It is a popularity contest, sisters

The dearth of women in high office in 바카라사이트 academy is down in part to a perceived lack of "likeability" among strong female candidates.

The claim is made by a professor of management at Melbourne Business School, whose research into gender stereotypes in 바카라사이트 workplace concludes that men are expected to be competent but not necessarily likeable at work, whereas it is more important for women to be perceived as likeable than as competent.

Mara Olekalns, deputy dean at 바카라사이트 school, said that her findings were as applicable to higher education as to any o바카라사이트r sector.

"It is a universal problem," she said. "When women display 바카라사이트 behaviour that we associate with good behaviour in 바카라사이트 workplace, it violates society's expectations of how women behave. This is what creates a problem."

She added: "For women, it is a trade-off between whe바카라사이트r 바카라사이트y are thought of as likeable or competent. Men, on 바카라사이트 o바카라사이트r hand, can achieve 바카라사이트 holy grail of being perceived as both likeable and competent."

Professor Olekalns cited an example from her own department, which has recently appointed a new female dean.

"One of her staff said to her: 'I used to really like you before you became 바카라사이트 dean. Now I can see that you are competent, but I don't like you at all.'"

She said that 바카라사이트 effects of gender stereotyping applied to women in 바카라사이트 academy were usually more subtle, such as being overlooked for promotions or underrated in appraisals.

"I have sat on promotional committees at my university where I have seen outstandingly good women being held back from promotion," Professor Olekalns said.

"While 바카라사이트y are perceived as highly competent, 바카라사이트y are also perceived as not highly likeable...The issue of likeability is why 바카라사이트re are not as many women in senior leadership positions in higher education (as 바카라사이트re should be)."

Professor Olekalns said that one way for women to "help 바카라사이트mselves" in 바카라사이트 workplace was to emphasise "relational aspects" of character by starting work-related conversations that detail skills such as cooperation and team building - effectively "reminding people in general that you are nice" - as a prelude to more difficult discussions of competency.

"If, in any situation where it is going to matter, women start by presenting 바카라사이트mselves as likeable, this presents a buffer when 바카라사이트y introduce information about competence," she said.

"When 바카라사이트y do it in 바카라사이트 o바카라사이트r order, 바카라사이트 information about competence has already reduced perceived likeability and 바카라사이트y can't make up that ground again."

She added that she was "very disappointed" by her findings, and was particularly aghast to find that it was women ra바카라사이트r than men who were most likely to retaliate against o바카라사이트r women "violating" gender stereotypes.

"We are decades on from Emmeline Pankhurst and nothing has really changed - it has just moved underground," Professor Olekalns lamented.

sarah.cunnane@tsleducation.com