Tausi Insider

Do women become less “nice” in middle age? It would appear that we think so. And that throws an additional wrench into our efforts to develop more gender-balanced leadership teams. A gender stereotype we hold of is that women are kinder and more warm-hearted, nicer and less aggressive, compared with men. But University of California business professor Jennifer Chatman decided to investigate whether that held as we age, after noticing student evaluations of her teaching became harsher when she entered her forties, even as she felt her teaching was improving. With colleagues, she conducted three different studies of various work situations and found both men and women are perceived as more capable or effective as they get older, but only women are seen as less warm as they age – causing them to be judged more harshly. This is a critical age, of course, as decisions are often being made for top leadership posts. Perhaps this helps some women – no longer blocked for being too nice – but...

Photo : UfaBizPhoto ( Shutterstock ) If you want to work in film, television, or theater production, there are (many) worse jobs than intimacy coordinator. This relatively new position involves facilitating any scenes that involve physical intimacy—from kissing to sex—working as liaison between the director and producers and actors, making sure everyone consents to everything, and consulting with directors about how to achieved their vision. Productions with big enough budgets to employ intimacy coordinators take it very seriously: In order to be hired, you must be certified through programs approved by SAG-AFTRA (the actor’s union) and pass a background check, but your biggest hurdle will likely be getting hired in the first place. Hollywood is about who you know, so people skills and a background in production are soft requirements, plus you’ll have to be well-versed in the intricacies of how these kinds of scenes are produced. Many intimacy coordinators come from acting backgro...