
Sexism alive and well in auto industry
Is sexism dead in the car business? Nope, not even close.
We conducted a survey called Project XX, and nearly 900 women took it. And they had a lot to say.
Check out an overview of the results here, and explore this page to see more on issues with role models, dealerships, racism, how human resources is failing to help, and lots of comments from the women in our survey.
Racial differences
Race adds a level of difficulty in workplace
For women of color in the auto industry, race adds another element to the challenges they face. Minorities pay an "emotional tax" in the workplace, and the wage gap is wider.
Human Resources
Women wary of reaching out to human resources
About 18 percent of women said they reported incidents to human resources, but most said they felt like filing a complaint would label them as troublemakers.
Credibility
Women prove themselves every day
Automotive clients, customers and peers often question women's expertise and credibility in their fields. No matter how high-level, many women regularly have to prove their skills and knowledge.
Some survey findings
Here are some of the findings from the survey, which was conducted this spring. Click through to view more results. Illustrations by Scott Menchin
Dealerships
'Macho' sales culture hurts dealerships
Dealership turnover is a big staffing problem -- 96 percent of female salespeople leave. Addressing sexism in the workplace could help, experts say.
Role models
The 'extra oomph' that changed GM
Mary Barra wasn't just a politically correct choice for General Motors CEO, says Dan Akerson. She was "far and away the best choice for the job at the time." He offers advice for companies that want to eliminate the glass ceiling.
Transgender issues
Auto industry is not an easy place to be transgender
Transgender people face a much higher rate of discrimination today than the general population, experts say. So the decision to come out at work is often fraught for transgender people.
In their words
The Automotive News Project XX Survey was answered by almost 900 women in the auto industry. The survey respondents had a lot to say. In addition to answering 37 yes-or-no type questions, they left 2,746 comments. We read and considered every single comment. It felt like therapy; people seemed to really need to tell someone about their experiences. Here are some of quotes that stood out.
An essay on language
Sexualized language colors women's role in auto world
We reached out to Maggie Stiefvater, a New York Times best-selling author who is so in love with things that go fast, she once bought herself a race car, and asked her to think about one of the comments that really hit us from the survey: “Cars have been coupled with sexual language for so long, it's hard to get men to change the way they talk about cars and women.”
It's intriguing to think about how language intersects with behavior and the impact it has on women who work in the industry or simply love cars.