Activity• Once upon a time there was a math contest….

• John received a letter in the mail notifying him that he had lost the Texas State Achievement in Math Competition. He had wanted to win and was unhappy with the results. He had been the best student in his math class last year. Losing really hurt his self-esteem. He found out that Terry Browning had done better than him. He hated Terry Browning for that. To make himself feel better he cried, baked cookies, beat pillows, kicked something, took a long bath, and talked to his best friend. After that, he went to the mall where he shopped and played video games in the arcade until he had beaten all the records. He then went running and came home to watch The Princess Bride.

He’s a Powerful Leader, She’s a Battle-Ax:

Understanding the Implications of Biases Against Women Leaders

Crystal L. HoytUniversity of Richmond

Female Leaders• Limited access to elite

leadership positions– Women represent 46% US

workforce

• They hold 6% executive titles– CEO, Chairwoman, Executive

Vice President

• Less than 10 women CEOs in Fortune 500 Companies

Female Leaders• Women in elective office

(2005)– 81 women serve in the U.S.

Congress (15.1%)– 14 of the 100 seats in the

Senate (14.0%)– 67 of the 435 seats in the

House of Representatives (15.4%)

• Stereotypes and discrimination may prevent ascent up the organizational ladder

Gender Stereotypes and the Leadership Role

MEN

AGENTIC

•Aggressive•Forceful

•Independent •Decisive

WOMEN

COMMUNAL

•Kind•Helpful

•Sympathetic•Concerned for others

Good Leadership is a Manly Business

….or so many think….• Think-leader—think-male stereotype

– Good leaders are described with masculine attributes

– Stereotypically male qualities are thought necessary to being a successful leader

• Role Congruity Theory: – The agentic qualities deemed necessary in

the leadership role are incompatible with the communal qualities associated with women (Eagly & Karau, 2002)

Commander in Chief

Commander in Chief

• “This Fall, a female will be President.”

• “A female president. Can't you smell the history?”

• “She isn’t a woman, she’s the President.”

President Mackenzie Allen

Role Incongruity

• "It seemed that people could perceive me only as one thing or the other - either a hardworking professional woman or a conscientious and caring hostess ... It was becoming clear to me that people who wanted me to fit into a certain box, traditionalist or feminist, would never be entirely satisfied with me - which is to say, with my many different, and sometimes paradoxical, roles ...

Impact of these Biases

• The think-leader-think-male stereotype has important implications for both

– 1) The perceptions and evaluations of women leaders

– 2) The responses of the leaders themselves.

Biased Perceptions and Evaluations

Biased Perceptions and Evaluations

(Duncan, 1976)

• White students observed staged argument between a Black and White man – One person shoved

the other.0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

Pe

rce

nta

ge

Perceived as Violent

White Shover

Black Shover

•Interpretation of the shove as violent:

Biased Perceptions and Evaluations

• Women are presumed to be less competent leaders than men and less worthy of the leadership position across a variety of contexts

• Women are evaluated less favorably when they demonstrate behaviors that fulfill prescriptions of the leader role

Biased Perceptions

• “I don’t really believe that men and women manage differently…. People might expect women to be more sensitive so they see what they expect to see.”

– Shelly Lazarus– Chairwoman and CEO, Ogilvy &

Mather Worldwide

Biased Perceptions

• He is ‘assertive’; she is ‘aggressive’ or ‘hostile’.

• He ‘lost his cool’, implying it was an aberration; she's ‘emotional’ or ‘menopausal’.

• Thus, her behavior is devalued, even when it is the same as his. (Bernice Sandler, 1988)

Attitudes Toward Female Leaders

• People prefer male bosses over female bosses, and consider males better suited for the position of president (Gallup poll, 2000)

Male Boss

Female Boss

Either Boss

48% 22% 28%

Male Preside

nt

Female Preside

nt

Either Preside

nt

42% 31% 22%

Attitudes Toward Female Leaders

• There is still intolerance for women in political roles (General Social Survey)

“Women should take care of running their homes and leave running the

country up to men”

Agreement: 15%

“Most men are better suited emotionally for politics than are most

women”

Agreement: 22%

Women and Access to Leader Roles: Empirical Support

• Hypothetical applicants (hiring and promotion studies)– Resumes and

application information identical except for the name

– People prefer males for leadership positions

Jane Smith John Smith

• Physical attractiveness– Attractive women

applicants evaluated less favorably for managerial positions but more favorably for non-managerial jobs

Women and Access to Leader Roles: Empirical Support

• Feminine clothing– Extremely feminine

or masculine clothing elicits more negative evaluations than moderate dress

• Perfume– People

wearing a masculine perfume hired with more certainty than those with feminine perfume

Women and Access to Leader Roles: Empirical Support

• Responding to classified ads– Male and female students respond

to sex mismatched ads

• Responses:– Refusals

• “Honey, I’m sorry, but we need a man to do that”

– The position is filled (not really)– Discouraging reaction

• “It’s hard to believe that a guy is really qualified for this work”

Women Elicit Disapproval for Behaving Assertively

“When a woman makes a gesture, the same gesture as a man, it’s interpreted entirely differently. The thing I struggled with the most was getting a big sound from the brass because you really have to be strong. But if you’re too strong, you’re a b-i-t-c-h. As a woman, you have to be careful that it’s not too harsh. It’s a subtle line.”

• Marin Alsop, Conductor

Women Elicit Disapproval for Behaving Assertively

Women Elicit Disapproval for Behaving Assertively

• Women’s competent task contributions more likely to be ignored or given negative reactions

• Males prefer females who are more tentative (tag questions, disclaimers) in their speech

Women Elicit Disapproval for Behaving Assertively

• Self-promoting good for men, damaging to women– Self-promoting (as opposed to self-

effacing) women were seen as less likable, attractive, and hireable

Female Leader Effectiveness

• In experimental studies holding leadership performance constant (just varying gender)– Women leaders evaluated worse than

men• Especially in male-dominated leadership

roles• Especially when the evaluators were male• Especially when they led in a masculine

style

Female Leader Effectiveness

• Pregnancy– Pregnant female leaders

evaluated worse than non-pregnant women

• Attractiveness– Attractive female leaders

evaluated worse– Attractive male leaders

evaluated better

Leaders’ Responses to the Stereotypes

“When I talk in class, I feel as though I’m totally on stage, like everyone’s thinking, ‘oh what’s the Black girl going to say?’ ”

—Stanford Undergraduate

“I knew I was just as intelligent as everyone else... but for some reason I didn’t score well on tests. Maybe I was just nervous. There’s a lot of pressure on you, knowing that if you fail, you fail your race.”

—Black State Senator, Rodney Ellis (TX)

Stereotype Threat Anecdotal Evidence

Leaders’ Responses to the Stereotypes

• Stereotype Threat – The way individuals feel when they are at risk

of confirming a negative stereotype about their group

– Can undermine cognitive performance“Math Class is Tough!”

"I love shopping"

"Meet me at the mall"

“Let’s plan ourdream wedding”

“Will we ever have enough clothes?"

Leaders’ Responses to the Stereotypes

0

5

10

15

20

25

Women Men

MathPerformance Stereotype

Control

(Spencer, Steele, & Quinn, 1999)

Stereotypes and Multiple Identities

Not Good at Math

Good at Math

Stereotypes and Multiple Identities

Stereotype Threat and Women Leaders

Davies, Spencer, Steele, 2005

• Exposure to gender-stereotypic TV commercials undermined female participants leadership aspirations on an upcoming task.

Stereotypes May Not Always be Threatening

• Some people behave in manner inconsistent with stereotype

• Women explicitly primed with the stereotype of female inferiority in negotiations, outperformed male participants (Kray, Thompson, & Galinsky, 2001)

Leadership Confidence and Self-efficacy

• Confidence is a critical component of effective leadership (Rosabeth Moss Kanter)

• Leadership Self-efficacy– One’s perception

regarding his or her general capabilities to lead

Stereotype Vulnerability vs Stereotype Reactance

LOW EFFICACY LEADERSLOW EFFICACY LEADERS

Stereotype VulnerabilityStereotype Vulnerability

•Lower Lower perceived & rated performanceperceived & rated performance

•LowerLower leadership identification leadership identification

•LowerLower psychological well-being psychological well-being

HIGH EFFICACY LEADERSHIGH EFFICACY LEADERS

Stereotype ReactanceStereotype Reactance

•Higher Higher perceived & rated performanceperceived & rated performance

•Higher Higher leadership identificationleadership identification

•HigherHigher psychological well-being psychological well-being

Predicted Pattern of Results

LowEfficacy

HighEfficacy

LeadershipIdentification

StereotypeControl

Psychological Well-Being

Performance

Research Findings

• Leadership self-efficacy moderates the following responses to stereotype activation:– Perceived and actual performance– Domain identification– Well-being (self-esteem and depressed affect)

• Low efficacy leaders: More malign responses

• High efficacy leaders: More benign responses

In ConclusionBiases against women leaders affect:• 1) Perceptions and evaluations of women leaders

– Women are presumed to be less competent leaders than men and less worthy of the leadership position across a variety of contexts

– Women are evaluated less favorably when they demonstrate behaviors that fulfill prescriptions of the leader role

• 2) Responses of the leaders themselves– Stereotypes have the potential to threaten some

women, but also have the potential to impel some women to react against it.