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Chapter 10: Gendered Organizational Communication
Multiple Choice
1.
The Lilly Ledbetter Act of 2009
A.
bars employers from retaliating against employees who ask about pay schedules.
B.
states that wage discrimination occurs whenever an employee
receives discriminatory pay.
C.
overturned the “separate but equal” doctrine.
D.
requires federal employers to provide maternity leave for all employees.
E.
expands the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA).
2.
When LaKisha does not get a promotion she was expecting, she asks her supervisor to
explain what happened. He tells her that the partners in the firm felt that the
promotion would have created a lot of pressure on her and they wanted to protect her
from that. The partners’ evaluation of LaKisha reflects which stereotype of women?
A.
Victim
B.
Mother
C.
Sex object
D.
Child
E.
None of the above
3.
The assumption that careers must follow linear, full-time patterns
A.
is based on work-patterns of previous eras that assumed a typical employee was
a male worker with a stay-at-home wife.
B.
leads many women to choose to forego having families.
C.
negatively affects both men’s and women’s career trajectories.
D.
correctly assumes that workers are most productive and successful when
they remain invested in and committed to a job for a long period of time and
without interruption.
E.
has been rejected by most contemporary major corporations.
4.
Brendan is struggling to understand how to use the new reporting software his
company has adopted. Rather than asking the IT director for help, Brendan keeps
doing Google searches to try to answer his questions. Brendan is exhibiting what
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stereotype of men in the workplace?
A.
Fighter
B.
Sturdy oak
C.
Breadwinner
D.
Athlete
E.
Cowboy
5.
Brown v. Board of Education led to what efforts to redress inequities in the United
States?
A.
Equal opportunity laws
B.
Affirmative action
C.
Quotas
D.
Goals
E.
Sexual harassment laws
6.
Equal opportunity laws
A.
apply to groups, not individuals, that have suffered discrimination.
B.
deal only with the present—not historical—discrimination.
C.
are judged by results, not intent.
D.
are the same thing as affirmative action.
E.
state how many minorities must be hired, promoted, or admitted at an institution.
7.
Anna and Ben are up for the same promotion at work. When it comes time to make a
decision, the management committee chooses Ben for the position because they think
Anna’s commitment to being a good mother to her children would prevent her from
wanting to take on more responsibilities at the office. Anna has just encountered what?
A.
Glass walls
B.
FMLA
C.
Affirmative action
D.
The glass ceiling
E.
None of the above
8.
“Glass wall” is a metaphor to describe
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A.
the invisible barrier to women’s advancement in the workplace.
B.
a new technology that lets supervisors monitor employees.
C.
the difference in pay that women and men receive for the same job.
D.
sex segregation of jobs based on stereotypes of women.
E.
leave policies that discourage men from taking family leave.
9.
Affirmative action laws
A.
attempt to redress past discrimination for members of historically marginalized
groups.
B.
apply only to individuals, not groups that have experienced discrimination.
C.
judge organizations by the intent of their hiring, admission, and promotion practices
rather than end results.
D.
sometimes result in unqualified candidates being hired, admitted, or promoted.
E.
mandate a number of people that must be hired, admitted, or promoted at an
organization.
10.
Which of the following is a reason why women workers tend to lack mentor
relationships?
A.
Fewer women and minorities hold senior positions in many organizations.
B.
Men are often reluctant to mentor women for fear of gossip and innuendo.
C.
Men often assume that women are less serious about their careers.
D.
Some men are less comfortable with women than men.
E.
All of the above.
11.
are policies that judge effectiveness based on results rather than intention.
A.
Affirmative action
B.
Goals
C.
Equal opportunity laws
D.
Informal networks
E.
All of the above
12.
At work, Nick feels pressure to compete against his coworkers. He and his wife are
expecting a child and although the company has a family leave policy, he is afraid to ask
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for time off in case it hurts his future chance at promotions and his coworkers view him
as undedicated. What stereotype of men in the workplace does this kind of pressure
reflect?
A.
Sturdy oak
B.
Breadwinner
C.
Iron man
D.
Fighter
E.
Glass wall
13.
Women’s careers can be hampered by which of the following informal practices?
A.
Male mentors who attempt to impose male values and styles on women
B.
Workplace environments that focus on families and relationships
C.
Informal networks that require women to join men in games of golf and other sports,
activities most women do not enjoy
D.
Segregation into jobs that offer little or no opportunity for advancement
E.
All of the above
True/False
14.
Hillary Clinton was judged based on her fitting with the iron maiden stereotype during the
2016 U.S. presidential campaign.
15.
Less than 5% of Fortune 500 companies have female CEOs.
16.
In the United States, companies are required to grant leaves to care for new babies or sick
family members as mandated by the FMLA.
17.
Because men have dominated in the workplace in the past, many informal networks are
largely or exclusively male.
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REF: pp.
206–210
18.
Affirmative action is a quota system that states a number of minorities that must be hired,
admitted, or promoted, regardless of qualifications.
19.
The glass escalator is the idea that when women take jobs in male dominated fields, they are
often quick to rise through the ranks of those fields.
20.
Topic or question should be authored by a student. See pages 8 to 10 of this manual for
details on this activity.
Identification
21.
Workplace bullying
22.
Maternal wall
23.
Affirmative action
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policies.
REF: p. 211
24.
Equal opportunity laws
REF: p. 211
25.
Glass escalator
26.
Glass walls
27.
Glass ceilings
28.
Mentors
29.
How might gendered stereotypes contribute to more subtle forms of discrimination
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practiced in organizations today? Explain two stereotypes each for women and for men.
Provide an example of how they might be enacted in organizational life. How does each of
these limit opportunities?
ANS: Students should explain and provide organizational examples for two of each of the
Gendered stereotypes—women:
Sex Object—defines women in terms of their sex or sexuality, including judgments of
women workers based on their appearance and/or actions. This may limit opportunities for
Gendered stereotypes—men:
Sturdy Oak—defines men as completely self-reliant. As such, a man should never admit
30.
Your Gendered Lives textbook discusses a number of informal organizational practices
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that contribute to discriminatory practices in organizations today. Define and discuss two of
these practices that you believe are most damaging and explain why you believe this. Finally,
pick one of the methods to redress gendered inequity and explain how this solution would help
address the discriminatory practices discussed in your essay. What are the benefits and
limitations of this method?
ANS: Students should choose two of the following informal practices to define and discuss:
Students should provide an explanation of why they feel the two informal practices they have
selected are the most damaging and then pick one of the following means to redressed
gendered inequity and address a strength and weakness of this method. The answer should
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maintaining qualification standards and gaining the benefits of diverse organizational
membership at all levels of the organization. Disadvantages may include difficult
implementation due to a limited availability of qualified people from historically
underrepresented groups.
Quotas—Using a results-oriented focus like affirmative action, quotas aim to require a certain
number or percentage of minorities and women to be admitted, hired, or promoted within an
organization. A benefit of this method is women and/or minorities would be guaranteed to
comprise a certain percentage of the organization. A disadvantage is that they may not be
qualified and minority or female organizational members overall may be stigmatized as
having only received a position because of belonging to a disadvantaged group.
Goals—Similar to quotas, but represents only an organization’s stated intention of achieving a
certain percentage of women and/or minorities. Goals have the same advantages and disadvantages
of quotas, with one additional disadvantage in that goals are not mandated. Therefore, failure to
achieve a goal may have no consequences.
Diversity training—aims to increase awareness of and respect for difference. These
programs have an underlying assumption that organizational members are unaware of
subtle biases and introduce them to new ways of behaving and interpreting others. An
advantage of the program is that participants may learn to avoid unconscious
discrimination. A disadvantage is that participants must be motivated to learn and make
changes for the program to be effective.
REF: pp. 206–215
31.
Your textbook discusses the effect of outdated norms for career paths on women in the
workplace. Describe what those norms are and how they impact women’s careers. If you were to
advocate for a change to these paths, what would that change be? Is that change realistic? Why
or why not?