Think crisis-think female: the glass cliff and contextual variation in the think manager-think male stereotype.
01 May 2011-Journal of Applied Psychology (American Psychological Association)-Vol. 96, Iss: 3, pp 470-484
TL;DR: Three studies examined gender and managerial stereotypes in the context of companies that are doing well or doing badly and suggested that women may be favored in times of poor performance, not because they are expected to improve the situation, butbecause they are seen to be good people managers and can take the blame for organizational failure.
Abstract: The “think manager‐think male” (TMTM) association underlies many gender inequalities in the workplace. However, research into the “glass cliff” has demonstrated that the suitability of male and female managers varies as a function of company performance such that in times of poor performance people may “think female” (Ryan & Haslam, 2005, 2007). Three studies examined gender and managerial stereotypes in the context of companies that are doing well or doing badly. Study 1 reproduced TMTM associations for descriptions of managers of successful companies but demonstrated a reversal for managers of unsuccessful companies. Study 2 examined the prescriptive nature of these stereotypes. No TMTM relationship was found for ideal managers of successful companies, but ideal managers of unsuccessful companies were associated with the female stereotype. Study 3 suggested that women may be favored in times of poor performance, not because they are expected to improve the situation, but because they are seen to be good people managers and can take the blame for organizational failure. Together, the studies illustrate the importance of context as a moderator of the TMTM association. Practical and theoretical implications for gender discrimination in the workplace are discussed.
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TL;DR: Subgroup and meta-regression analyses indicated that this masculine construal of leadership has decreased over time and was greater for male than female research participants, and stereotypes portrayed leaders as less masculine in educational organizations than in other domains and in moderate- than in high-status leader roles.
Abstract: This meta-analysis examined the extent to which stereotypes of leaders are culturally masculine. The primary studies fit into 1 of 3 paradigms: (a) In Schein's (1973) think manager-think male paradigm, 40 studies with 51 effect sizes compared the similarity of male and leader stereotypes and the similarity of female and leader stereotypes; (b) in Powell and Butterfield's (1979) agency-communion paradigm, 22 studies with 47 effect sizes compared stereotypes of leaders' agency and communion; and (c) in Shinar's (1975) masculinity-femininity paradigm, 7 studies with 101 effect sizes represented stereotypes of leadership-related occupations on a single masculinity-femininity dimension. Analyses implemented appropriate random and mixed effects models. All 3 paradigms demonstrated overall masculinity of leader stereotypes: (a) In the think manager-think male paradigm, intraclass correlation = .25 for the women-leaders similarity and intraclass correlation = .62 for the men-leaders similarity; (b) in the agency-communion paradigm, g = 1.55, indicating greater agency than communion; and (c) in the masculinity-femininity paradigm, g = 0.92, indicating greater masculinity than the androgynous scale midpoint. Subgroup and meta-regression analyses indicated that this masculine construal of leadership has decreased over time and was greater for male than female research participants. In addition, stereotypes portrayed leaders as less masculine in educational organizations than in other domains and in moderate- than in high-status leader roles. This article considers the relation of these findings to Eagly and Karau's (2002) role congruity theory, which proposed contextual influences on the incongruity between stereotypes of women and leaders. The implications for prejudice against women leaders are also considered.
1,185 citations
TL;DR: The authors conducted an extensive qualitative review of leadership theory across 10 top-tier academic publishing outlets that included The Leadership Quarterly, Administrative Science Quarterly, American Psychologist, Journal of Management, Academy of Management Journal, academy of management review, journal of Applied Psychology, Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, and Personnel Psychology.
Abstract: Scholarly research on the topic of leadership has witnessed a dramatic increase over the last decade, resulting in the development of diverse leadership theories. To take stock of established and developing theories since the beginning of the new millennium, we conducted an extensive qualitative review of leadership theory across 10 top-tier academic publishing outlets that included The Leadership Quarterly, Administrative Science Quarterly, American Psychologist, Journal of Management, Academy of Management Journal, Academy of Management Review, Journal of Applied Psychology, Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Organizational Science, and Personnel Psychology. We then combined two existing frameworks (Gardner, Lowe, Moss, Mahoney, & Cogliser, 2010; Lord & Dinh, 2012) to provide a process-oriented framework that emphasizes both forms of emergence and levels of analysis as a means to integrate diverse leadership theories. We then describe the implications of the findings for future leadership research and theory.
1,054 citations
TL;DR: Men were preferred for male-dominated jobs, whereas no strong preference for either gender was found for female-dominated or integrated jobs and gender-role congruity bias did not differ between decisions that required comparisons among ratees and decisions made about individual ratees.
Abstract: 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.
361 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors used a grant from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC no. 70962001) to support the work of the second author.
Abstract: This work has been supported by a grant (FL110100199) from the Australian Research Council awarded to the second author, a grant from the Research
Foundation Flanders awarded to the fifth author, and a grant from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC no. 70962001) awarded to the sixth
author.
296 citations
TL;DR: This article provided a multilevel examination of available scholarship that contributes to understanding why there are so few women in leadership positions within sport, including stereotyping of leaders, issues of discrimination, and gendered organizational cultures.
291 citations
References
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Book•
01 May 1985TL;DR: In this paper, the authors review the book "Leadership and performance beyond expectation" by Bernard M. Bass, and present a review of the book and the book's methodology.
Abstract: The article reviews the book "Leadership and Performance Beyond Expectations," by Bernard M. Bass.
10,383 citations
"Think crisis-think female: the glas..." refers background in this paper
...With the increase in the popularity of transformational leadership (eg, Bass, 1985), there has been a recognition of the effectiveness of traditionally feminine traits, giving rise to a so-called “leadership advantage” for women (Eagly & Carli, 2003; but see also Vecchio, 2002, 2003)....
[...]
Book•
01 Jan 1977
TL;DR: Men and Women of the Corporation: The Population, Industrial Supply Corporation: Setting Roles And Images as discussed by the authors, Men and women of the corporation: The population, the setting roles and images, the players and the stage.
Abstract: * Introduction The Players And The Stage * Men and Women of the Corporation: The Population * Industrial Supply Corporation: The Setting Roles And Images * Managers * Secretaries * Wives Structures And Processes * Opportunity * Power * Numbers: Minorities and Majorities Understanding The Action * Contributions to Theory: Structural Determinants of Behavior in Organizations * Contributions to Practice: Organizational Change, Affirmative Action, and the Quality of Work Life * Afterword to the 1993 Edition
7,680 citations
TL;DR: Evidence from varied research paradigms substantiates that consequences of perceived incongruity between the female gender role and leadership roles are more difficult for women to become leaders and to achieve success in leadership roles.
Abstract: 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.
4,947 citations
TL;DR: A meta-analysis of 45 studies of transformational, transactional, and laissez-faire leadership styles found that female leaders were more transformational than male leaders and also engaged in more of the contingent reward behaviors that are a component of transactional leadership.
Abstract: A meta-analysis of 45 studies of transformational, transactional, and laissez-faire leadership styles found that female leaders were more transformational than male leaders and also engaged in more of the contingent reward behaviors that are a component of transactional leadership. Male leaders were generally more likely to manifest the other aspects of transactional leadership (active and passive management by exception) and laissez-faire leadership. Although these differences between male and female leaders were small, the implications of these findings are encouraging for female leadership because other research has established that all of the aspects of leadership style on which women exceeded men relate positively to leaders' effectiveness whereas all of the aspects on which men exceeded women have negative or null relations to effectiveness.
2,161 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the scarcity of women at the upper levels of organizations is a consequence of gender bias in evaluations, and it is argued that being competent does not ensure that a woman will advance to the same organizational level as an equivalently performing man.
Abstract: This review article posits that the scarcity of women at the upper levels of organizations is a consequence of gender bias in evaluations. It is proposed that gender stereotypes and the expectations they produce about both what women are like (descriptive) and how they should behave (prescriptive) can result in devaluation of their performance, denial of credit to them for their successes, or their penalization for being competent. The processes giving rise to these outcomes are explored, and the procedures that are likely to encourage them are identified. Because of gender bias and the way in which it influences evaluations in work settings, it is argued that being competent does not ensure that a woman will advance to the same organizational level as an equivalently performing man.
2,032 citations