3. Effects of gender stereotypes on women & organizations

Question 1

How much do stereotypes influence our own behaviors?

Answer 1

A lot! How self-conscious would you feel if you had to weave strands of material in a specific pattern? Likely not much, it is a quite simple task. What if it was described as a form of hair braiding? Men would likely become very self-conscious.

Question 2

What are the two processes explaining how prescriptive stereotypes affect us?

Answer 2

• Self-stereotyping: Voluntarily fitting oneself into the stereotype of one’s group
• Conformity: Social pressures to behave in line with the stereotype of one’s group

Question 3

What is an important manifestation of self-stereotyping?

Answer 3

The self-selection bias: Electing to pursue specific (e.g. gender consistent) situations, roles, and occupations.

Question 4

What is self-selection bias?

Answer 4

Electing to pursue specific (e.g. gender consistent) situations, roles, and occupations.

Question 5

What are the two domains of self-selection?

Answer 5

1. Education
2. Career choice

Question 6

What can be said about self-selection in education?

Answer 6

• Even in elementary school, kids view math as a masculine domain; thus boys, more than girls, gravitate toward math courses
• Belief predates reality: girls have less confidence in their math ability even when they outperform boys

Question 7

What can be said about self-selection in career choice?

Answer 7

• In line with Social Role Theory, women are less interested in careers with economic rewards (hence there are more female dental hygienists but fewer dentists, executives vs. assistants)
• Meta-analysis: Women have lower leadership aspirations than men, especially when: they are older, working in male-dominated industries, there is a scarcity of men around.

Question 8

What is stereotype threat?

Answer 8

Part of self-stereotyping.
Women (and ethnic minorities) underachieve on academic tests when they fear confirming a negative stereotype about their group (e.g. that they are less gifted in math than members of other groups).

Question 9

What are additional facts to be said about stereotype threat?

Answer 9

• Occurs due to anxiety and pressure to not underachieve
• Especially true for women interested in math
• Can also occur for men: when men taking a test are told that the test assesses social sensitivity (domain where men are stereotypically less competent than women), they do worse that when they are told the test assesses information processing
• BUT: when told that there are no gender differences in test scores, women do as well as men on math tests

Question 10

What is conformity pressure and what is an example task where it shows?

Answer 10

To avoid negative consequences, people conform to gender ideals.

Mental rotation task study:

• Typically, men perform better than women on this task
• BUT: when this task was described as predictive of success in interior design (stereotypically feminine task), women performed better than men

Question 11

What are the negative consequences of conformity pressure?

Answer 11

• Perceivers tend to persuade the deviant to conform
• If that does not work, they socially reject that person
  –> Sense of belonging is one of people’s primal needs
  –> Being ostracized makes people sad and angry

Question 12

What is backlash?

Answer 12

Social reprisal for gender deviance

Question 13

What are the parts of the backlash threat and cultural stereotype maintenance model?

Answer 13

1. Existance of gender stereotypes
2. Gender expectancy violation
3. Fear of backlash
4. Recovery strategies
5. Reinforced existence of gender stereotypes and Self-esteem maintenance

Question 14

What is self-esteem maintenance?

Answer 14

Following recovery strategies, deviants’ self-esteem returns back to normal

Question 15

What are two recovery strategies?

Answer 15

1. Hiding deviant behavior or lying about it. E.g. it is not uncommon for homosexual men and women to conceal their sexual orientation
2. Interest in gender-consistent tasks. E.g. male deviants show more interest in violent computer games, endorse domestic violence more, reject women who pose a threat to male dominance (e.g. harassing a woman during a job interview)

Question 16

What does research show about self-stereotyping in the workplace?

Answer 16

• Women are more likely to take on non-promotable tasks
• Women are less likely to form alliance with a star employee (even if geographically co-located) due to fear of being perceived as arrogant/awkward
• Women are more likely to engage in status-leveling behaviors with subordinates
• Women are less likely to reapply to a company following rejection
• Female managers spend more time with subordinates instead of focusing on planning tasks
• Female managers are less likely to delegate
• Women do worse in negotiations

Question 17

How does gender stereotypes impact negotiations?

Answer 17

Prescriptive gender stereotypes often cause women to undermine themselves and achieve different/worse outcomes (relative to men) in the context of workplace negotiations (e.g. for salary, job duties, better equipment, etc).

Question 18

Why does gender stereotypes impact negotiations the way it does?

Answer 18

The traits of an effective negotiator are stereotypically male attributes:
- Strong
- Dominant
- Assertive
- Rational

The traits of an ineffective negotiator are stereotypically female attributes:
- Weak
- Submissive
- Accommodating
- Emotional

Question 19

What are the three parts that are impacted in self-stereotyping and negotiations?

Answer 19

1. Bargaining style
2. Negotiation performance
3. Self-evaluations

Question 20

How is bargaining style shown in self-stereotyping and negotiations?

Answer 20

• Meta analysis: Men are more competitive with their offers (i.e. men ask for higher salary than women)
  –> Even 1% difference in starting salaries lead to drastic differences in career advancements
• Women negotiating with women were more competitive than men negotiating with men
• Women show more concern about the relationship with their negotiation partner (manager in salary discussion)
  –> Men mention money earlier in negotiations than women
  –> Women share more personal information, ask more questions than men, use tentative speech, and engage in longer gazes (especially with men)
• Women negotiate for role and workload more than pay
• Women negotiate less when they have a strong BATNA

Question 21

How is negotiation performance shown in self-stereotyping and negotiations?

Answer 21

Meta analysis: Men reap better distributive (“fixed-value”) outcomes and integrative (“non-fixed-value”) outcomes, requiring making optimal tradeoffs, than women
- Distributive outcome: negotiated over a fixed issue, the more you get, the less the other party gets
- Integrative: multiple issues at the same time, both get something. All work related things, not just salary

Question 22

How are self-evaluations shown in self-stereotyping and negotiations?

Answer 22

• Before negotiation, women report more apprehension (especially if not explicitly mentioned that wages are negotiable), expect to be compensated less, are less certain of their worth, and more comfortable with being paid less than men
• After negotiation, men report more satisfaction and feeling powerful than women
  –> Performance is tied less to money in the minds of women

Question 23

What are the implications for female employees and managers in negotiations?

Answer 23

• Always ask! (you can ask for anything as long as you are nice about it)
• If you have a justification for asking for more, it is good.

Question 24

How is benevolent sexism shown in gender stereotypes and negotiations?

Answer 24

• Individuals who are benevolent sexist:
  –> view women as wonderful but vulnerable, and in need of protection
  –> extol the virtues of women who embrace traditional roles
  –> claim that every man requires a woman’s love to be complete
• Men are slightly more benevolently sexist than women: on a 5-point scale, men’s average score is 2.87 and women’s average score is 2.43
• When women endorse benevolent sexism, they:
  –> Also endorse gender-traditional beliefs (i.e. “women’s proper place is at home”)
  –> Are more willing to trade personal power and status for “men’s affection and protection”
  –> Less interested in leadership positions

Question 25

What is the definition of catch-22?

Answer 25

A paradoxical situation from which an individual cannot escape because of contradictory rules

Question 26

What does catch-22 mean for women at work?

Answer 26

• Disconfirming stereotypical female roles leads to “high competence” AND “low warmth” perceptions. Hence, penalization (social rejection) = bad job outcomes
• Confirming stereotypical female roles leads to “low competence” AND “high warmth” perceptions. Hence, considered “not good enough” = bad job outcomes

Question 27

What can be said about catch-22 and masculine job roles?

Answer 27

• All masculine job roles (e.g. executives, managers) require candidates to possess stereotypically male qualities (e.g. competitive, assertive, and decisive)
• Given female stereotype content (warm, nice), there exists a lack of fit between female gender and masculine job roles
• Women then often lose jobs to male rivals who are deemed as better qualified
• Acting more like a man (e.g. altering body language as well as presentation and communication style) improves perceptions of fit with leadership roles
• BUT: Violation of stereotypes of female niceness results in backlash (social reprisal: being less liked, being rejected, etc)
  –> “Dragon lady”, “Iron maiden”
  –> Brief history of politicians being told to smile more

Question 28

What can be said about catch-22 in hiring?

Answer 28

• It is often advised to project a confident image (i.e. self-promotion) to the employer during the interview
• BUT: this is a male prescriptive stereotype. → When women self-promote, they violate female PS. They are seen as more competent but are less liked
• When women are direct and assertive during interviews, they are less likely to be recommended for the job
• When women appear less feminine in cover letters (using terms like competitive/individualistic vs. committed/supportive), they are less likely to be invited for an interview
• What happens when either a mother or pregnant woman interviews for a job?
  –> Activates female PS. When women make their motherhood status known, they are seen as more likable but less competent
  –> Mothers and “to-be-mothers” are less likely to be hired, especially when the job is stereotypically masculine

Question 29

What can be said about catch-22 in negotiations?

Answer 29

• Negotiation (i.e. assertiveness) = male PS
• When women negotiate, they violate female PS, and are disliked and don’t want to be worked with
• Male managers are more inclined to work with “nice” women who accept their compensation offers compared with women who attempt to negotiate for more
• Male negotiators also tend to receive more favorable offers than female negotiators; this is especially true if the hiring manager is conservative (vs. liberal)

Question 30

What are the two components of catch-22 in performance evaluations?

Answer 30

1. Women’s performance
2. Evaluation criteria

Question 31

What can be said about women’s performance in catch-22 in performance evaluations?

Answer 31

Recall: Women are expected to be warm but not competent
- A woman’s success on a masculine task is attributed to luck (men’s similar successes are attributed to talent)
- When a woman says something, she is often ignored (when a man says the same thing, people listen)

Recall: stereotypes are rarely disconfirmed (they are stable)
- Women have to continuously prove themselves to appear competent, while a mediocre man may still be perceived as competent

→ THIS MEANS: A woman’s performance is typically rated lower than the same performance of a man

Question 32

What can be said about evaluation criteria in catch-22 in performance evaluations?

Answer 32

Recall: Men are stereotyped as competent
- In male-dominated fields, when comparing a male employee with a female employee, evaluators may shift criteria to reflect the man’s unique accomplishments (unrelated to the job) to give advantage to the man (e.g. education or past experience worth more on CV)

Recall: Women are expected to be homemakers
- Women are REQUIRED to engage in extra-role behaviors: if they don’t, they are penalized on performance evaluations
- Men are ADMIRED if they engage in extra-role behaviors: if they do, they receive better performance evaluations

→ THIS MEANS: Managers shift evaluation criteria depending on whether an employee is male or female

Question 33

What can be said about catch-22 in day-to-day work?

Answer 33

Recall: Seeking new ventures/opportunities is a male PS
- Progressive role expansion (gaining expertise in multiple job roles) helps with job security
- BUT: when women expand their roles, others perceive them as emotional/erratic and assume they failed in their previous positions (glass wall); no such issues for men

Recall: Women are undeserving of “masculine” jobs
- When women and men hold the same job title, women are given worse tasks than men

Recall: Engaging in social work confirms female PS
- Men who spend more time on CSR-related activities are less likely to be promoted due to reduced fit perceptions

Question 34

What are the parts of catch-22 in promotions?

Answer 34

• Glass ceiling
• Glass escalator
• Glass cliff
• Queen-bee effect
• Leading others in organizations

Question 35

What is the glass ceiling?

Answer 35

Invisible barrier blocking women and minorities from top management positions
- Vying for a more senior position violates female PS of niceness and adversely affects promotion considerations (in good performing positions). Are these women not nice? No, but these inferences solely come from information that they had succeeded in their past position

Question 36

What is the glass escalator?

Answer 36

Increased rate of promotions of men in female dominated fields

Question 37

What is the glass cliff?

Answer 37

Offering leadership positions in poorly-performing companies to women

Question 38

What happens even if only 1% of promotion decisions are due to gender bias?

Answer 38

Individuals promoted to the highest organization levels would largely be men (65% vs. 35%)

Question 39

What is the queen-bee effect?

Answer 39

Women who have been successful in male-dominated organizations defend their status quo by not being supportive of the advancement of other women

Question 40

Why does the queen-bee effect occur?

Answer 40

• Queen bees see themselves as a separate subgroup and associate themselves with more masculine characteristics. As such, they see other women as more feminine and as less worthy of (i.e. not sufficiently competent for) senior positions
• Queen bees believe that they had to sacrifice a lot and overcome many hurdles/obstacles to get to their senior positions. Thus, they believe that them offering senior positions to other women would be “making it too easy” for them

Question 41

What can be said about leading others in organizations in catch-22 in promotions?

Answer 41

Leading others in organizations = Male PS. → When women lead, they violate female PS, and are evaluated poorly and are more undermined

Poor evaluations of female leaders is especially common when they:
- Lead in stereotypically masculine style (i.e. autocratic) than feminine style (i.e. democratic)
- Exhibit anger
- Use intimidation strategies

Undermining of female leaders include:
- Less following of orders
- More sabotaging
- Open and explicit criticism, especially in male-dominated firms with less than 15% of women

Question 42

What can be said about atypical men at work?

Answer 42

When a man violates masculine PS in the workplace, one of two things can happen:

• If the violation is in terms of the “prescribed behavior” (e.g. a man is nice and communal), the is perceived as particularly incompetent
• If the violation is in terms of the field (e.g. a man enters nursing or education field), then he will likely ascend to leadership roles in such fields (glass escalator)

(not a lot of empirical research on this)

Question 43

What can be said about benevolently sexist male managers?

Answer 43

Recall: Benevolent sexism is a belief that men should “protect” women

Benevolently sexist male managers were shown to:

• Offer praise to a woman, which would substitute for tangible rewards (e.g. promotion and pay)
• Take over women’s responsibilities, overhelp, or limit women’s responsibilities (which precludes women from developing competences)
• Believe that a female leader became a leader illegitimately
• Think of attractive women as sex-objects
  –> Attractive women’s mistakes are more likely to be forgiven at lower organizational levels (“she’s eye candy”), but cost her competence ratings at upper levels (“we need someone who knows what they are doing here at the top”)

Question 44

What are the three types of sexual harassment?

Answer 44

1. Sexual coercion: i.e. assigning career outcomes contingent on sexual compliance (5-10% of cases)
2. Unwanted sexual attention: e.g. sending lewd emails, or grabbing a woman inappropriately (20-25% of cases)
3. Gender harassment: i.e. degrading women as a group, e.g. sexist jokes (50% of cases)

Question 45

What are the effects of sexual harassment on women?

Answer 45

• Lower job satisfaction
• Worsens mental health and physical health

Question 46

What are contributing factors to sexual harassment?

Answer 46

• Male-dominated environment where men hold power (power = acting on impulses)
• Power difference between harasser and victim
• Lack of professionalism (e.g. frequent use of obscenities, presence of sexualized images of women)
• Victim’s factors: poor financial standing, being a minority, strongly violating or strongly confirming female PS
• Harasser’s personality: narcissism, machiavellianism, psychopathy (the dark triad)

Question 47

What is the normative nature of gender prejudice?

Answer 47

• Whereas people feel guilty when you expose their prejudices towards blacks, gays, or other minorities, people feel amused when their sexism is exposed
• People have a strong dislike of feminists (“unattractive”, “sexually unappealing”)

Question 48

Why is sexism so normal?

Answer 48

1. Women don’t recognize sexism and see male dominance as part of natural order
2. Female PS are positive (“nice”, “kind”), it is hard to view them as prejudice
3. Women have a lower sense of entitlement
4. Historically and cross-culturally, men have been socially dominant (“hard for fish to see the water they swim in”)
5. Women’s comparison group is other women (not men)
6. Women rarely see themselves as victims of discrimination