From CNN — When a woman should act like a man
Last Updated on Tuesday, 5 April 2011 01:04 Written by spence Tuesday, 5 April 2011 01:04
For women, knowing when to display "male" behavior at work can impact their chances of getting a promotion, study says.
By Eliza Ridgeway — (CNN) — Tilia Wong worked in construction management before going to business school and got used to thinking of herself as a businesswoman who knew how to keep assertive behavior under wraps.
“I’m a 24-year-old Asian girl telling a 55-year-old white guy what to do. I had to tone it down,” she said of her workplace experience.
Fast forward to this year, when Wong began an MBA at Stanford University and had to reassess herself because classmates told her she was actually on the aggressive end of the spectrum.
Research shows that salary bumps and promotions can depend on how you act on the job — but as Wong has learned, nobody seems to know where, exactly, a businesswoman should fall on the spectrum between “acting like a lady” or asserting herself “like a man.”
“For the women who are a little softer, a little gentler, everyone tells them, ‘You have to be firmer, more aggressive,’” she told CNN.
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