My new book Understanding Gender at Work, is a career playbook for women at work. It is focused on women, not because we need fixing, but because organizational practices and subtle gender bias, which put unfair pressure on women and create obstacles, have not changed much over the past five decades.

A study by Pew Research Centre this summer found that working women in the US are twice as likely as men to experience gender discrimination. Another recent study, highlighted in the HBR, showed that despite similar tone and volume of speech, no difference in the number of contacts and the same amount of face time with senior leaders, women did not advance as much as men. The researchers concluded that the difference in promotion was not due to differences in behavior but rather gender bias.

So while we wait for changes, it is important for women to be able to identify common unconscious biases that underlie gender discrimination. This approach in no way minimizes or supplants the need to change the workplace or societal perceptions; rather it allows women to be better players by knowing the game. By exposing gender biases and correcting them, it also helps change the game. It shines a light on inaccurate and outdated gender assumptions and views – views that stand in the way of inclusion, diversity and equality.

Here are three common types of gender biases that need to be brought into the light and debunked.

1. Prove it Again. Men are assumed to be competent in traditionally masculine roles but women have to prove their competence over and over again. The saying that “women have to work twice as hard to get half as far” relates to this bias. Interestingly, the experience of transgendered men and women who have been both genders, report that being a man at work is so much easier. Strategies to deal with this bias include: questioning decisions or evaluations that are based on a double standard of performance that favour men; using performance metrics rather than subjective evaluations to determine success; and ensuring that the metrics of success are clear from the beginning.
2. Testosterone Rex. This is the false assumption that evolution, brains, hormones, and behaviour are responsible for sexual inequities. It’s the notion that men evolved to be risk-taking and competitive for reproductive rewards, and this propelled them to the top at work. Counter to this assumption, there are no essential male or female characteristics and no cognitive differences between the sexes. Using solid scientific evidence and meticulous reasoning in her entertaining books Delusions of Gender and Testosterone Rex, Cordelia Fine debunks ideas about gender differences and sexual inequities having their origins in biological differences. To reduce this bias, learn the true facts about the absence of sex differences and tell others. Most people don’t know the truth and, especially for parents, it is important information.
3. Maternal Wall. Women who become mothers face the worst career penalties. It is assumed they lose all career focus and interest. The specific negative biases include: they will put in less effort, be less motivated for advancement, and will prioritize home life over work life. To deal with this bias, know the facts that debunk these myths. Also, have routine career conversations with your supervisor, or those who influence your career, to discuss your specific career goals.  This type of conversation is especially important before and after maternity breaks.

There are, unfortunately, many other gender biases that put unfair pressure on women at work and create obstacles for advancement. By recognizing biases, especially in real time, women can better deal with them and, by so doing, challenge their validity and the practices that perpetuate them.