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Gender Stereotypes and Gender-Typed Work
Abstract
The persistence of the gender-typing of work, as well as its implications, is substantiated by empirical and experimental data and by court decisions. Gender-typed work is work that is numerically or normatively dominated by one gender. Occupational segregation by gender results in occupations that are numerically dominated by either men or women. The data and literature reviewed herein indicate that industries, occupations, and the organizational hierarchy remain segregated by gender, and this segregation perpetuates gender inequality in status and pay. Numerical domination of an occupation by one gender produces an archetype of the worker in that occupation as being of the gender that is predominant, hence giving rise to normative domination. Presumptions then arise about the attributes necessary to be successful in that occupation. When there is an incongruency between the gender stereotypes of an individual and the gender-based occupational stereotypes of their occupation, bias and employment discrimination can manifest. This review demonstrates that, rather than being an anachronistic concept, gender-typed work persists today as does the bias that results from the interaction of gender stereotypes with job gender-types. Gender-typed work is an area in need of further scholarly investigation to dig deeper into the boundary conditions that facilitate or inhibit gender-based bias in work workplace.
... It is important to note that both HR and law are gendertyped occupations (i.e., occupations historically dominated by one gender and believed to require qualities associated with that gender; Clarke, 2020). Yet, gender representation is becoming more diverse in these occupations. ...
... Similarly, HR professionals remain mostly women, but men now comprise approximately 25% of all HR roles (US Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2020). Still, while the gender representation of these professions has changed, gendered job stereotypes prevail (Clarke, 2020). HR continues to be seen as a female profession, with one of the highest numbers of female managers (i.e., 77.9%: Clarke, 2020). ...
... Still, while the gender representation of these professions has changed, gendered job stereotypes prevail (Clarke, 2020). HR continues to be seen as a female profession, with one of the highest numbers of female managers (i.e., 77.9%: Clarke, 2020). And law is still seen as a masculine profession (Couch & Sigler, 2001), where both minority and white female attorneys are mistaken for janitors more often than white men (Williams et al., 2018) due to occupational gender-typing (Clarke, 2020). ...
While training design choices seem amoral, they interact to determine training (in)effectiveness, potentially harming/benefiting trainees and organizations. These moral implications intensify when training is administered at scale (e.g., e-training) and focuses on social issues like sexual harassment (hereafter, SH). In fact, research on SH training shows it can elicit trainees’ gender-based biases against content messengers. We suggest that one such bias, resulting from messenger gender-occupation incongruence and influencing training effectiveness, is lowered perceptions of the messenger’s integrity. We also investigate whether rich media will increase or decrease this perceived integrity penalty. Using an excerpt from real SH e-training and a sample [N = 210] consistent with the targeted training audience, we conducted a 2 × 2 × 2 relative comparison experiment (messenger gender x messenger occupation x media richness) and tested a moderated mediation model of the interactive effects of messenger gender-occupation incongruence and media richness on trainees’ perceptions of messenger integrity and training outcomes. Results suggest that trainees’ perceptions of messenger integrity decrease when the messenger’s gender is incongruent with their occupation, leading to worse outcomes in text-based training. These effects, however, are mitigated by increased media richness, providing support for media richness theory. Implications for researchers and practitioners are discussed.
... Implikasi negatif berikutnya adalah adanya stereotip gender. Rasio gender guru yang tidak seimbang dapat memperkuat stereotip gender dan berkontribusi pada persepsi bahwa mengajar adalah profesi yang didominasi perempuan (Clarke, 2020). Tanpa panutan laki-laki di kelas, anak laki-laki mungkin beranggapan bahwa mengajar bukan pilihan karir yang layak untuk diri mereka sendiri (Juliana dkk., 2019). ...
... Terlepas dari kelebihan guru laki-laki, profesi guru dianggap profesi feminim dan hal ini membuat laki-laki enggan memasuki profesi guru, sehingga melanggengkan ketidakseimbangan gender profesi guru dalam jangka panjang di berbagai negara (Ahmad dkk., 2018). Dengan adanya stereotip gender dalam profesi guru sebagai profesi feminim, pilihan karir menjadi terbatas bagi peserta didik laki-laki (Clarke, 2020). Tanpa paparan model peran dan perspektif yang beragam yaitu dari guru perempuan dan guru laki-laki, peserta didik laki-laki mungkin kurang mempertimbangkan karir di bidang yang didominasi oleh satu jenis kelamin, yaitu perempuan dalam profesi guru. ...
... Peluang ini juga dapat membantu guru laki-laki membangun koneksi dengan pendidik lain dan mendorong lebih banyak laki-laki untuk menjadi guru ketika mereka melihat banyak guru-guru laki-laki lainnya yang juga berprofesi sebagai guru (Ahmad dkk., 2018). Berikutnya, perlu adanya penghargaan karir mengajar, pemberian insentif keuangan dan kesempatan perekrutan khusus bagi para guru laki-laki (Clarke, 2020). Program-program tersebut dapat menciptakan lingkungan yang inklusif yang ditujukan untuk mendorong dan memberikan dukungan kepada para laki-laki menggapai karir guru. ...
Ketimpangan rasio gender profesi guru mengarah kepada tidak proporsionalnya jumlah guru perempuan dan guru laki – laki. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui tren gender pada guru di tingkat pendidikan TK dan SD di Indonesia. Penulis menggunakan data sekunder mengenai data pokok guru TK dan SD dari semester ganjil tahun ajaran 2020/2021 sampai dengan semester genap tahun ajaran 2022/2023 yang diperoleh dari data Dapodikdasmen (Data Pokok Pendidikan Direktorat Jenderal Pendidikan Anak Usia Dini, Pendidikan Dasar dan Pendidikan Menengah) (Kemendikbud, 2023). Data diolah dengan menggunakan IBM SPSS software versi 24. Penulis menggunakan presentase dan grafik plot untuk mengetahui perbandingan jumlah guru dan bagaimana tren data guru TK dan SD di Indonesia berdasarkan gender selama 3 tahun terakhir. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa terdapat ketimpangan gender dalam profesi guru yaitu minimnya guru laki-laki pada TK dan SD di Indonesia dan tren menurun untuk guru laki-laki TK dan SD dalam 3 tahun terakhir.
... This could indicate the difficulty women face in reaching top positions, likely due to gender stereotypes that view women as less suitable for leadership roles, considering them to be less confident, ambitious, dominant, and independent (Arvate et al., 2018;Brescoll, 2016;Liu et al., 2022). These stereotypes can hinder women from reaching top positions within organizations (Arvate et al., 2018;Clarke, 2020). ...
Objective - The growth as well as the longevity of a firm are determined by the investment in fixed assets. This strategy requires a competent manager to ensure the optimal utilization of investment options. According to the upper echelon theory, performance can be influenced by experience. Managerial experience and competence can result in effective resource allocation, reduce resource wastage, increase profitability, and accelerate company growth. Our study aims to investigate how the job experience in accounting and/or finance of the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Chief Financial Officer (CFO) affects investment efficiency.Design/Methodology - The study was conducted on 171 manufacturing companies listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX) from 2015 to 2019. We used generalized least square regression to test the hypotheses.Results - The study found that CEOs with work experience in accounting and/or finance tend to reduce inefficient investments. However, this relationship does not hold true for CFOs.Research limitations/implications - The study indicates that the CEO's accounting and financial expertise is vital in facilitating effective investment choices. Therefore, companies should consider work experience, particularly in the field of accounting and/or finance, to enhance managerial performance in achieving investment efficiency, consequently leading to an increase in profitability and growth for the company.Novelty/Originality - Prior research examined the influence of the work experience of CEOs and CFOs as auditors on the efficiency of a company's investments. This study incorporates the work experience of CEOs and CFOs in accounting and/or other financial domains.
... Ultimately, it limits the occupational arena that both parties can approach with their skills, abilities and talents and stuck with occupations that are traditionally perceived as respective gender-appropriate. An example for it can be depicted as the profession of nursing is traditionally stereotyped as a female-dominated occupation (Clarke, 2020). Therefore, such classification of occupations as masculine and feminine affect the career choices of undergraduates to a greater extent. ...
Career choice is one of the imperative life decisions that an individual has to make in their life with careful consideration. Gender dominance of occupations plays a significant role in the process of career decision-making. Previous theoretical explanations and empirical findings on that relationship are very limited in nature. Thereby, the current study aims to examine the effect of gender dominance of occupations on the career choice of undergraduates by taking a sample of 113 undergraduates from a National University who are studying in their third and fourth years in different faculties. Primary data were collected through an online survey and a convenience sampling technique was used in selecting the sample. Moreover, the current study was conducted as a quantitative study following a hypothetico-deductive approach together with a cross-sectional survey design. The collected data were analyzed with the aid of SPSS statistical software. Findings revealed that gender dominance of occupations is positively related to a career choice as well as gender dominance of occupations significantly impacts career choice. Hence, it is concluded by proving that people still show greater interest to choose occupations, where their own gender is represented to a higher extent and gender-dominated occupations are deeply rooted in the society where young people stereotype occupations as feminine and masculine further. Thus, it is suggested not to determine the suitability of the jobs based on the percentage of their own gender in an occupation and should establish a culture where the priority is given to the talent that one possesses when choosing careers. Moving towards a substantial population by considering undergraduates from a wide variety of universities including national universities and private universities to get a clear picture of how gender dominance of occupations affects their career choices along with a qualitative approach is recommended for the prospective researchers, which will enrich the substance of the present study.
This study investigates how artificial intelligence (AI) perpetuates gender stereotypes in the accounting profession. Through experiments employing large language models (LLMs), we scrutinize how these models assign gender labels to accounting job titles. Our findings reveal differing tendencies among LLMs, with one favouring male labels, another female labels, and a third showing a balanced approach. Statistical analyses indicate significant disparities in labelling patterns, and job titles classified as male are associated with higher salary ranges, suggesting gender-related bias in economic outcomes. This study reaffirms existing literature on gender stereotypes in LLMs and uncovers specific biases in the accounting context. It underscores the transfer of biases from the physical to the digital realm through LLMs and highlights broader implications across various sectors. We propose raising public awareness as a means to mitigate these biases, advocating for proactive measures over relying solely on human intervention.
Women's leadership has become one of the main agendas in the 5th Sustainable Development Goal. All parties have recognized women's contribution to the country's development. In this modern world, women are still faced with the practice and understanding that women are of lower status than men due to patriarchal practices. Therefore, the study examined the influence of familial responsibility, women's competencies, and organizational support on female directorship. The research design for this study is a secondary quantitative study. This research's data were gathered from published private-sector datasets. The study's data included 137 organizations and was collected using probability systematic sampling. The data analysis tool used in this research is correlation analysis. The study results show no significant relationship between familial responsibility and organizational support and female directorship. Conversely, a significant relationship exists between women's competencies and female directorship.
DOI: 10.4018/979-8-3693-3208-5.ch005
Despite women's significant strides in leadership roles, their representation remains disproportionately low. This chapter delves into the nuanced comprehension of gender equity within professional workplaces in Bangladesh. The objectives include identifying challenges faced by professional women, assessing unpaid care work, understanding work-life balance, soliciting suggestions from women, and developing policy recommendations. The methodology integrates a comprehensive approach, including literature reviews, primary data analysis through Microsoft forms, key informant interviews (KIIs), and focused group discussions (FGDs). The chapter focuses on Dhaka, involving white-collar workers across various sectors and career levels. It especially highlights challenges faced by female educators, individual barriers hindering career progression, and the lack of female role models in academia. The chapter suggests that through collaborative efforts, workplaces can prioritize inclusivity, equity, and support for all employees, promoting a harmonious work-life balance.
While there has been an increase of women in the workplace, why do they remain underrepresented at the senior level, even in women‐dominated occupations such as Human Resources (HRs)? This article examines gendered wording in UK HR job adverts and the extent to which job adverts are a gendered practice contributing to women's underrepresentation in senior roles—even within a women‐dominated profession. We analysed 158 HR job adverts to identify the use of gendered language, traits and behaviours, equality, diversity, and inclusivity (EDI), and flexible working practices. Findings show that as the salary or title seniority increases, the proportion of masculine words in the job adverts increases, the prevalence of EDI statements, and flexible working practices decreases. We theorise how job adverts are a hidden gendered barrier to women's progress in HR, contributing to the (re)production of patriarchy, the masculine discourse of leadership and a negative cycle sustaining hierarchical segregation where men dominate in senior roles. HR is not leading by example in reducing systemic inequality practices and is complicit in reinforcing gender stereotypes.
Public sector professions are highly gender-dominant (e.g., police officers, teachers) and determined not only by professional but also by gender roles. According to the role congruity theory, these social roles result in perceived (in)congruities between the jobholders’ gender and gender-dominant professions. This research investigates this intersection for several professions. Throughout three large-scale surveys (conducted in Austria), we first document the gender-dominance of various public sector professions, and further analyze the effects from (in)congruities in gender-dominant professions. The findings are two-fold: First, for police officers, firefighters, politicians, nurses, and teachers, (in)congruities of job-holders gender with gender-dominance of the profession result in positive (negative) ascriptions of job-related traits. However, (in)congruity effects are not confirmed for other gender-dominant professions outside the public sector. Second, no (in)congruity effects are found for perceived professionalism. Findings are important for policymakers, as well as recruiters and employers who aim to reduce gender-related disadvantages within public sector employment.
Residents’ attitudes have been an important area in tourism research. Recent studies have employed the concept of stereotypes from social psychology to understand its content and influences on residents’ emotions and behaviors towards tourists. However, existing studies tend to emphasize measurements that capture explicit stereotypes, despite the importance of individuals’ unconscious evaluations of others. This study addresses this gap by assessing residents’ implicit stereotypes, emotions, and behaviors towards tourists via a novel implicit association test (IAT). The results suggest direct relationships between positive implicit stereotypes, emotions, and behaviors; however, negative implicit stereotypes did not arouse negative emotions or harmful behaviors, which suggests a possible boundary condition for these connections. This study contributes to the literature by highlighting an alternative perspective to the formation of residents’ attitudes, and by providing insights for destination management organizations (DMOs) on the value of measuring implicit stereotypes for understanding host–guest relations.
This study includes two experiments designed to assess the effects of occupational gender-related stereotypes on information processing and memory performance. These two experiments were conducted in two separate cohorts of undergraduate students (N = 107 and N = 96, respectively). In each of them, we assessed (and confirmed) the presence of an implicit association preferentially linking high status attributes to men using the Implicit Association Test (IAT). We also assessed the effective incorporation of this association into gender-schemata and its consequences for information processing with a memory task that involved remembering the feminine and masculine forms of high or low status professional occupations. Results indicated that, independently of their gender, participants were more likely to forget and less likely to falsely recall the feminine forms of high status professions, whereas the opposite was true for the masculine forms of high status professions. The magnitude of these memory biases was correlated with the IAT scores. Moreover, in agreement with the predictions of gender-schemata theory, these memory biases (and their correlations with IAT scores) were predominantly observed when participants were not adverted that their recall would be evaluated later on (incidental-encoding memory task; Experiment 1), but less so when participants were explicitly instructed to memorize the same feminine and masculine forms of high or low status professional occupations (intentional encoding memory task; Experiment 2). Taken together, these results call into question the notion that gender stereotypes about professional occupations are declining, and they highlight a “men-high-status” association as a major component of these occupational stereotypes.
In this paper we examine the gender wage gap among university graduates in Germany from 1997 to 2013 based on the DZHW (the German Centre for Higher Education Research and Science Studies) Absolventenpanel. We focus in particular on the effect of female presence in a subject or occupation on wage inequality. Earlier research has shown not only that female-dominated university subjects or occupations pay less, but also that men face a higher wage penalty than women when they graduated in a female-dominated subject and experience a lower penalty for working in a female-dominated occupation. For the five waves considered, we confirm the very strong negative association between female presence in a subject or occupation and wages. However, no consistent pattern emerges with regard to whether men’s or women’s wages suffer larger penalties. There is also no time trend observable with regard to the wage penalty that is associated with female-dominated fields. We further show that significant gender wage gaps exist within fields of studies, especially in male-dominated fields like engineering and natural science.
The most renowned brands worldwide incorporate initiatives in their business approach that seek equality between genders in society. Nonetheless, brands in their advertising campaigns, gender remains stereotyped in the roles men and women play, which can be considered harmful to society and therefore unethical. Such discrepancy appears even in the same intervention generated by advertising specialists who define and design the communication of these brands. Therefore, this study seeks to identify the arguments used by Peruvian advertising professionals to justify the use of gender role stereotypes within the advertising discourse from an ethical perspective. A qualitative approach was selected as the research method for this study. In-depth interviews with 16 professional advertisers from different areas in charge of producing this type of communication. The lack of knowledge about the actual dimension of the harmful gender stereotypes impeded a debate to leave without arguments to those who believe that the use of stereotypes is ethical. Professional advertisers have lost part of the necessary connection with ethics and find it hard to deal with these dilemmas because they do not identify the damage caused by gender role stereotypes in society.
Many of our routines and activities are linked to our ability to move; be it commuting to work, shopping for groceries, or meeting friends. Yet, factors that limit the individuals’ ability to fully realise their mobility needs will ultimately affect the opportunities they can have access to (e.g. cultural activities, professional interactions). One important aspect frequently overlooked in human mobility studies is how gender-centred issues can amplify other sources of mobility disadvantages (e.g. socioeconomic inequalities), unevenly affecting the pool of opportunities men and women have access to. In this work, we leverage on a combination of computational, statistical, and information-theoretical approaches to investigate the existence of systematic discrepancies in the mobility diversity (i.e. the diversity of travel destinations) of (1) men and women from different socioeconomic backgrounds, and (2) work and non-work travels. Our analysis is based on datasets containing multiple instances of large-scale, official, travel surveys carried out in three major metropolitan areas in South America: Medellín and Bogotá in Colombia, and São Paulo in Brazil. Our results indicate the presence of general discrepancies in the urban mobility diversities related to the gender and socioeconomic characteristics of the individuals. Lastly, this paper sheds new light on the possible origins of gender-level human mobility inequalities, contributing to the general understanding of disaggregated patterns in human mobility.
The extant literature reports inconsistent results regarding the effect of employee gender on customers' attitudes and behaviors. Furthermore, the previous research on congruency bias has mainly focused on female-dominant jobs. To address these issues, this study examined how customers' gender stereotypes affect their service evaluations and revisit intentions. Grounded in role congruity theory, congruency bias, and justification-suppression models, the results showed that employee gender and gender congruency with the norm for the job have differential impacts on customer evaluations. Furthermore, this study found asymmetric impacts of congruency bias on customer experiences. For example, customers showed lower satisfaction and revisit intention when female employees failed in a male-dominant job than when their male counterparts did. However, they showed equal levels of satisfaction and revisit intention when male and female employees failed in a female-dominant job. The results provide important insights into how to reduce customers' gender bias toward different gender-dominated jobs.
Analyses of objective data from census and nationally representative samples illustrate that numerical occupational segregation by sexual orientation has existed for decades. The purpose of this study was to evaluate subjective perceptions of these and other occupations to determine the statistical validity of sexual orientation occupational stereotypes. Drawing from social cognitive career theory (SCCT), we measured perceptions of gender, prestige, and sexual orientation for 60 occupations. Participants (N=396) with experience in hiring and recruitment were surveyed and, as expected, many occupations were gender stereotyped and differed in prestige ratings. Male-typed occupations were rated higher in prestige than female-typed occupations. Regarding sexual orientation stereotypes, some occupations were perceived as ‘gay jobs’, but no occupations were perceived as ‘lesbian jobs’. Gender of the participant was a significant predictor of two jobs that were sexual orientation stereotyped, make-up artist and fashion designer. Theoretical and practical contributions are discussed.
Women continue to lag behind for accessing managerial positions, partially due to discrimination at work. One of the main roots of such discrimination is gender stereotyping, so we aim to comprehend those biased procedures. First, we have analyzed those highlighted gender lawsuit cases in the scientific literature that have dealt with stereotypes both in the American and the European work contexts. Second, meta-analytic studies regarding organizational consequences of gender stereotypes have been synthetized. Third, gender stereotypes have been grouped by means of a content analysis of the existing literature after processing 61 articles systematically retrieved from WOS, SCOPUS, and PsycINFO databases. As a result, a taxonomy of gender stereotypes has been achieved evidencing that descriptive and prescriptive stereotypes have an impact on decision-making procedures through the apparently perception of women as less suitable for managerial positions. Moreover, we offer a deep explanation of the gender discrimination phenomenon under the umbrella of psychosocial theories, and some measures for successfully overcoming management stereotyping, showing that organizational culture can be improved from both the perspective of equal employment opportunities and the organizational justice frameworks for reaching a balanced and healthier workplace.
Traditional gender stereotypes encompass (typically masculine) agency, comprising task-related competence, and (typically feminine) communion or warmth. Both agency and communion are important for successful performance in many jobs. Stereotypes of gay men include the perception that they are less gender-typed than their heterosexual counterparts are (i.e., more gay-stereotypical and less masculine). Using a German sample, Experiment 1 (n = 273) tested whether gay men at the same time appear higher in communion, but lower in agency than heterosexual men and whether a trade-off in hireability impressions results between both groups if jobs require both agency and communion. We measured participants’ willingness to work together with applicants, in addition to hireability, as dependent variables, and we assessed as mediators perceived masculinity, how gay-stereotypical male targets were judged, as well as perceived communion and agency. Findings showed that gay men appeared more gay-stereotypical, less masculine, and more communal than heterosexual men, but no difference in agency was observed. The direct effects of sexual orientation on willingness to engage in work-related contact and on hireability were not significant. Instead, both positive and negative indirect effects of sexual orientation on hireability/contact were found. Experiment 2 (n = 32) replicated the findings pertaining to agency, communion, and masculinity and demonstrated that a gay applicant appeared better suited for traditionally feminine jobs, whereas a heterosexual applicant appeared better suited for traditionally masculine jobs. We discuss who is discriminated under which conditions, based on gender-related stereotypes, when men’s sexual orientation is revealed in work contexts.
A role congruity theory of prejudice toward female leaders proposes that perceived incongruity between the female gender role and leadership roles leads to 2 forms of prejudice: (a) perceiving women less favorably than men as potential occupants of leadership roles and (b) evaluating behavior that fulfills the prescriptions of a leader role less favorably when it is enacted by a woman. One consequence is that attitudes are less positive toward female than male leaders and potential leaders. Other consequences are that it is more difficult for women to become leaders and to achieve success in leadership roles. Evidence from varied research paradigms substantiates that these consequences occur, especially in situations that heighten perceptions of incongruity between the female gender role and leadership roles.
Research demonstrates the bias faced by individuals engaged in occupations that are perceived as inconsistent with their gender. The lack of fit model and role congruity theory explain how gender stereotypes give rise to the perception that an individual lacks the attributes necessary to be successful in a gender-incongruent job. Men employed in jobs traditionally held by women are perceived as wimpy and undeserving of respect. The majority of studies in this area have, however, failed to account for the sexual orientation of the individual being rated. Therefore, we carried out an experiment where 128 adults with experience in recruitment and selection, recruited through Qualtrics, rated heterosexual and gay male applicants applying for a gender-typed job. The heterosexual male was rated less effectual, less respect-worthy, and less hirable in the female-typed job condition than in the male-typed job condition. The gay male applicant, however, was rated similarly on all criteria across job gender-types, suggesting the gay male applicant was viewed as androgynous rather than high in femininity and low in masculinity as inferred by implicit inversion theory. The implications of these findings are discussed.
The purpose of the present study was to examine gender differences in constructs associated with leadership aspirations in a sample of 467 undergraduate students because these might contribute to the gender gap in leadership attainment. The results demonstrated that female participants perceived themselves as having less leadership ability than male participants, and viewed their attainment of leadership roles as less likely than male participants did, which could reflect anticipated discrimination. Female participants reported less interest than male participants in elite leadership positions (e.g., CEO, senator), and associated positive characteristics with such roles less than male participants. They were also less likely than male participants to indicate a willingness to accept a promotion that would require them to sacrifice enjoyable work. Male and female participants ranked the importance of a variety of job and life attribute preferences similarly, though female participants emphasized the importance of life attribute preferences (e.g., family, good health), whereas male participants emphasized the importance of job attribute preferences (e.g., high salary). Finally, male participants were more likely than female participants to expect and prefer that they would out-earn their future spouses. These results highlight the need for greater consideration of how young women’s and men’s leadership aspirations and job/life preferences contribute to the gender gap in leadership attainment.
en Research on gender stereotypes has not examined whether gay men and lesbians hold the same gender stereotypes as heterosexual individuals. To address this gap, we asked participants to indicate how likely they believed it was for a typical gay man, lesbian, heterosexual man, or heterosexual woman to exhibit stereotypical personality traits and engage in stereotypical activities and occupations. Ratings of heterosexual male and female targets' masculinity and femininity were significantly different in the expected direction. However, the difference between the gay man and lesbian target ratings on masculinity and femininity was not statistically significant. Our findings further suggest that gay men and lesbians hold the same gender stereotypes as heterosexuals about both homosexual and heterosexual targets. Copyright © 2017 ASAC. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Résumé
fr En se demandant si les gays et les lesbiennes nourrissent les mêmes stéréotypes sexistes que les personnes hétérosexuelles, les auteurs de cet article abordent une question que les travaux existants sur les stéréotypes sexistes n'ont pas encore explorée. Des participants ont ainsi été invités à indiquer le groupe qui, entre les gays, les lesbiennes, les hétérosexuels et les hétérosexuelles, est le plus susceptible non seulement d'exhiber des traits de personnalité stéréotypés, mais aussi de s'engager dans des activités ou des occupations stéréotypées. Conformément à notre hypothèse, les jugements que les cibles hétérosexuels et hétérosexuelles portent sur la masculinité et la féminité sont très différents. Mais dans les jugements formulés par les cibles gays et lesbiennes, cette différence est statistiquement insignifiante. Enfin, en ce qui concerne les cibles homosexuels et hétérosexuels, les gays et des lesbiennes nourrissent les mêmes stéréotypes sexistes que leurs vis‐à‐vis hétérosexuels. Copyright © 2017 ASAC. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
The current study examined how individual difference characteristics of an evaluator could affect real-world decisions, such as hiring decisions. Specifically, this study examined the gender role traditionalism of an evaluator, and whether this traditionalism interacted with occupational stereotypes during a laboratory simulated hiring decision. Gender role stereotypes were activated using a priming task, then participants evaluated male and female job applicants on a variety of work-related skills, ultimately selecting applicants for either a traditionally masculine or feminine position. Analyses revealed that applicants were more often selected for a position in which the occupation stereotype matched their gender suggesting an effect of an evaluator’s gender role traditionalism. In addition, those participants indicating that they held more traditional gender role beliefs tended to favor male applicants in their evaluations. Finally, the activation of ideas incongruent with traditional gender role stereotypes resulted in higher ratings on work-related skills from all participants, though these ratings did not seem to impact the overall hiring decision. This study highlights the impact of individual difference characteristics of an evaluator during a hiring decision, and identifies some possible ways to move toward a more impartial hiring process to reduce gender biases in hiring.
This paper gives a critical review of 25 years of critical accounting research on gender, addressing what we have learned to date and what are the most challenging areas to be investigated in the future. It considers accounting as a political construct implicated in perpetuating inequality, with reference to global gender challenges. Gendered histories of accounting and stories of individual struggles show barriers to entry being overcome; but challenges remain. Accounting acts as both a gendered and gendering institution in relation to career hierarchies, motherhood, work-life debates, and feminisation and segmentation, and interacts with gendered identity, embodiment and sexuality. The paper outlines the contribution of feminist theory to accounting research on gender and calls for further research on the interaction of gender relations with global capitalism.
Most studies on attitudes towards homosexuality focus on discrimination and prejudice. However, in a work-related context, stereotypes of gay men and lesbians as transgressing traditional gender roles could lead to advantages. According to traditional gender stereotypes men are perceived as higher in competence and women as higher in social skills. Perceived lack of fit between job and gender stereotypes has been linked to gender biases in employment decisions. We aimed to test whether gay men were perceived as higher in social skills than heterosexual men, and whether lesbians were considered higher in task-related competence than heterosexual women, and if so, whether this led to advantages in hireability judgments for respective jobs. Participants (N = 266) received identical information on job applicants for high-status positions, with gender, sexual orientation, qualification level, and job context (traditionally masculine vs. feminine) manipulated. Lesbian and gay applicants were rated higher in task competence and social skills than their heterosexual counterparts. However, this did not lead to higher hireability judgments. We explored and discuss reasons for this pattern of findings, focusing on prejudiced attitudes.
Deviations from heteronormativity affect labour market dynamics. Hierarchies of sexual orientation can result in job dismissals, wage discrimination and the failure to promote gay and lesbian individuals to top ranks. In this article, I report on a field experiment (144 job-seekers and their correspondence with 5549 firms) that tested the extent to which sexual orientation affects the labour market outcomes of gay and lesbian job-seekers in the United Kingdom. Their minority sexual orientations, as indicated by job-seekers’ participation in gay and lesbian university student unions, negatively affected their workplace prospects. The probability of gay or lesbian applicants receiving an invitation for an interview was 5.0 percent (5.1%) lower than that for heterosexual male or female applicants. In addition, gay men and lesbians received invitations for interviews by firms that paid salaries that were 1.9 percent (1.2%) lower than those paid by firms that invited heterosexual male or female applicants for interviews. In addition, in male- or female-dominated occupations, gay men and lesbians received fewer invitations for interviews than their non-gay and non-lesbian counterparts. Furthermore, gay men and lesbians also received fewer invitations to interview for positions in which masculine or feminine personality traits were highlighted in job applications and at firms that did not provide written equal opportunity standards, suggesting that the level of discrimination depends partly on the personality traits that employers seek and on organization-level hiring policies. I conclude that heteronormative discourse continues to reproduce and negatively affect the labour market prospects of gay men and lesbians.
Gender bias continues to be a concern in many work settings, leading researchers to identify factors that influence workplace decisions. In this study we examine several of these factors, using an organizing framework of sex distribution within jobs (including male- and female-dominated jobs as well as sex-balanced, or integrated, jobs). We conducted random effects meta-analyses including 136 independent effect sizes from experimental studies (N = 22,348) and examined the effects of decision-maker gender, amount and content of information available to the decision maker, type of evaluation, and motivation to make careful decisions on gender bias in organizational decisions. We also examined study characteristics such as type of participant, publication year, and study design. Our findings revealed that men were preferred for male-dominated jobs (i.e., gender-role congruity bias), whereas no strong preference for either gender was found for female-dominated or integrated jobs. Second, male raters exhibited greater gender-role congruity bias than did female raters for male-dominated jobs. Third, gender-role congruity bias did not consistently decrease when decision makers were provided with additional information about those they were rating, but gender-role congruity bias was reduced when information clearly indicated high competence of those being evaluated. Fourth, gender-role congruity bias did not differ between decisions that required comparisons among ratees and decisions made about individual ratees. Fifth, decision makers who were motivated to make careful decisions tended to exhibit less gender-role congruity bias for male-dominated jobs. Finally, for male-dominated jobs, experienced professionals showed smaller gender-role congruity bias than did undergraduates or working adults. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved).
In spite of many barriers facing women’s enrollment in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM), some women are successful in these counter-stereotypic disciplines. The present research extended work primarily conducted in the United States by investigating implicit gender-STEM stereotypes—and their relation to performance—among female and male engineering and humanities students in Southern France. In study 1 (N = 55), we tested whether implicit gender-math stereotypes—as measured by the Implicit Association Test (IAT; Greenwald et al. 1998)—would be weaker among female engineering students as compared to female humanities, male engineering and male humanities students. In study 2 (N = 201), we tested whether this same results pattern would be observed with implicit gender-reasoning stereotypes (using a newly created IAT) and, in addition, whether implicit gender-reasoning stereotypes would be more strongly (and negatively) related to math grades for female humanities students as compared to the three other groups. Results showed that female engineering students held weaker implicit gender-math and gender-reasoning stereotypes than female humanities, male engineering and male humanities students. Moreover, implicit stereotyping was more negatively related to math grades for female humanities students than for the three other groups. Together, findings demonstrate that female engineering students hold weaker implicit gender-STEM stereotypes than other groups of students and, in addition, that these stereotypes are not necessarily negatively associated with math performance for all women. Discussion emphasizes how the present research helps refine previous findings and their importance for women’s experience in STEM.
Laboratory studies have shown that stereotypes and in-group favoritism influence people’s perceptions and evaluations of others, but empirical research has not yet linked these processes to gender disparities in real workplace outcomes. This study proposes that the gender stereotypicality of selection criteria and decision makers’ same-gender preferences operate to intensify gender inequality in hiring. These arguments are tested with data on large U.S. law firms in the mid-1990s. The findings show that when selection criteria include a greater number of stereotypically masculine characteristics, women constitute a smaller proportion of new hires, and that, conversely, when criteria include more stereotypically feminine traits, women are better represented among new hires. Female decision makers also fill more vacancies with women than do male decision makers, but among entry-level hires, this effect diminishes as women’s share of high-ranking positions increases toward gender balance.
The authors tested three hypotheses from social dominance theory in four cultures: (a) that individual differences in social dominance orientation (SDO), or the preference for group-based inequality, can be reliably measured in societies that are group-based hegemonies; (b) that SDO correlates positively with attitudes supporting hegemonic groups and correlates negatively with attitudes supporting oppressed groups; and (c) that men are higher on SDO than women. For the most part, the results confirmed the hypotheses. SDO scales were internally reliable and were administered in English, Chinese, and Hebrew. SDO scores correlated with sexism, measured in culturally appropriate ways, in every culture, and with ethnic prejudice and other attitudes concerning the local hegemony except in China. Men were higher on SDO than women in most samples. Findings are discussed in terms of ideological and psychological facilitators of group dominance.
Occupations with a greater share of females pay less than those with a lower share, controlling for education and skill. This association is explained by two dominant views: devaluation and queuing. The former views the pay offered in an occupation to affect its female proportion, due to employers' preference for men–a gendered labor queue. The latter argues that the proportion of females in an occupation affects pay, owing to devaluation of work done by women. Only a few past studies used longitudinal data, which is needed to test the theories. We use fixed-effects models, thus controlling for stable characteristics of occupations, and U.S. Census data from 1950 through 2000. We find substantial evidence for the devaluation view, but only scant evidence for the queuing view.
Agentic female leaders risk social and economic penalties for behaving counter-stereotypically (i.e., backlash; Rudman, 1998), but what motivates prejudice against female leaders? The status incongruity hypothesis (SIH) proposes that agentic women are penalized for status violations because doing so defends the gender hierarchy. Consistent with this view, Study 1 found that women are proscribed from dominant, high status displays (which are reserved for leaders and men); Studies 2–3 revealed that prejudice against agentic fe-male leaders was mediated by a dominance penalty; and in Study 3, participants' gender system-justifying beliefs moderated backlash effects. Study 4 found that backlash was exacerbated when perceivers were primed with a system threat. Study 5 showed that only female leaders who threatened the status quo suf-fered sabotage. In concert, support for the SIH suggests that backlash functions to preserve male dominance by reinforcing a double standard for power and control.
The authors discussed the ways in which the distinction between the descriptive and prescriptive components of gender stereotypes may provide a context for thinking about the role of gender stereotyping in sex discrimination and sexual harassment They reviewed the research literature involving the descriptive and prescriptive components of gender stereotypes, with particular emphasis on research published since the American Psychological Association's 1991 amicus brief in
Price Waterhouse v. Hopkins (1989). They suggested that incidents of sex discrimination that involve disparate treatment are more likely to reflect the prescriptive component of gender stereotypes and that incidents of sex discrimination that result in disparate impact are more likely to reflect the descriptive component. The authors discussed the implications of this distinction for sex discrimination and sexual harassment litigation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
In this article, we develop a gender-specific crosswalk based on dual-coded Current Population Survey data to bridge the change in the census occupational coding system that occurred in 2000 and use it to provide the first analysis of the trends in occupational segregation by sex for the 1970-2009 period based on a consistent set of occupational codes and data sources. We show that our gender-specific crosswalk more accurately captures the trends in occupational segregation that are masked using the aggregate crosswalk (based on combined male and female employment) provided by the U.S. Census Bureau. Using the 2000 occupational codes, we find that segregation by sex declined substantially over the period but at a diminished pace over the decades, falling by only 1.1 percentage points (on a decadal basis) in the 2000s. A primary mechanism by which segregation was reduced was through the entry of new cohorts of women, presumably better prepared than their predecessors and/or encountering less labor market discrimination; during the 1970s and 1980s, however, occupational segregation also decreased within cohorts. Reductions in segregation were correlated with education, with the largest decrease among college graduates and very little change in segregation among high school dropouts.
Some authors assert that there is a feminine advantage in leadership, even though female leaders are often targets of prejudice. Our experiment tested how people’s expectations affect this prejudice in different work environments. Participants evaluated a male or a female candidate for a leadership position in an industry that was congruent or incongruent with the candidate’s gender role. Participants showed prejudice against the female candidate, especially when she worked in an industry incongruent with her gender role. Female and older participants showed more prejudice against the female leader than did male and younger participants. These results invoke role congruity theory (Eagly & Karau, Role congruity theory of prejudice toward female leaders. Psychological Review, 109, 573–598, 2002).
This study investigated whether gay men and lesbians are assumed to have attributes stereotypically associated with the other
gender. Participants were 110 male and female undergraduates from a private, Midwestern, U.S. university. Participants were
randomly assigned to one of four conditions (i.e., gay male, lesbian, heterosexual female, heterosexual male) and rated their
given target on possession of traditionally masculine and feminine occupational interests, activities, and traits. Results
revealed that, despite some changes in the status of gay men and lesbians in society, stereotypes regarding sexual orientation
were similar to those seen in studies conducted 20years ago. Specifically, gay males were viewed as less masculine/more feminine
than heterosexual males, and lesbians were viewed as more masculine/less feminine than heterosexual females.
The present research investigated factors that might affect gender discrimination in a hiring simulation context from the
perspectives of social role theory and the shifting standards model. Specifically, the experimental study investigated whether
gender biases are evident in the screening and hiring stage of the personnel selection process depending on the applicants’
social role and evaluators’ gender. A sample of German undergraduate business students (54 women, 53 men) was asked to make
a personnel selection decision (short-listing or hiring) about a fictitious applicant (man or woman) in a specific role (leader
or non-leader) for a managerial position. Consistent with social role theory’s assumption that social role information is
more influential than gender information, participants selected applicants described as leaders over applicants described
as non-leaders, regardless of applicant gender. In addition, in the presence of role information, female applicants portrayed
as leaders were similarly short-listed and hired as male applicants with the same credentials. In the absence of role information,
female applicants were similarly short-listed as male applicants; however, male applicants were hired over female applicants,
albeit by male participants only. This is consistent with the shifting standards model’s assumption that group members are
held to a higher standard to confirm traits on which they are perceived to be deficient: Male participants hired female applicants
portrayed as non-leaders with less certainty than their male counterparts possibly due to higher confirmatory standards for
leadership ability in women than men. The research and practice implications of these results are discussed.
KeywordsGender stereotypes–Leadership–Social roles–Sex differences–Personnel selection
When employees perform organizational citizenship behaviours (OCBs), they go above and beyond their formal job requirements in a manner that benefits the organization. Research suggests that performing OCBs can positively impact one’s performance appraisal ratings. Other research suggests that, due to gender stereotypes, male and female performers may not benefit from OCB performance identically. We investigated, experimentally, the impact of ratee gender on the appraisal and reward of civic virtue performance. Students viewed a video of a male or female instructor that included a brief lecture as well as additional statements, which in the experimental conditions, manipulated civic virtue. The female performing civic virtue was rated higher on competence, overall performance, and suitability for promotion than the male performing civic virtue and the male and female performing no civic virtue. Further, competence mediated the effect of the conditional relationship between civic virtue and ratee gender on overall performance ratings, which in turn predicted promotion ratings. Our findings suggest that, notwithstanding the well-evidenced relationship between gender stereotypes and bias against women in the workplace, gender stereotypes may also, under certain conditions, operate to their advantage. Further studies are needed to determine whether this phenomenon would hold when there is a significant delay between the observation and appraisal of performance.
Clarke, H. M., & Sulsky, L. M. (2019). The impact of gender stereotypes on the appraisal of civic virtue performance. Journal of Research in Gender Studies, 9, 25-43.
Gender inequalities in the workplace persist, and scholars point to gender discrimination as a significant contributor. As organizations attempt to address this problem, we argue that theory can help shed light on potential solutions. This paper discusses how the lack of fit model can be used by organizations as a framework to understand the process that facilitates gender discrimination in employment decisions and to identify intervention strategies to combat it. We describe two sets of strategies. The first is aimed at reducing the perception that women are not suited for male-typed positions. The second is aimed at preventing the negative performance expectations that derive from this perception of unsuitability from influencing evaluative judgments. Also included is a discussion of several unintentional consequences that may follow from enacting these strategies. We conclude by arguing for the importance of the interplay between theory and practice in targeting gender discrimination in the workplace.
Purpose
The current study aims to examine whether masculine personality traits in women generate better job market prospects, as compared to feminine personality traits.
Design/methodology/approach
We utilized a field experiment (correspondent test) to capture the way in which firms respond to women who exhibit masculine and feminine personality traits. In doing so, we minimized the potential for reverse causality bias and unobserved heterogeneities to occur.
Findings
Women who exhibit masculine personality traits have a 4.3 percentage points greater likelihood of gaining access to occupations than those displaying feminine personality traits. In both male- and female-dominated occupations, women with masculine personality traits have an occupational access advantage, as compared to those exhibiting feminine personality traits. Moreover, women with masculine personality traits take up positions which offer 10 percentage points higher wages, in comparison with those displaying feminine personality traits. Furthermore, wage premiums are higher for those exhibiting masculine personality traits in male-dominated occupations, than for female-dominated positions.
Practical implications
Within the labour market, masculine personality traits may increase competency levels and leadership capability.
Originality/value
Masculine and feminine personality traits may be a probable outcome of wage-related differentials. Our experimental study isolates spurious relationships and offers clear evaluations of the effect of masculine and feminine personality traits on occupational access and wage distribution. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first field experiment to examine the effect of masculine and feminine personality traits on entry-level pay scales.
We investigate whether sex differences in academic strengths have an impact on society by affecting the career choices made by women and men. By longitudinally following 167,776 individuals from Sweden, we found that (1) more 16-year old girls than boys had a relative strength in verbal/language school subjects than in technical/numerical ones, whereas more boys than girls had a relative strength in technical/numerical school subjects than in verbal/language ones; (2) when these girls and boys attained higher education and entered employment, they largely pursued careers cognitively matching their initial academic strengths; (3) while individuals generally made career choices in line with their academic strengths, men and women matched on these strengths nevertheless made rather distinct career choices, in particular women with technical/numerical strengths who largely avoided careers demanding these skills; (4) sex distribution in education and occupation was related to the extent these career paths were perceived as either numerically or verbally demanding. Taken together, although gender segregation is to some extent associated with individuals making choices matching their academic strengths, the vast discrepancies in career outcomes between men and women can be only in part attributed to sex differences in academic performance.
Building on role congruity theory, we predict that innovative work behaviors are stereotypically ascribed to men more than to women. Because of this bias, women who innovate may not receive better performance evaluations than those who do not innovate, whereas engaging in innovative work behaviors is beneficial for men. These predictions were supported across 3 complementary field and experimental studies. The results of an experiment (Study 1; N = 407) revealed that innovative work behaviors are stereotypically associated with men more than women. In Studies 2 and 3, using multisource employee evaluation data (N = 153) and by experimentally manipulating innovative work behaviors (N = 232), respectively, we found that favorable performance evaluations were associated with innovative work behaviors for men but not for women. These studies highlight a previously unidentified form of sex bias and are particularly important for those wishing to increase innovative behaviors in the workplace: We need to address this phenomenon of “think innovation-think male.”
The authors examined the chief work values, assessed by Super's Work Values Inventory-Revised (D. G. Zytowski, 2004b), across interest groups organized by the 6 Holland theme scales of the Kuder Career Search (D. G. Zytowski, 2004a). Results strengthen vocational theory through clarification of gender differences and conceptual commonalities between work values and interests. Future research directions and counseling applications are addressed.
This meta-analysis of 255 independent samples (1,344 effect sizes and 28,556 participants) assessed the effects of diversity training on four training outcomes over time and across characteristics of training context, design, and participants. The results revealed an overall effect size (Hedges’s g) of .36 with the largest effect for reactions (g=.61) and cognitive learning (g=.58) and smaller effects for attitudinal/affective and behavioral learning (g=.29 and g=.47, respectively). Whereas the effects of diversity training on attitudinal/affective and behavioral learning decayed over time, training effects on cognitive learning remained stable or even increased. The positive effects of diversity training were greater when training was complemented by other diversity initiatives, targeted both awareness and skills development, and conducted over significant period of time. A greater proportion of women in a training group was associated with more favorable reactions to diversity training. Implications for theory and directions for future research on diversity training were discussed.
Gender differences in perceived quality of employment (achievement, content, job insecurity, time autonomy and physical and emotional conditions) are examined. The study asks whether women's occupations provide better conditions in areas that facilitate their dual role in society, as a trade-off for low monetary rewards. Specifically, it examines the association of women's concentration in broader occupational categories, embedded in particular national contexts, with gender differences in job quality. Utilizing the 2005 ISSP modules on work orientation shows that women lag behind men on most dimensions of job quality, countering the hypothesis that women's occupations compensate for their low wages and limited opportunities for promotion by providing better employment conditions. However, as women's relative share in occupations grows the gender gap narrows in most job quality dimensions. The implications of these results are discussed.
In this study, we investigated the masculinity of men in female-dominated occupations.
Our assumptions that token status, masculine task redefinition, and job
control are related to masculinity were supported by results of segmented and hierarchical
regressions with data from 213 men in female-dominated occupations. A
comparison with 98 men from male-dominated occupations revealed that these
results are specific for men in female-dominated occupations.Moderated regression
did not support the assumption that the relation between masculine task redefinition
would be stronger under low job control. Instead, the opposite pattern was
found.Under high job control, the choice of tasks and their redefinition as masculine
may be easier. Job control is discussed as a precondition for redefinition processes.
Gender segregation of careers is still prominent in the U.S. workforce. The current study was designed to investigate the role of sex-typed personality traits and gender identity in predicting emerging adults' interests in sex-typed careers. Participants included 586 university students (185 males, 401 females). Participants reported their sex-typed personality traits (masculine and feminine traits), gender identities (gender typicality, contentment, felt pressure to conform, and intergroup bias), and interests in sex-typed careers. Results indicated both sex-typed personality traits and gender identity were important predictors of young adults' career interests, but in varying degrees and differentially for men and women. Men's sex-typed personality traits and gender typicality were predictive of their masculine career interests even more so when the interaction of their masculine traits and gender typicality were considered. When gender typicality and sex-typed personality traits were considered simultaneously, gender typicality was negatively related to men's feminine career interests and gender typicality was the only significant predictor of men's feminine career interests. For women, sex-typed personality traits and gender typicality were predictive of their sex-typed career interests. The level of pressure they felt to conform to their gender also positively predicted interest in feminine careers. The interaction of sex-typed personality traits and gender typicality did not predict women's career interests more than when these variables were considered as main effects. Results of the multidimensional assessment of gender identity confirmed that various dimensions of gender identity played different roles in predicting career interests and gender typicality was the strongest predictor of career interests.
This paper focuses on the workplace consequences of both descriptive gender stereotypes (designating what women and men are like) and prescriptive gender stereotypes (designating what women and men should be like), and their implications for women's career progress. Its central argument is that gender stereotypes give rise to biased judgments and decisions, impeding women's advancement. The paper discusses how descriptive gender stereotypes promote gender bias because of the negative performance expectations that result from the perception that there is a poor fit between what women are like and the attributes believed necessary for successful performance in male gender-typed positions and roles. It also discusses how prescriptive gender stereotypes promote gender bias by creating normative standards for behavior that induce disapproval and social penalties when they are directly violated or when violation is inferred because a woman is successful. Research is presented that tests these ideas, considers specific career consequences likely to result from stereotype-based bias, and identifies conditions that exaggerate or minimize the likelihood of their occurrence.
We present evidence that shifting hiring criteria reflects backlash toward agentic (“masterful”) women (Rudman, 1998). Participants (N = 428) evaluated male or female agentic or communal managerial applicants on dimensions of competence, social skills, and hireability. Consistent with past research, agentic women were perceived as highly competent but deficient in social skills, compared with agentic men. New to the present research, social skills predicted hiring decisions more than competence for agentic women; for all other applicants, competence received more weight than social skills. Thus, evaluators shifted the job criteria away from agentic women's strong suit (competence) and toward their perceived deficit (social skills) to justify hiring discrimination. The implications of these findings for women's professional success are discussed.
This article develops a supply-side mechanism about how cultural beliefs about gender differentially influence the early career-relevant decisions of men and women. Cultural beliefs about gender are argued to bias individuals' perceptions of their competence at var- ious career-relevant tasks, controlling for actual ability. To the extent that individuals then act on gender-differentiated perceptions when making career decisions, cultural beliefs about gender channel men and women in substantially different career directions. The hy- potheses are evaluated by considering how gendered beliefs about mathematics impact individuals' assessments of their own mathe- matical competence, which, in turn, leads to gender differences in decisions to persist on a path toward a career in science, math, or engineering.
Research on gender inequality has posited the importance of gender discrimination for women’s experiences at work. Previous studies have suggested that gender stereotyping and organizational factors may contribute to discrimination. Yet it is not well understood how these elements connect to foster gender discrimination in everyday workplaces. This work contributes to our understanding of these relationships by analyzing 219 discrimination narratives constructed from sex discrimination cases brought before the Ohio Civil Rights Commission. By looking across a variety of actual work settings, the analysis sheds light on the cultural underpinnings and structural contexts in which discriminatory actions occur. The analyses reveal how gender stereotyping combines in predictable ways with sex composition of workplaces and organizational policies, often through interactional dynamics of discretionary policy usage, to result in discrimination. The findings suggest the importance of cultural, structural, and interactional influences on gender discrimination.
Beliefs about the characteristics of male and female homosexuals and heterosexuals were assessed to determine the degree to which stereotypes of homosexuals are consistent with the inversion model proposed by Freud (1905) and others, i.e., the assumption that homosexuals are similar to the opposite-sex heterosexual. Results showed that people do subscribe to an implicit inversion theory wherein male homosexuals are believed to be similar to female heterosexuals, and female homosexuals are believed to be similar to male heterosexuals. These results offer additional support for a bipolar model of gender stereotyping, in which masculinity and femininity are assumed to be in opposition.
This article examines trends in the segregation of fields of study by sex for associate, bachelor's, master's and professional, and doctoral degrees from 1980 to 1990. Three dimensions of segregation are examined: unevenness, concentration or crowding, and intergroup academic contact. Trends in segregation during the college years are considered by comparing data on freshmen's intentions, based on data from the Cooperative institutional Research Program, with degrees earned four years later, based on data from the National Center for Educational Statistics. The data indicate a remarkable slowdown in the trend toward gender integration after 1985. The slowdown is interpreted from a social-control perspective on sex segregation.
This paper addresses men's underrepresentation in four predominantly female professions: nursing, elementary school teaching, librarianship, and social work. Specifically, it examines the degree to which discrimination disadvantages men in hiring and promotion decisions, the work place culture, and in interactions with clients. In-depth interviews were conducted with 99 men and women in these professions in four major U.S. cities. The interview data suggest that men do not face discrimination in these occupations; however, they do encounter prejudice from individuals outside their professions. In contrast to the experience of women who enter male-dominated professions, men generally encounter structural advantages in these occupations which tend to enhance their careers. Because men face different barriers to integrating nontraditional occupations than women face, the need for different remedies to dismantle segregation in predominantly female jobs is emphasized.
This study examines the role of gender stereotypes in justifying the social system by maintaining the division of labor between the sexes. The distribution of the sexes in 80 occupations was predicted from participants’ beliefs that six dimensions of gender-stereotypic attributes contribute to occupational success: masculine physical, feminine physical, masculine personality, feminine personality, masculine cognitive, and feminine cognitive. Findings showed that, to the extent that occupations were female dominated, feminine personality or physical attributes were thought more essential for success; to the extent that occupations were male dominated, masculine personality or physical attributes were thought more essential. Demonstrating the role of gender stereotypes in justifying gender hierarchy, occupations had higher prestige in that participants believed that they required masculine personality or cognitive attributes for success, and they had higher earnings to the extent that they were thought to require masculine personality attributes.
The growth of the ‘service economy’ has coincided with the large-scale detachment from the labour market of low-skilled men. Yet little research has explored exactly what it is about service work that is leading such men to drop out of the labour market during periods of sustained service sector employment growth. Based on interviews with 35 unemployed low-skilled men, this article explores the men's attitudes to entry-level service work and suggests that such work requires skills, dispositions and demeanours that are antithetical to the masculine working-class habitus. This antipathy is manifest in a reluctance to engage in emotional labour and appear deferential in the service encounter and in the rejection of many forms of low-skilled service work as a future source of employment.
The relationship between sex role stereotypes and characteristics perceived as necessary for management success was examined among 361 male and 228 female management students in Japan and the People's Republic of China. The results revealed that males and females in both countries perceive that successful middle managers possess characteristics, attitudes and temperaments more commonly ascribed to men in general than to women in general. These results were compared with previous studies done in the U.S., Great Britain and Germany, using the same Schein 92-item Descriptive Index, and similar samples and procedures. The comparison supports the view that ‘think manager—think male’ is a global phenomenon, especially among males. Regardless of country context, there was a strong and similar degree of managerial sex typing among male management students in all five countries. Among females, the managerial sex typing hypothesis was confirmed in every country except the U.S., in which men and women are seen as equally likely to possess requisite management characteristics. Unlike those of their male counterparts, the females' pattern of outcomes varied across countries, possibly a reflection of their respective opportunities for managerial participation. The implications of managerial sex typing as a global phenomenon are discussed.
Results of an experimental study varying the sex of the employee and the gender-type of the job demonstrated that men, as well as women, are penalized when they are successful in areas that imply that they have violated gender norms. But the nature of these penalties differed. When depicted as being successful at a female gender-typed job, men were characterized as more ineffectual and afforded less respect than women successful at the same job or than men successful in a gender-consistent position. Women, in contrast, were more interpersonally derogated and disliked when said to be successful at a male gender-typed job. Regardless of these differing characterizations, both men and women successful in gender-inconsistent jobs were reported to be less preferable as bosses than their more normatively consistent counterparts. These results suggest that success, when it violates gender norms, can be disadvantageous for both men and women, but in different ways.
The present study investigated perceptions of men and women in the Texas A&M Corps of Cadets. For both stereotypes and evaluations of individual cadets enrolled in the training program, men more than women were believed to possess the motivation and leadership qualities necessary for effective military performance, whereas women were believed to possess more feminine attributes that impair effective military performance. Because men and women did not differ on objective measures of military performance, the sex-differentiated evaluations of cadets enrolled in training most plausibly reflect the influence of gender stereotypes rather than performance differences between the sexes. Furthermore, integration of women into the corps was associated with more favorable stereotypic judgments of women and did not reveal a backlash against women in this strongly male- dominated setting.
This research examined how efforts to ensure demographic diversity in a work group affected perceptions of the competence of individuals who are likely targets of such efforts. In three experiments, 262 undergraduates gave their impressions and performance expectations of members of a group assembled to work on a task. When a diversity rationale rather than a merit rationale was provided for how the work group was assembled, both women (Studies 1 and 2) and Black men (Study 3) were perceived as less competent and were expected to be less influential. This effect occurred regardless of the proportional representation of women or the degree of the groups' heterogeneity. The diversity rationale also produced more negative characterizations than did another non-merit-based rationale: scheduling convenience.
This study explored possible mediators of gender bias in work behavior ratings. However, we believed it important to do so by first attempting to create a decision-making environment that better reflected the cognitive demands imposed on raters in work settings. Accordingly, 74 participants, mostly White and middle class students, read a vignette that depicted the work behavior of a male or female police officer. All participants attended to another task while reading the vignette and did so while under a perceived time limit; then, immediately or 5 days later, they completed a work behavior questionnaire. As expected, more effective work behaviors were attributed to men than women—but only when ratings were delayed. Further analyses revealed that a systematic response bias was responsible, whereas selective memory played no role. Specifically, participants adopted a more liberal decision criterion when attributing effective work behaviors to men than women. These results help to illuminate the dynamics of discrimination and provide direction for future research efforts.
Using a cross-sectional follow-up study we examined how different aspects of work were valued by three cohorts of adolescents
15–16 years of age in 1977 (n=231), 1989 (n=404) and 1995 (n=276), and how these evaluations changed. The association of values
with gender and educational plans was analysed. Self-actualising values became more important during the research period.
Boys assigned greater weight to extrinsic work values than girls, and girls valued work hygiene values more than boys. The
differences between girls and boys were clearer at the end of research period. Educational plans and gender were also related
to values. Intrinsic values were valued more highly among girls who expressed plans to seek higher educational routes.
Au moyen d'un suivi longitudinal, on examine la façon dont 3 cohortes d'adolescents de 15–16 ans (n=231 en 1977, n=404 en
1989, n-276 en 1995) évaluent différents aspects du travail ainsi que les changements dans ces évaluations, en fonction du
sexe et des projets d'études. Les valuers d'auto-réalisation augmentent durant la période de recherche. Les garçons accordent
plus d'importance que les filles aux valeurs de travail extrinsèques, alors que les filles accordent plus d'importance que
les garçons aux valuers liées aux conditions de travail. Ces différences augmentent lors de la dernière période. De plus,
les filles qui ont des projets d'études plus ambitieux accordent plus d'importance que les autres groupes aux valeurs de travail
intrinsèques.
The disparity between the success of male and female leaders may result from the incongruity between the female sex role and the leadership role. We provide an in-depth test of role congruity theory [Eagly, A. H., & Karau, S. J. (2002). Role congruity theory of prejudice toward female leaders. Psychological Review, 109, 573–598] through a mix of qualitative, experimental, and survey methodologies. Our studies identify current male and female leader prototypes and show evidence of both descriptive and prescriptive biases associated with gender in evaluating leaders. In addition, we examined participant sex-type finding that feminine individuals expect that leaders are more sensitive than masculine individuals, who expect that leaders are more masculine, strong, and tyrannical than feminine individuals. Similarly, sensitivity was more strongly associated with female leadership, whereas masculinity, strength, and tyranny were more strongly associated with male leadership. However, for female leaders to be perceived as effective they needed to demonstrate both sensitivity and strength, although male leaders only needed to demonstrate strength.