# Intelligent women get less help at work

> Women with high intelligence scores face less help and more hostility at work than men, study finds.
- Title: Intelligent women get less help at work · Dw | Shortify
- Summary: Women with high intelligence scores face less help and more hostility at work than men, study finds.
- Keywords: intelligent women, workplace help, intelligence test, teammate treatment, gender bias, cognitive ability, workplace hostility
- Source: Dw — https://dw.com/en/intelligent-women-get-less-help-at-work-study-finds/a-79910881?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf
- Read time: 1 min
- Topics: intelligent women, workplace help, intelligence test, teammate treatment, gender bias, cognitive ability, workplace hostility, news, world, politics
## Study finds intelligence affects workplace treatment
Women with high cognitive scores receive less help and more undermining from teammates than men, according to a study of 826 people in the US and China.

> Women who scored higher on an intelligence test were rated by their teammates as more hostile, received less help and were undermined more often.
## Men with high scores face no negative treatment
Men with high cognitive scores were not rated as hostile or treated less helpfully in either study group.

> Men with high scores did not receive such treatment, and in one group, they were treated better.
## Study methodology details
The research followed 432 US business students on a consulting project and surveyed 394 Chinese employees working in teams.
## Social role theory explains findings
Researchers suggest women with high cognitive ability break gender role expectations, leading colleagues to assume they lack warmth.

> It's that automatic, implicit assumption that takes place alongside the presence of intelligence that then drives these more negative interpersonal behaviors
## Women report less help and more undermining
Women with higher scores received less work and personal help and were undermined more often than women with lower scores.

> Women seen as more hostile reported less help, both with their work and on a personal level, and more undermining.
## Cultural differences in treatment
In China, men with high scores received more help and were less often undermined than women with high scores.

> Among the employees in China, men with higher scores were rated as less hostile, received more help and were mistreated less often.
## Experts advise workplace changes
Managers should monitor team dynamics and ask if they would treat a colleague the same if they were male.

> Would they react the same way if that colleague were a man?
## Key takeaway

Women scoring higher on intelligence tests receive less workplace support and more undermining than men, according to a study of US and Chinese employees.