Fear of Failure and Gender Differences in Promotion
An internal study at Hewlett Packard once uncovered a shocking gender difference. On average, their male employees felt comfortable applying for a promotion when they met 60% of the listed qualifications. Their female peers, however, felt comfortable applying for a promotion only when they met 100% of the listed qualifications. When Hewlett Packard dug into this difference, they found that 21.6% of the female candidates who ultimately chose not to apply for the promotion did so because they “didn’t want to put [themselves] out there if [they] were likely to fail.”
While this fear of failure amongst this group of women would be significant enough on its own, it is of particular concern when we consider how this fear of failure may have been even further exacerbated by the effects of the global COVID-19 pandemic. Internally at CMA, we have been tracking a data point aptly named “Fear of Failure.” Those who are high on this measure need to succeed to maintain self-esteem and the prospect of failure will spur activity. Those who are low on this measure will switch off rather than increase effort when they are faced with the idea of failure or criticism.
For example, think of two people who are considering running a marathon and are picturing the possibility of failure—imagining themselves not being able to finish the race or finishing in last place. The person who is higher on fear of failure may be energized by this idea and might jump into action to create a training plan to ensure they don’t fail. They are going to work harder to avoid that failure. For the person who is lower on fear of failure, they might switch off after picturing this outcome and may decide to not sign up for the marathon. They are going to redirect their energy elsewhere to avoid that failure.
Pre-COVID, the most common score on this measure was a 7.
Post-COVID, the most common score on this measure is a 2.
In other words, resiliency seems to be down across the board and, really, this isn’t that surprising. The idea of failure is particularly scary right now for many of us, given the instability we are facing in many aspects of our lives, both inside and outside of work. When hesitantly attempting to regain a sense of normalcy, the last thing we want to do is take another step back on a gamble that did not work out.
Given this information, it is likely that the number of females who would choose to not apply for a promotion due to the fear of failure has grown. To help combat this, we have provided several tips and suggestions below to help boost confidence and encourage female applicants to apply for promotion.
NEED-TO-HAVE VS. NICE-TO-HAVE
Oftentimes, when creating a job posting, organizations can get caught up in picturing their dream candidate. This can turn the job posting into a laundry list of dream qualities that would often be nearly impossible to find in one single candidate. While some of these more aspirational qualities and abilities may not cause males to hesitate to apply (even if they don’t meet them), female candidates may feel that they need to check all of these boxes in order to throw their name in the ring. When creating a job posting, try to boil it down to the essentials–what qualities, abilities, and skills are absolutely necessary for success in this position?
PURPOSEFUL REFERRALS
Encouragement from a boss or a mentor can help female employees feel more empowered to take a chance on a promotion. Senior leadership should take opportunities to elevate and support high-potential female team members rather than wait for them to directly ask for promotion opportunities. When approaching a potential female candidate for a promotion, it is important to explain the why behind this referral. Move away from the generic “I think you would be great for this role” into a more specific, “I think you would be great for this role because….” Try to use as many behaviorally-based examples as possible, such as demonstrated effective collaboration or successful project-management experiences.
GROWTH MINDSET
Creating a growth mindset culture will help the organization across the board take a healthier approach to risk and failure. Having a growth mindset means not only taking on challenges, but also learning from failures and mistakes along the way. In order to grow, a person needs to stretch themselves beyond their comfort zone. If someone can do that without making any mistakes, they may not be stretching themselves far enough! Reinforcing with your female employees that mistakes are a natural and essential part of the growth process can help them feel more secure about stepping up into higher responsibility. A good way to drive this point home is to share some of your own failures—what was it like for you, initially, when stepping up into a higher level, and what did you learn from your leadership mistakes?
