Building capacity: Navigating organizational opportunities as if they were a subway system

8th Annual NW Diversity Learning Series (2006)

Male and Female Attributes
Session Three Summary:
Anticipating the loss of power: Transforming micro-inequities that impede access to opportunities and inhibit relationships

By Monica Ercolano

The goals of the third session of the NW Diversity Learning Series (May 11, 2006) were to provide participants with knowledge and skills to identify, anticipate and address effectively micro-aggressions and micro-inequities. As we learned, micro-aggressions and micro-inequities stem from historically deep-rooted beliefs, biases and misconceptions that have become ingrained in people's mindsets and in the organizational culture. We may think that enough time has passed to enable us to re-think attributes and roles historically assigned to men and women, still the results of the following study may tell us a different story.

In a study of U.S. college students, both male and female, conducted in 1988, participants were asked to mark the following attributes either M for male, or F for female:

(Note: the results of the study are shown below)

The followings are the results of the study of U.S. college students - both male and female - on female and male attributes.

This study of U.S. college students, both male and female, conducted in 1988, shows that biases and misconceptions about gender roles may still be alive and negatively impacting both employees as well as organizations.

The 2006 NW Diversity Learning Series (now in its 9th year) focused on the theme, Building Capacity: Navigating organizational opportunities as if they were a subway system.

Using the metaphor of a subway system, each of the six-bi-monthly morning seminars explored some of the ways that access to organizational opportunities and career development are hidden and therefore more difficult for women and people of color, as well as people who speak English as a second language, to utilize. The purpose of this Series was for everyone to become more aware of organizational culture and how it impacts building people's capacity, and for everyone, managers and employees, to become better at navigating these cultural obstacles along career paths.

For more information about the NW Diversity Learning Series, please visit the Series section of our website.

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