C-suite women are more likely than men to report toxic workplace behavior

Toxic workplaces aren’t equally tortuous for all employees. A new survey finds that women still bear the brunt of unhealthy workplaces. In fact, they are 41% more likely to report experiencing a toxic workplace culture than men, and it often goes undetected by employers. 

“It’s incredibly easy to overlook this if you don’t have the right measurement tools,” says Charles Sull, an author of the study and cofounder of CultureX, which uses A.I. to help leaders analyze their corporate culture. “Employees are going to be a little bit less likely to report [a toxic culture] if you don’t ask them in the exact right way.” 

He refers to the most negative workplace traits as the “toxic five,” a set of behaviors that include disrespect, non-inclusion, unethical behavior, cutthroat competition, and abusive behavior. Sull and his coauthor Donald Sull analyzed over a million Glassdoor employee reviews and correlated which workplace traits most negatively impacted Glassdoor ratings.

Feelings of workplace toxicity were even more pervasive among women at higher levels within organizations. C-suite level women were 53% more likely than men to say they’d experienced toxicity in the workplace. Sull likes to remind leaders that toxicity can appear in many ways, whether that be favoritism, racial inequity, or outright abuse, especially in large organizations.

“It can vary remarkably across different segments of the employee population. So there’s no one-size-fits-all approach to addressing toxic culture and closing the toxic culture gender gap,” he says.

Because of this, Sull says it’s imperative that HR executives develop listening tools, encourage transparent responses from employees, and provide support once such behavior is detected.

“You can see just by reading these quotes on Glassdoor about toxicity that they’re very emotionally resonant,” says Sull. “It’s difficult for them to leave these [issues] behind at work.”

Amber Burton
amber.burton@fortune.com
@amberbburton

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