Self-Promotion: A Double-Bind for Women
Promoting your accomplishments can be important to landing a job, advancing your career, or earning awards and other recognitions. But gender norms require that women behave modestly. This can result in women struggling to self-promote, whether from having internalized the message regarding modesty or from seeking to avoid the backlash that might occur if they depart from societal expectations, researchers have found.
Women who feel uncomfortable self-promoting make weaker arguments for themselves. Researchers found that using a pseudonym allowed such women to advocate for themselves more effectively. Women who struggle to promote their accomplishments can try this strategy to overcome their discomfort, for example by drafting an application or preparing for an interview as if they were discussing someone else’s accomplishments rather than their own.
Women who successfully promote their accomplishments risk backlash owing to gender stereotypes that can lead evaluators to see them as arrogant or unlikeable. In contrast, gender stereotypes find self-promotion for males not only accepted but expected, research shows. These biases can put women at a disadvantage. However, there are actions that both those seeking and granting opportunities can take to neutralize the risk of backlash.
“Dual-promoting,” or crediting another person while promoting yourself, is an effective way to avoid backlash, researchers found. Since promoting others projects warmth, the dual-promoter can be seen as both competent (from self-promoting) and likeable (from promoting the other person). The other person promoted may be a collaborator, industry professional, or someone else.
While women can employ dual-promoting to advocate for themselves without being seen as unlikeable, there are also actions employers and other evaluators should take to reduce gender biases. Establishing metrics and standards for evaluation is one. When evaluators assess candidates for vague qualities like being a “good fit,” unconscious gender bias can slip into decision-making. Instead, evaluators should develop standard criteria based on the job description, award guidelines, or other relevant measures. Rating candidates on a Likert scale for each criteria should reduce any inclination to compare candidates against one another instead of objectively considering their qualifications. In a structured interview format such as this, researchers found gender differences were not significant in regard to how self-promoting statements were received.
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Suffragists promoting their Inaugural Suffrage Parade. Harris & Ewing, 1913 (Library of Congress)
Sources:
Meghan I. H. Lindeman, Amanda M. Durik, and Maura Dooley, “Women and Self-Promotion: A Test of Three Theories” (Psychological Reports, 2019, Vol. 122(1)): 219–230.
Hannah Teja, Deborah M. Powell, Leanne S. Son Hing, and Peter A. Hausdorf, “Self-Promotion in the Structured Interview – No Evidence of Differential Effects for Men and Women” (Journal of Personnel Psychology, March 08, 2023)
Eric M. VanEpps, Einav Hart, and Maurice E. Schweitzer, “Dual-Promotion: Bragging Better by Promoting Peers” (Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 2024, Vol. 126, No. 4): 603–623.