In the framework of Women’s Day, the relationship between gender stereotypes and female underrepresentation is addressed, highlighting how self-esteem affects performance.
A little over a month ago, I read a study that made an analysis of chess and the relevance of gender stereotypes. Indeed, chess is a sport with a high male representation and a very low female representation, and this gap increases even more when analyzing the category of “grandmasters”.
As a fan of the “Queen’s Gambit” series, I must admit that something inside me always rebelled at the thought: A woman in the middle of the Cold War reaching the World Championship in Russia? Nice utopia. And so it is, a utopia. The representation of women in chess is less than 5% and in the Grandmaster category it is even less than 1%.
So, what is it that makes women have such a low representation in this sport? The answer to this question is the main reason why today is commemorated the Women’s Day (and I say commemorate, because this is not a celebration, it is a call of attention).
The study points out that chess has a low female participation and representation due to gender stereotypes. That is to say, the attribution to an individual -whether male or female- of specific characteristics or roles due to the mere fact of belonging to a certain gender, is what explains the low participation of women in the sport I am talking about.
Indeed, the study was based on 42 pairs of men and women, matched by skill, who were exposed to play chess over the Internet. When the players played without knowing the sex of the opponent, the women played equally well as the men (having proportionally the same number of wins and losses). However, when female players were told that their opponents were male, they showed a drastic drop in performance. Conversely, when falsely led to believe that they were playing against someone of the female gender, they performed just as well as the men.
Thus, when female players were activated by gender stereotyping and made to believe that they were playing against men, their behavior was weakened and their results were worse than if they did not know them or considered their opponents to be women. In other words, it is the self-esteem of our gender that is weakened by the belief that they are playing against a male exponent in certain areas (in this case, chess), which translates into a drop in their performance and a disadvantage in front of their male peers.
Therefore, women are at a disadvantage in this sport not because they lack the special skills or knowledge it requires, but because they approach the game with less confidence and a more cautious attitude.
Is this lack of confidence a genetic or natural condition of our gender? Evidently not. There is no gender that is born with higher self-esteem and one with a disadvantage. Are we ourselves to blame for having a weakened self-esteem? It doesn’t seem very likely either, as there is no living being that tends to self-destruct.
On the contrary, the most logical explanation for the responsibility for self-esteem is the society that surrounds us. Self-esteem is built from the bond with others and, because of this, the appreciation or valuation we have towards ourselves is based on it. Thus, self-esteem is a social and cultural construction that shapes the person. Therefore, it has been the environment that has been undermining our confidence and weakening our self-esteem, directly damaging – as we have already seen – our performance.
My call this march 8 is not to break down the economic gender gap, as the World Economic Forum established that this would happen in 170 years. Nor is my objective to break the glass ceiling in institutions, since only 5% of general managers in Chile are women. Nor can I, through an opinion column, put an end to micromachismos. My call, this March 8, is to educate in self-esteem, from and for women. It is there where -in my opinion- we can generate a real change.
How many of us have felt incapable of achieving an objective before even trying? how many of us have been more cautious in our behavior in front of men in certain circumstances? who have not felt the need to be completely sure before expressing an opinion? how many of us have not asked for a promotion because we doubted whether we deserved it?
Enhancing a woman’s self-image is precisely the way to help her improve her performance and stand out. Not tolerating the macho views of a man with respect to a woman will prevent gender stereotypes such as those explained in the article from being perpetuated. Educating in self-esteem is everyone’s task and thus, sooner rather than later, the lack or low representativeness in certain areas will be eliminated forever.
Column written by Josefa Larraín, Director of Grupo Arbitraje. Originally published in Estado Diario.
