What do your co-workers think of your performance on the job?

    If you're a woman, you're three times more likely than a man to answer that question wrong.

    Women handicap themselves on the job by chronically underrating their standing with bosses and co-workers, says a new study slated for presentation next month to the Academy of Management's annual meeting. When asked to predict how they were rated by managers, direct reports and peers, women were significantly poorer at predicting others' ratings than men, says the study of 251 managers by Scott Taylor of the University of New Mexico.

    A lack of self-confidence isn't the problem. The women surveyed thought highly of themselves compared with men in the study. But the females simply believed others regarded them as far less competent than they actually did, on a wide range of social and emotional skills related to leadership, according to the study. The ratings encompassed a wide range of attributes, from communication and conflict management to trustworthiness and teamwork.

    Overall, averaging all the ratings, the gap between prediction and reality was three times greater for women than for men. 'Women are so accustomed to decades of being 'disappeared'' or ignored, 'and to hearing histories of women whose contributions went unnoticed, that they assume these conditions exist to the same extent today,' Dr. Taylor says.

    A few companies, of course, have fair, transparent, performance-based compensation systems that eliminate gender inequities.

    But at most employers, expecting to be devalued can exact a big toll. A friend of mine says she underestimated her standing at work for years and paid a high price in her paycheck. She started at a low-paid entry-level job at her company and advanced quickly up the ladder. But she didn't ask for a raise for several years, only to find out later that she was making 50% less than peers with similar or less experience.

    'It came as a shock when I discovered how underpaid I was,' she says. 'I really shot myself in the foot by not being a self-promoter.' The lesson: If your employer lacks a systematic comp policy, 'you really have to self-promote and lobby for yourself if you care about your career or salary advancement,' my friend says.

    My male peers have pointed out my own blind spots in this regard. Years ago, when I first learned how much a female executive at my company was paid, I marveled, 'Wow, that's a lot.' The male colleague who told me roared with laughter. 'You think that's a lot?' he asked me incredulously. 'That's half what men at her level make.'

    Readers, do you have trouble promoting yourselves? Do you see women around you undervaluing their contributions? Does your workplace have transparent, performance-based advancement or compensation systems that help eliminate gender inequities? Or do workers of both genders have to do a lot of self-promotion to get ahead?

    你的同事認為你的工作表現如何？

    如果你是女性，那你答錯這個問題的機率是男性的3倍。

    將在管理學會（Academy of Management）下個月舉行的年會上提交的一項新研究表明，女性習慣性地低估自己在老板和同事心目中的地位，從而阻礙了自己的事業發展。新墨西哥大學（University of New Mexico）的泰勒（Scott Taylor）對251名管理人員進行的研究發現，當被要求預測上司、直接領導和同事給自己的評分時，女性預測的準確度遠遠不如男性。

    問題不在于缺乏自信。受調查者中，女性比男性對自己評價更高。但研究顯示，她們就是覺得自己與領導能力相關的眾多社會和情感技能被別人極大地低估了。評分包括交流溝通、處理沖突、可信度和團隊合作等多方面的特質。

    總體上看，將所有評分平均下來，女性的預測和現實之間的差距是男性的三倍。泰勒說，女性幾十年來習慣了被忽視，總是聽到有關女性的成績被忽略的陳年舊事，因此她們以為這些情況現在依然如故。

    當然，一些公司擁有公正、透明、基于工作表現的獎勵系統，消除了性別歧視。

    但在大多數公司里，覺得自己受低估可能會付出很高的代價。我的一位朋友說，她多年來一直低估自己在工作中的地位，為此在薪資方面損失慘重。她在公司從低薪的入門級職位干起，升職很快。但她幾年都沒有要求加薪，最后才發現資歷跟她相同或不如她的同事掙得比她多一半。

    她說，當我發現自己的薪水有多低時，簡直太吃驚了，我自己不去要求，這真是自作自受。我朋友說，這件事的教訓是：如果你的雇主沒有系統的薪酬制度，那你要是關心自己的事業或薪水長進，就得自力更生，替自己說話。

    我的一些男同事曾經指出我在這方面的盲點。多年前我首次得知公司里的女性管理人員的薪水時，我驚嘆道，哇，真是太高了。告訴我這件事的男同事大笑起來。他懷疑地問，你真覺得很多嗎？這只是她那個級別的男主管薪水的一半。

    讀者們，你在宣傳自己這方面遇到過問題嗎？你周圍的女性有沒有低估自己的成就？你所在的公司是否有可幫助消除性別歧視的透明的、基于工作表現的晉升或薪資體系？抑或無論男女，員工都必須進行大量的自我宣傳才能成功？