Creative Solutions Services Blog – ‘Don’t Tell Me I Have To Be Pretty’: Sexist Career Advice for Women

By Alexandra Zatarain

It was 1976, and The Milwaukee Sentinel was headlining: “Sexism is Pinpointed in Career Advice”. More than thirty years after, the British paper The Daily Mail, reported that sexist advice is presently damaging the job prospects for girls, as they are encouraged to take on particular industries or roles, while being diverted from others.

The Milwaukee Sentinel quoted some advice that was being given out to women back in the 70s, which read something like: “Good posture, attractive glasses, manicured hands, smooth arms and legs, proper girdles to firm buttocks – all enhance the physical qualities we have inherited. The secretary who does not make the most of her physical attributes is not doing herself justice.”

This was the advice women in the 70s were getting in career education materials. And even while wording may have evolved over the course of thirty years, career advice is still stained with sexist remarks and recommendations.

Decades later, the findings referenced by The Daily Mail show information from a 2007 survey which revealed that in the UK only one in five girls is being encouraged to take on a career in IT, business, engineering or construction, even if salaries are high in these industries.

Generally, girls are recommended to take on teaching, childcare, and hairdressing.

Researchers Athena Vongalis-Macrow and Andrea Gallant, have done extensive research on women and leadership, finding mesmerizing dos and don’ts pieces of advice for working women. They quote the following piece from one of the books they consulted for research:

“Competence is only table stakes. It’s what gets you in the door. It’s expected that you’ll be competent, but competence alone won’t move you forward. Research showed that about 55 percent of your credibility comes from how you look. How you sound accounts for an additional 38 percent. Only 7 percent of your credibility is based on what you say. If you don’t look the part, you won’t be recognized as a competent professional – no matter how smart or educated you are.”

The book “Nice Girls Don’t Get the Corner Office: 101 Unconscious Mistakes Women Make That Sabotage Their Careers”, also provides an anecdote where a male boss points out that in order to overcome career barriers, a female employee should speak up, be a staff advocate, and “maybe start wearing makeup.”

The author of the book highlights that women can either “hear the comment as just another sexist remark – or as a valuable insight into what people expect as you climb the ladder.”

As a female professional myself, I’m shocked with these remarks. As Vongalis-Macrow and Gallant point out, the advice is well-intentioned, but “it traps women into a social vacuum of the 1950s.” These pieces of advice further the social expectations placed by gender roles, particularly towards how women should look, sound, and act like in the workplace.

Vongalis-Macrow and Gallant’s research on women leaders has led them to advocate for step-forward leadership, rather than the outdated Stepford view. In a blog piece for the Harvard Business Review, they present the need to “identify and promote the true leadership qualities that women can bring to the workplace,” while avoiding the shadow of the Stepford “rules” which give people false expectations of what women should be like in the workplace.

All these sexist recommendations damage women’s career perspectives, since they are founded on outdated gender stereotypes. And if it’s outdated, it probably won’t take women anywhere these days.

Women must be the first to join the move towards a step-forward leadership. Women should be examined, reported upon, and discussed with an emphasis in the positive qualities they bring to the workplace. Women must help other women advance in their careers. Women must inspire others, and collaborate through good leadership.

Watch out! Women should be helped out not because we are women, but rather because we have shown that we have the skills, capabilities, and are truly deserving of being considered great at what we do based on our performance, not our nail polish, posture, or tone of voice.

After findings such as the ones quoted by The Daily Mail, the British government outlawed sexist career advice in 2008, forcing schools to provide students with impartial support and avoid encouraging stereotypical jobs.

Karen Di PrimaApril 28, 2012 at 7:05 am

This post resonated with me. Sadly, it brought me back to the days when I first launched my career. Having been on the receiving end of the career counseling advice given to high school girls in the 1970s, I can personally attest to the truth of that report. No matter how intelligent or talented we were, and regardless of our personal aspirations, girls at that time were most definitely guided into career paths that were meant to be temporary events, or that could be managed around our husband’s and family’s needs. Those of us who dared to express a desire for personal satisfaction outside the home, who believed we could have both family and a job, were – to say the least – not encouraged. Once we entered the workforce, it was quickly apparent that a measure of our value was not our competence, but our attractiveness. We were considered guests in the workplace, put there as window dressing for the amusement of the male bosses. Also, it was at about that time that the word “feminist” gained a negative connotation (equated to “man-hater” or gasp! “lesbo”), even as the Equal Rights Amendment advanced in the legislature. It was sadly amusing to read the argument about women climbing ladders “at that time of the month,” as a basis to deny women equal opportunity in the workplace in general and in non-traditional employment in particular. This reference to the supposed inherent weakness in females, as well as other scare tactics about the destruction of the family, were among the strategies used to effect by Phyllis Schafly and others to defeat the ERA (http://tinyurl.com/3wwjswv). That the stereotypes persist even today is disheartening, but it proves that we must not become complacent and satisfied with what strides we have made. I agree that women must lead by mentoring and helping other women advance in their careers and being the ones to initiate the dialogue, starting at the high school level or even earlier. As I used to say, back in the day when marching for women’s rights, we must do it not just for us, but for the rights of our daughters and granddaughters—as well as for our sons and grandsons.

4 Comments on “‘Don’t Tell Me I Have To Be Pretty’: Sexist Career Advice for Women”

Karen Di PrimaApril 28, 2012 at 7:05 am
This post resonated with me. Sadly, it brought me back to the days when I first launched my career. Having been on the receiving end of the career counseling advice given to high school girls in the 1970s, I can personally attest to the truth of that report. No matter how intelligent or talented we were, and regardless of our personal aspirations, girls at that time were most definitely guided into career paths that were meant to be temporary events, or that could be managed around our husband’s and family’s needs. Those of us who dared to express a desire for personal satisfaction outside the home, who believed we could have both family and a job, were – to say the least – not encouraged. Once we entered the workforce, it was quickly apparent that a measure of our value was not our competence, but our attractiveness. We were considered guests in the workplace, put there as window dressing for the amusement of the male bosses. Also, it was at about that time that the word “feminist” gained a negative connotation (equated to “man-hater” or gasp! “lesbo”), even as the Equal Rights Amendment advanced in the legislature. It was sadly amusing to read the argument about women climbing ladders “at that time of the month,” as a basis to deny women equal opportunity in the workplace in general and in non-traditional employment in particular. This reference to the supposed inherent weakness in females, as well as other scare tactics about the destruction of the family, were among the strategies used to effect by Phyllis Schafly and others to defeat the ERA (http://tinyurl.com/3wwjswv). That the stereotypes persist even today is disheartening, but it proves that we must not become complacent and satisfied with what strides we have made. I agree that women must lead by mentoring and helping other women advance in their careers and being the ones to initiate the dialogue, starting at the high school level or even earlier. As I used to say, back in the day when marching for women’s rights, we must do it not just for us, but for the rights of our daughters and granddaughters—as well as for our sons and grandsons.
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  adminMay 3, 2012 at 10:33 am
  Karen, thank you for your comment. It's great istening to personal experiences but it saddens me to think that not much has changed since the days you refer to. Even if now, women have way more opportunities, the idea that women have to plan their professional lives around a husband and kids still prevails. We have the option not to do so, but going for that option will still earn us an array of judgement. As you point out, it's all about women standing for women, helping each other and motivating each other to make our own paths. This doesn't mean that we will forget about others, it's just defending our right as individuals to, as men do, decide what's best for us.
ReginaMay 3, 2012 at 11:21 am
The sad reality is that regardless of how smart, confident or competent you are, women are still judged on their looks. Whether we like it or not, women who want to move ahead in their careers will still have to pay attention to their image.
Andi the EngiNovember 17, 2012 at 4:58 am
I believe it depends on the field. As an Electrical Engineering professional who graduated in the noughties, I have worked in many offices and sites, underground at a major mining operation, in cutting edge aerospace technology, at hardcore chemical processing plants, and am never treated any differently. The great thing about engineering is that results and standing are based on merit and performance - noone cares about race, gender, age, looks, whatever. Only once ever in the workplace for me has there been a one-off incident by an overseas visiting engineer where women don't work in his home country. He asked 'Is there not a man I can speak to' to which I replied 'I'm the senior engineer - speak to me' He changed his tone after I easily sorted the machine + explained the code that ran his section, and he had respect from then onwards. Given the culture difference I don't think anything of it - Once in 7 years on site shows it's not the norm. Full props to those who persevered back when it was a problem (I have had great chats with one of the first women hired at NASA for example and the pioneering she did) but now it's not an issue in Engineering. We're an objective profession and I guess this drives the lack of divide. Yes, there are less girls, but seriously - don't force it. People are people and they'll study and work in whatever they want. Don't make it an issue and it won't be an issue.

4 Comments on “‘Don’t Tell Me I Have To Be Pretty’: Sexist Career Advice for Women”

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