“Women who send flirtatious e-mail, wear short skirts or massage a man’s shoulders at work win fewer pay raises and promotions, according to a Tulane University study to be presented Monday at the Academy of Management annual meeting in Honolulu.”
I should think so. But according to the above report from USA Today (hat tip to Glib and Superficial via our libertarian Catholic friend Kathy Shaidle), nearly half the women in America who hold MBA degrees believe that telling your boss that he looks “hot” (or engaging in similar behavior) is the way to succeed in business without really trying. Yup, the Tulane researchers report that a full 49 percent of the 164 female MBA-holders ranging in age from their mid-20s to 60s whom they surveyed ‘fessed to having engaged in at least one of the following 10 on-the-job sexual behaviors in order to snag that promotion:
“I wear a skirt or something more revealing than usual around clients or supervisors to get attention.
“I flirt with people at work.
“I draw attention to my legs by crossing them provocatively when in meetings or sitting with a group of men at work.
“I hint or imply that I am attracted to a man (men) at work even if I am not.
“I purposely let men sneak a look down my shirt when I lean over a table.
“I massage a man’s shoulders or back while at work.
“I sent flirty or risqu’ e-mails to male co-workers.
“I tell male co-workers or clients they look sexy or hot.
“I allow men to linger at certain places of my body while hugging them.
“I emphasize my sexuality while at work by the way I dress, speak, and act.”
The good news is that such behavior gets you nowhere, indicating both that acting like a lady at work–that is, like a professional among professionals–pays off and that men on the job aren’t the drooling chauvinists or sex-obsessed fools that feminist ideologues paint them to be. As USA Today reports:
“The other half said they never engaged in such activity, and those women have earned an average of three promotions, vs. two for the group that had employed sexuality. Those who said they never used sexuality were, on average, in the $75,000-$100,000 income range; the others fell, on average, in the next-lowest range, $50,000 to $75,000.”
Glib and Superficial comments:
“The perpetrators of the study conclude that this means that such provocative behavior is ineffective in getting ahead.
“It seems to us that there is a far simpler explanation. First, the study has divided these professional women into two groups: One group not only thinks this sort of thing is necessary or appropriate, but is willing to admit it to someone taking a survey. Let’s call this group ‘idiots.”
“The second group behaves like intelligent grownups. We’ll call this group ‘not idiots.”
“We think the study suggests that — on average — people who are not idiots get paid more than people who are idiots.”
I’m still reeling, however, at the fact that the “idiots” category includes nearly one out of every two women who graduate from biz school. It’s something to think about the next time you hear a gal complaining about the “glass ceiling.”