Gender Perceptions and Practices: The Case of a Science and Technology Research Organization

In this chapter we investigate the relationships between perceptions and actual data about work conditions in science and technology, as mediated by gender. More precisely, we compare researchers’ perceptions of various personnel metrics and statistics with actual data in one of the main scientific research institutes in Italy to show that gendered practices and ideologies produce consistent biases in the perception of capabilities of men and women. We believe that stereotypes influence the way women and men researchers are differently considered and evaluated within a scientific context and lead to the underestimation of women’s work. We further claim that this underestimation is perpetuated by both men and women at all levels in the hierarchical structure of the organization. This social pervasiveness can exert relevant effects on organizational behaviors, hindering judgments in scientific and career track evaluations of female researchers. We compare perceptions and actual data about gender differences in job security, income and scientific productivity, showing a consistent tendency to consider as different the achievements obtained by female researchers. This tendency is shared by both men and women, but it takes different paths for the two genders. While this tendency does not, per se, imply an overt discrimination against women in the workplace, it can partly explain some of the macro-differences that are apparent in the literature.