Gary N. Powell’s research while affiliated with University of Connecticut and other places

Purpose This study aims to examine factors that may explain the status of women in management by exploring the linkages between leader anti-prototypes and prototypes to gender stereotypes. Design/methodology/approach Samples from two populations described either a “bad manager” (representing leader anti-prototypes) or a “good manager” (representing leader prototypes) on two instruments that assessed masculinity and femininity. Findings On each instrument, masculinity was endorsed more than femininity in both leader prototypes and anti-prototypes. Both masculinity and femininity were endorsed more in leader prototypes than leader anti-prototypes but only when the purpose of the instrument was disguised rather than transparent. Research limitations/implications Limitations of a single data collection method, the nature of the samples and a newly designed scale for purposes of the study are acknowledged. Further attention to the linkages of leader anti-prototypes and prototypes to gender stereotypes and the outcomes of these linkages is recommended. Practical implications Individuals who make managerial selection and promotion decisions may devote more attention to the presence or absence of masculine traits in candidates than to the presence or absence of feminine traits, thereby leading to female candidates being passed over and male candidates receiving greater scrutiny in determining who gets ahead. Social implications The study suggests cognitive mechanisms that may influence the status of women in management. Originality/value The study incorporates leader anti-prototypes and leader prototypes to explain the low status of women in management.

Making Work and Family Work investigates the difficult choices that contemporary employees must face when juggling work and family with a view to identifying the smart choices that all parties involved-society, employers, employees and families-should make to promote greater work-life balance. Leading scholars Jeffrey Greenhaus and Gary Powell begin by identifying the factors that work against an employee's ability to be effective and satisfied in their work and family roles. From there, they examine a variety of factors that impact the decision-making process that employees and their families can use to enhance employees' feelings of work-family balance and families' well-being. Covering a comprehensive set of topics and perspectives, this fascinating book will appeal to upper-level students of human resource management, organizational behavior, industrial/organizational psychology, sociology, and economics, as well as to thoughtful and engaged professionals.

Results of a survey of 211 founders of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) indicated that family involvement in the firm was indirectly related to four entrepreneurial outcomes (business performance, strategic planning, satisfaction with business success, and commitment to remain self-employed) through family-to-business support, suggesting a particular benefit of the intertwining of family and business in family firms. SME founders who owned family firms experienced higher levels of family-to-business support than those who owned nonfamily firms. These results support our proposed alignment of the social support perspective of well-being and resiliency with the family embeddedness perspective of the family-business relationship.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to consider the current status of women in management and explanations offered for this status in light of a rare empirical field study of the “glass ceiling” phenomenon the authors conducted about 20 years ago. Design/methodology/approach – The authors review the study’s key arguments, unexpected results, and implications for organizational effectiveness (which have been largely ignored). The authors then review what has transpired and what has been learned about the glass ceiling phenomenon since. Findings – The nature of glass ceilings has remained essentially stable over a 20-year period, although further explanations for them have flourished. Research limitations/implications – More scholarly examinations of ways to shatter glass ceilings and thereby enhance organizational effectiveness are recommended. Practical implications – Organizations, human resources directors, and internal decision makers need to adopt practices that foster “debiasing” of decisions about promotions to top management. Social implications – Societies need to encourage organizations to adopt ways to shatter glass ceilings that continue to disadvantage women. Originality/value – A systematic review and analysis of the present-day implications of an early study of the glass ceiling phenomenon has not previously been conducted.

We propose a theoretical model of the linkages between the stigma of having a criminal history and perceptions of warmth and competence as related to hiring decisions about ex-offenders. Our model suggests that characteristics related to the criminal offense and the ex-offender may influence hiring managers' perceptions of ex-offender job applicants, which in turn may either limit or enhance ex-offenders' ability to secure employment. Furthermore, it suggests that factors pertaining to the hiring manager, job, organization, and government incentives moderate the relationships between hiring manager perceptions of the warmth and competence of ex-offender job applicants and their hiring decisions about these applicants. Lastly, we acknowledge larger societal and organizational issues related to the lack of ex-offender hiring and discuss implications for research and practice.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of psychological androgyny, a construct that represents a combination of masculinity and femininity, in explaining changes in descriptions of a good manager over time. Design/methodology/approach – Samples of the same two populations were surveyed at four different points in time spanning four decades ( N = 1,818). Findings – Good-manager descriptions became increasingly similar in masculinity and femininity over time, or increasingly androgynous according to the balance conceptualization of androgyny. However, both good-manager masculinity and good-manager femininity declined over time, with masculinity declining to a greater extent, which accounted for the greater similarity in these scores. As a result, according to the high masculinity/high femininity conceptualization of androgyny, good-manager descriptions actually became decreasingly androgynous and more “undifferentiated”. Overall, the trend in leader prototypes over time was toward less emphasis on traits associated with members of either sex. Research limitations/implications – Limitations of two alternative methods of analyses and the survey instrument are acknowledged. What constituted a good manager may have depended on the context. Further scholarly attention to the concept of an undifferentiated leadership style is recommended. Practical implications – People may be moving beyond leader prototypes based on the simple application of gender stereotypes. Changes in leader prototypes over the past four decades may contribute to enhancements in women’s societal status. Social implications – Leader prototypes may disadvantage women less than in the past. Originality/value – Results suggest that the role of androgyny in leader prototypes is declining according to the high masculinity/high femininity conceptualization.