training junior staff and organizing trips.
Thus, American authors – Professors Linda Babcock, Lisa Vesterlund, Brenda Peyser and Laurie Weingart – argue that this is a major factor preventing women from developing their skills or careers, The Times reported.
After analyzing employees of unnamed professional services firms and finding that women, on average, do not want to turn down work because of “guilt or fear”, they encourage female workers to say “no” to “housework”.
They found that older and younger women spent 200 more hours per year in non-promotional jobs than the average male employee, which was equivalent to about a month’s work.
In their book, Academics urges female workers to create “No to Clubs” places where they can get advice and pep talk from friends and colleagues, helping them say “no” to “not promoted” jobs.
No Club from left to right: Laurie Weingart, Lise Vesterlund, Linda Babcock and Brenda Peyser. Four academics argue women spend too much time on ‘inappropriate tasks’
They say female staff members spend the majority of their workday doing what they refer to as “office chores” such as drinking coffee, organizing to-dos and arranging cakes, in addition to tasks such as joining committees, taking notes and educating younger colleagues. from your birthday.
These kinds of jobs exist in all kinds of jobs, they say. For example, in schools, female teachers are expected to do more work in the classroom, while male staff are given more time for leadership roles, increasing their chances of promotion.
Babcock, 60, an economics professor at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, explained that these tasks are “invisible” and many workplaces don’t notice them.
The quartet’s research suggests that women do this for two reasons: because they’re asked themselves more often and they’re more likely to say yes.
No Club: Ending the Women’s Dead End (above)
Vesterlund, 55, an economics professor at the University of Pittsburgh, suggests that women do this job not because they’re better or because they really enjoy it, but because employers and colleagues expect them to do it.
He told the Times: “Organizations lose by letting this happen because they’re giving this job to the people who will do it, not the people who will be the best.”
The book states that bosses and peers believe women are not team players if they don’t volunteer for these tasks, but men are equally disapproved.
Also, women who refuse these jobs feel guilty and anxious.
Vesterlund added that women feel stressed and anxious when no one jumps on a task and volunteers alone, even if they don’t want to.
“The emotions we see are very different because one gender is expected to come forward and the other not,” she said.
Professors Babcock, Vesterlund, Peyser, and Weingart, a business professor at Carnegie Mellon, founded their No-club 12 years ago.
The four struggled and exhausted with endless to-do lists that had nothing to do with their careers but kept the business afloat.
These duties deprived women of the time they could devote to productive work.
It was Babcock who realized that a male colleague, while attending endless committee meetings, could devote more time to a research assignment where both were on trial.
Source: Daily Mail
