Why women face credit stealing at work

You’ve poured countless hours into a project, and it’s finally complete. But when you look at the finished work, your name is nowhere to be found. Instead, you see the name of the man who commissioned it.

In some cases, that may be expected – ghostwritten work, for example. But for creative projects like music, articles or reports, proper recognition matters. Credit should be given where it’s due.

Credit stealing can happen to anyone, but research suggests it predominantly affects women. One study, published in Gender Differences in Recognition for Group Work, found that women get less recognition when co-authoring a research paper with male colleagues. The result? Men who co-author academic studies are far more likely than their female peers to be offered long-term employment by universities.

There’s also a phenomenon dubbed the ‘bropropriation' effect or ‘hepeating’, where ideas pitched by women are ignored until repeated by male colleagues. A Workhuman survey on gender-based microaggressions revealed that more than a quarter of women have had a male coworker take credit for their ideas. Scientific papers authored by women are also cited less often in patented inventions than those written by men.

Sophie Jane Lee, author of Beyond Palatable: A Manifesto for Unapologetic Women, explains that credit stealing is a result of systemic bias and gendered power dynamics in the workplace.

“Credit stealing happens to women so frequently because we still live and work within systems that reward confidence over collaboration, visibility over substance, and dominance over nuance,” she says.

“Women are often socialised to soften, include, and defer, while men are more often rewarded for speaking with certainty, even when the idea wasn’t originally theirs.”

(Christina Morillo/Pexels)

The teamwork penalty

There’s also a longstanding cultural pattern where women’s labour becomes invisible the moment it’s perceived as 'teamwork', emotional labour or support.

“The reality is that, because many women are conditioned to avoid appearing difficult, ego-driven, or attention-seeking, they’re less likely to loudly reclaim ownership in the moment. And unfortunately, some workplaces still exploit that dynamic, consciously or unconsciously,” says Lee.

Theft isn’t always obvious, either. Erasure can show up as being left off emails, being excluded from opportunities linked to your own work, and not being mentioned in meetings that you should be named in.

The impact of invisibility

Recognition drives promotions, salary increases, visibility, investment, leadership opportunities, and influence. So when women’s ideas and contributions are taken away from them, it can fundamentally affect their success.

Psychologically, explains Lee, it also creates a kind of learned self-doubt. You start to question whether you’re actually good, and whether it was even your idea in the first place – a kind of personal gaslighting that undermines your self-confidence. 

“You wonder whether speaking up is worth it, whether your voice even matters,” says Lee. “Many women end up shrinking themselves pre-emptively because they’re exhausted from fighting to be recognised. This also shows up as imposter syndrome, which is actually our brains having a very normal reaction to being treated as less than in professional contexts.”

And, as anyone will attest to, being talked over, ignored or overlooked at work creates a huge amount of stress and mental fatigue. You start to overprepare before meetings, second-guess yourself before speaking, and are on high alert for the right time to jump in and make your voice heard.

"You wonder whether speaking up is worth it, whether your voice even matter"

Sophie Jane Lee

What to do about credit stealing

So, what can we do to address this problem? As with any systemic issue, there is no quick fix. First, though, it’s important to stop treating credit stealing as a women’s confidence issue and recognise it as a cultural problem.

“Women should not have to become louder, harder, or more aggressive just to receive basic acknowledgement for their work,” says Lee. “Employers need to actively create cultures where attribution is normal and visible. That means leaders publicly crediting ideas accurately, documenting contributions clearly, and paying attention to who gets interrupted, ignored, or consistently overlooked in meetings.”

Who speaks in meetings needs to be intentional. Leaders should ensure everyone gets a chance to speak, the right people are acknowledged, and recognise that being the loudest isn’t necessarily a sign of competence.

We also need to normalise women claiming ownership of their ideas without being penalised for being ‘pushy’ or ‘aggressive’.

“There’s nothing arrogant about saying: 'Just to build on the idea I shared earlier…' or 'I’d love to revisit the proposal I originally raised’ – And we should absolutely be allowed to take ownership of our ideas and brilliance in exactly the same way our male counterparts do,” says Lee. “Recognition sounds small, but it shapes careers, confidence, and whose voices ultimately get heard.”