Sexist beliefs can lead to discrimination. Discrimination is prejudice in action, and it occurs whenever a person or group treats others unfairly based on an aspect of their identity.

Gender discrimination can manifest itself at any level of society, including the:

• Institutional level: Institutional sexism occurs when sexism affects the practices of a whole institution or system, such as a university, healthcare system, or legal system.
• Interpersonal level: Interpersonal sexism occurs within personal relationships and social interactions. Examples include catcalling, verbal insults, and abuse.
• Individual level: People can have internalized sexism, which refers to sexist beliefs about a person’s own sex or gender. This may cause them to discriminate against others who belong to the same group.

Discrimination does not have to be obvious or intentional to be damaging. Smaller acts of discrimination can have a cumulative effect on mental and physical health. These acts are known as microaggressions.

Some examples of gender-based microaggressions include:

• interrupting or talking over someone
• questioning someone’s competence because of their gender
• denying that sexism exists
• using sexist language or making sexist jokes

One location where gender discrimination occurs is the workplace. A 2017 survey by the Pew Research Center, in the United States, found that 42% of women have experienced gender discrimination at work, such as:

• being paid less than a man for doing the same job
• being denied a promotion because of their gender
• being treated as less competent because of their gender
• receiving less support from management than a man doing the same job

Gender discrimination also occurs in healthcare. In a 2021 study, more women doctors than men said that their gender had negatively affected their careers, limiting the level of respect that they felt they received.

Almost 100% of the women in the study had been mistaken for patients or support staff, compared with 29% of the men.