RESEARCH_FILE
Amy Cuddy, Susan Fiske & Peter Glick
Harvard Business School; Princeton University; Lawrence University
Known for:Documenting the competence/warmth trade-off that professional women face specifically upon becoming mothers, using the stereotype content model
SEE THE PRACTICE
Turn a thought this research explains into one clear move.
THE THOUGHT
“Everyone moved on without me”
YOUR RECORDED RESPONSE
“The office moved. I moved too. We're both different—not me falling behind and them racing ahead.”
ONE PRIVATE MOVE
In your next meeting, when you encounter something you didn't know changed, write it down immediately. Then look at what you wrote. Notice: is it a gap in context or a gap in you? Decide on one specific update you need and ask for it by end of day.
Key findings
- 2004
Becoming a mother makes a professional woman seem warmer but markedly less competent to observers, while becoming a father makes men seem warmer with no competence penalty — and reduced interest in hiring or promoting mothers tracked directly with the perceived competence drop. When Professionals Become Mothers, Warmth Doesn't Cut the Ice ↗