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HOW TO INCREASE LEDERSHIP AMBITON AND DECREASE TURNOVER INTENTION AMONG WOMEN: THE IMPORTANCE OF A ROLE MODEL

Master thesis, MSc Human Resource Management (HRM) University of Groningen

Faculty of Economics and Business Supervisor: Prof. Dr. J. I. Stoker

Nynke de Vries S3275299 Oosterstraat 19A-1 9711 NN Groningen a.n.de.vries.4@student.rug.nl

January 20

th

, 2019

Acknowledgment: I would like to thank my supervisor Prof. Dr. J.I. Stoker for her inspiring

input, kindness, and support. She functioned as a role model for me during the process of writing

my master thesis. I would also thank my family and friends for their support during my master.

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2 ABSTRACT

Despite the fact that more women are participating in the workforce nowadays, they remain highly underrepresented in leadership positions. Studies show inconsistency in the underlying mechanisms why this is still the case in today’s society. Therefore, the present study aims to show why women have lower leadership ambition and higher turnover intentions compared to men. Research seems to suggest that the perceived lack of fit with the stereotypical leader of an organization plays an important role in leadership ambition and turnover intention among women. Further, this study aims to show the impact of a role model on the lack of fit women perceive. The first hypothesis state that women, compared to men, perceive a higher lack of fit with the stereotypical leader of an organization. The second set of hypotheses suggest that perceived lack of fit is related to lower leadership ambition and higher turnover intention. In addition, the third hypothesis is that the perceived lack of fit mediates the relationship between gender and both leadership ambition and turnover intention, such that women who perceive a high lack of fit will have lower leadership ambition and higher turnover intention. The fourth hypothesis suggests that a role model moderates the relationship between gender and perceived lack of fit, such that a role model lessens the lack of fit women perceive with the stereotypical leader. To test these hypotheses, 97 respondents working as middle managers at a ministry completed an online questionnaire. The results do not confirm the proposed hypothesis that women have a higher perceived lack of fit. Also the hypothesis perceived lack of fit leading to lower leadership ambition could not be confirmed in this study, neither the proposed mediation and moderation relationships. In line with previous studies, this study confirms the hypothesis that perceived lack of fit leads to higher turnover intentions. Moreover, this study contributes to the current literature regarding the influence of role models in organizations.

Keywords: Leadership ambition, turnover intention, gender, perceived lack of fit, role model.

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3 INTRODUCTION

Nowadays, some improvements have been made regarding the position of women in the workplace and as well in terms of gender equality in society. Indeed, in western countries, women are account for roughly half of the workforce (Connolly & Gregory, 2007; Peters, Ryan, Haslam, & Fernandes, 2012) and organizations experience significant pressure to increase gender diversity, especially at senior levels (Harman & Sealy, 2017; Walsh, Fleming, & Enz, 2016). Despite the known benefits of diversity, such as improved decision-making, innovation, performance and financial returns (Post & Byron, 2015), the progress of women in leadership positions is still slow-going. In the European Union (EU), the percentage of female board members in the largest listed companies was 25.3% in 2017, and in the same year, only 5.5%

of female CEO’s among those biggest listed companies in the EU (European Commission, 2018). The question that arises is, how is it possible that women, despite the fact that they are equally as competent leaders as men – or perhaps even more competent (c.f. Eagly, Karau, &

Makhijani, 1995), are still underrepresented in leadership positions?

One explanation for the shortage of women in leadership positions might be that women generally have lower ambitions to enter a career in management (e.g. Litzky & Greenhaus, 2007; Powell & Butterfield, 1981, 2003). Research of Brown and Diekman (2010) examining gender differences in possible future selves has demonstrated that women are less likely to be career-oriented than men in their distant possible selves. However, the argument that women have less leadership ambition is not supported by research, indicating that the commitment of men and women to their jobs is the same and that both gender groups equally desire leadership roles (Aven, Parker, & McEvoy, 1993; Eagly & Carli, 2007). So, the following questions arise:

what are the explanations for the differences between men and women in terms of their

leadership ambition, and is it caused by characteristics in the workplace that have an influence

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4 on ambition? Research seems to suggest the latter, with the characteristics being negative stereotyping (Heilman, Manzi, and Brown, 2015), which refers to being judged by others as a result of assigning stereotypes to a person or group. Negative stereotyping could eventually lead to a perceived lack of fit with the stereotypical leader of an organization (Harman and Sealy, 2017).

Social role theory (Eagly, 1987) states that women face incongruences based on prejudices related to gender and managerial stereotypes. The stereotyped characteristics assigned to women are caring and sensitivity, which are not in line with the stereotypical characteristics of a “good” manager. In addition, men are associated with agentic traits, such as being result- oriented and willing to take risks, which are characteristics that closely relate to being a good manager (e.g. Powell, Butterfield, & Parent, 2002). Women eventually face incongruity between their gender role and the managerial role, which possibly hinders them from climbing the career ladder (Eagly & Karau, 2002).

This study will rely on social role theory (Eagly, 1987) to explain the differences between gender and perceived lack of fit, proposing that women have a higher perceived lack of fit because of the challenges they face in moving up the career ladder. Moreover, research suggests that the perceived fit of the person to the environment is related to a range of positive outcomes, such as an increase in ambition and a desire to remain in the organization (Kristof-Brown, Zimmerman, & Johnson, 2005). Therefore, after examining whether women have a higher perceived lack of fit than men, this study will investigate whether the perceived lack of fit an individual experiences with the stereotypical leader of an organization will lead to a lower leadership ambition and a higher turnover intention.

Building on social role theory (Eagly, 1987), role congruity theory (Eagly and Karau,

2002) explains the incongruity women face between their gender role and manager role,

wherein they find themselves in a dilemma of behaving both as good women and as good

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5 leaders (Diekman & Eagly, 2008). When women adjust to their gender role and display communal behavior, they are not perceived as being good leaders because the stereotypical leader is supposed to demonstrate the above-mentioned qualities of being strong, results- oriented, and willing to take risks. In addition, if women behave according to the stereotype of a good leader by exhibiting agentic behavior, this is not in line with the behavior of a good woman. So, they are in a situation where they could only fail (Eagly & Carli, 2003), leading to negative self- and other evaluations and a decreased access to leadership roles (Eagly & Karau, 2002). Leadership stereotypes such as “Think Manager-Think Male” (Schein, 1973), in which an association is made between being a manager and being a man (e.g. Heilman, Block, &

Martell, 1995; Ryan & Haslam, 2007), contribute to gender differences regarding the perceived lack of fit with the stereotypical leader.

Based on role congruity theory (Eagly & Karau, 2002), this study aims to demonstrate the influence of the perceived lack of fit with the stereotypical leader on women’s leadership ambition, as research has indicated that when women identify themselves with stereotypical leaders of their organization, the membership of the group will become part of their self- concept, which could lead to a lower perceived lack of fit and, an increase in career motivation and organizational commitment (Peters et al., 2012). This study suggests that perceived lack of fit with the stereotypical leader is a mediating factor in the proposed conceptual model.

However, factors might exists that could buffer or even prevent this process from

occurring. When women perceive themselves to be similar to those who are prototypical leaders

in an organization, employees’ motivation to join and succeed might be higher (Morgenroth,

Ryan, & Peters, 2015). This notion is based on social learning theory (Bandura 1977, 1986),

which states that individuals attend to role models who could be helpful in learning new tasks,

skills, attitudes, and norms. This is especially true for members of underrepresented and

stigmatized groups. In addition, role models can be positive, counter-stereotypical examples of

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6 leaders (Morgenroth et al., 2015), providing evidence that those roles are attainable and that stereotypes may not necessarily apply to oneself. Thus far, role model literature has predominantly focused on the attributes a role model needs to possess, the expression of effective behavior, and the way in which role models can influence ambition (e.g. Fishbach &

Ferguson, 2007; Markus & Nurius, 1986; Morgenroth et al., 2015; Oyserman, Bybee, & Terry, 2006), but not on the possible moderating effect of a role model on the relation between gender and the perceived lack of fit with the stereotypical leader of the organization. Therefore, this study focuses on the extent to which leaders in the same organization function as role models for women and men, as well as whether this influences those two gender groups’ perceived lack of fit and eventually their leadership ambition and turnover intention.

The purpose of this research is hence to examine the possible moderating effect of role models in an organization on the relationship between gender and the perceived lack of fit with the stereotypical leader, and how this affects leadership ambition and turnover intention.

These findings will add empirical knowledge to the theoretical debate regarding the influence of role models in organizations (e.g. Bandura, 1977, 1986; Morgenroth et al., 2015) and to existing literature on gender differences in leadership ambition (e.g. Eagly & Karau, 2002; Hoyt & Simon, 2011; Litzky & Greenhaus, 2007). This study also contributes practically to organizations, as it lays out a framework to investigate the problems and differences in gender towards leadership ambition and therefore discovers possible factors that can be manipulated by organizations that wish to increase gender diversity. Moreover, this study will offer insights into the influences of role models in organizations.

In the following part of the thesis, a brief overview will be given of the literature

concerning the relationship between gender, leadership ambition, and turnover intention with

perceived lack of fit as a mediation effect and role model as a moderator effect.

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7

THEORETICAL BACKGROUND

Gender and perceived lack of fit

According to Schein (1973, 1975), one of the reasons explaining why women are still underrepresented in leadership positions is related to gender and leadership stereotyping.

Gender stereotyping has important implications for perceptions of how well women fit with different workplace positions, especially when these positions are perceived to be filled by men (Heilman, Manzi, & Braun, 2015). The social role theory by Eagly (1987) explains that in today’s society, men and women are judged differently with respect to their tasks and roles, which include descriptive and injunctive norms.

Descriptive beliefs typify the characteristics that differentiate men from women, and they stereotype the way in which individuals behave in a gender-typical situation, particularly if the situation is ambiguous. In contrast, prescriptive or injunctive beliefs are more focused on what each gender ought to be like, and individuals could therefore act in a gender-typical manner as a motivator to achieve social approval (Eagly, Wood, & Johannesen-Schmidt, 2004).

Moreover, Eagly (1987) explains that descriptive and prescriptive/injunctive beliefs can be classified into two groups, namely communal and agentic dimensions. On the one hand, communal characteristics, often associated with women, are related to concern for someone else’s wellbeing and involve affection, kindness, and interpersonal sensitivity. On the other hand, agentic characteristics, often associated with men, are related to concern for oneself and involve confidence, control, and assertiveness (Diekman & Eagly, 2000).

Building on social role theory (Eagly, 1987), role congruity theory (Eagly and Karau,

2002) underlines the processes related to gender stereotyping. Women are expected to be

communal, while men are expected to be agentic; displaying inconsistency with their true

gender roles will lead to negative evaluations. Moreover, numerous studies (e.g. Eagly & Karau,

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8 2002; Heilman, Block, Martell, & Simons, 1989; Powell, Butterfield, & Parent, 2002; Schein, 2001) have consistently found that the stereotype of a good leader is mostly related to masculine or agentic characteristics and that these characteristics are often required in order to be perceived as a successful leader. In addition, the “Think Manager-Think Male” phenomenon, discovered by Schein (1973;1975), states that the characteristics of a successful middle manager are related to the agentic characteristics ascribed to men, more than the characteristics ascribed to women.

Moreover, Diekman and Eagly (2008) expound on role congruity theory and suggest that men and women are motivated to achieve role congruity, wherein the two groups behave according to their gender roles, in order to avoid negative consequences of perceived incongruence between their gender roles and leadership roles. Thus, if a woman exhibits agentic behavior, this may lead to a negative evaluation because of the inconsistency with the stereotype of a successful leader, namely possessing the previously mentioned masculine characteristics (Powel & Buttterfield, 1979; Powel, Butterfield, & Parent, 2002; Stoker, Van der Velde, &

Lammers, 2012). This incongruity of being a good leader and a good woman causes a dilemma for women, called the double-bind paradox (Eagly & Carli, 2007). As a result, to fulfill a leadership role, women must handle the stereotypes of two roles: 1) being “good” women with feminine traits and 2) being “good” leaders who show agentic traits.

In accordance with the role congruity theory by Eagly and Karau (2002), Heilman’s (1983) lack of fit model suggests that performance expectations of success or failure depend on the fit between the attributes of the individual and the requirements of the job (Heilman, 1983, 200).

Perceptions of an ideal fit lead to expectations of success, whereas perceptions of a poor fit

result in expectations of failure and could lead to negative self- and other evaluations (Heilman,

1983, 2001). Therefore, the more pronounced the evaluated masculinity or the stereotypes of

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9 the job is, the larger the perceived lack of fit is, and accordingly, the more negative expectations there are about the performance of self and others.

Empirical evidence for the lack of fit is provided by Bosak and Sczensy (2007), who examined the self-ascribed fit to leadership among men and women. First, participants had to rate their perceived level of agency; thereafter, they were asked to view an advertisement for a leadership position, and both men and women had to indicate their suitability for this position.

The results of this experiment revealed that women considered themselves to be less suitable for the leadership position than men as a consequence of their lower self-ascribed agency.

Women thus perceived incongruence between their characteristics (low agency) and those related to leadership roles (high agency). This eventually resulted in self-limiting behavior and beliefs regarding leadership positions.

The present study hence suggests that as a result of women’s self-perceived incongruence or lack of fit and the internalization of the descriptive aspect of their gender role, women might perceive a higher lack of fit with the stereotypical leader of an organization. Accordingly, the first hypothesis is as follows:

Hypothesis 1 : Women have a higher perceived lack of fit with the stereotypical leader of an organization, compared to men.

Relationship between lack of fit and both leadership ambition and turnover intention Individuals compare themselves to the prevalent stereotype of a successful leader and assess whether this comparison is in line with their own characteristics in order to set up their career path in management (Powell et al., 2002). According to social identity theory (Tajfel &

Turner, 1979), an individual’s social identity comprises the feelings of identification that are

developed from the social group they are part of. Moreover, research has investigated the

importance of identification with the leader of an organization (e.g. Lockwood, 2006) and

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10 emphasizes the benefits of this identification such as higher levels of leadership ambition and more willingness to stay in the organization (Lockwood & Kunda, 1997).

Leadership ambition refers to an individual’s desire for future employment in the role of a leader (Powell & Butterfield, 2003) and the dream to achieve this particular vocation (Gray

& O'Brien, 2007). As mentioned before, men and women often internalize their ascribed gender role and judge themselves based on these roles (Eagly & Karau 2002). Both men and women are consequently motivated to align with those roles to avoid negative outcomes (Diekman &

Eagly, 2008). Men thus behave more in line with agentic characteristics, and women with their communal behavior. Although evidence indicates that women start seeing themselves as being more agentic (e.g. Sczesny, 2003; Twenge, 1997), the ascribed gender role beliefs still impact the beliefs and behaviors of men and women, in particular regarding leadership ambition.

Furthermore, Brown and Diekman (2010) have demonstrated that differences exist between men and women in terms of how they see their possible future selves: women, compared to men, are less likely to be career-oriented by imagining their future self. Moreover, Davis, Spencer and Steele (2005) investigated whether females who perceived incongruence between women and leaders showed less leadership ambition, possibly to overcome the confirmed negative stereotyping related to women and leadership.

When employees identify themselves with stereotypical leaders of their organization,

the membership of the group will become part of their self-concept, which will lead to a

decrease in the perceived lack of fit (Harman & Sealy, 2017). Moreover, research has suggested

that the perceived fit of a person to his or her environment shows that congruence between the

characteristics of an individual and those of the workplace is related to a range of positive

outcomes such as an increase in ambition and the desire to remain in the organization (Kristof-

Brown et al., 2005).

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11 Based on the discussed literature, the present study predicts that the higher the perceived lack of fit with the stereotypical leader is, the lower the ambition to hold a leadership position will be in the future, and the higher the intention will be to leave the organization. The second hypothesis is therefore as follows:

Hypothesis 2: The perceived lack of fit with the stereotypical leader of an organization is negatively related to leadership ambition (2a) and positively related to turnover intention (2b)

The mediating role of perceived lack of fit

Women who are able and willing to fulfil top positions in an organization, could experience a lack of fit with the stereotype of a good leader within that company. In accordance with the discussed social role theory (Eagly, 1987) and social congruity theory (Eagly & Karau, 2002) , the gender stereotyping effect has an important influence on the perceived lack of fit women experience within workplace positions, especially when these positions are perceived to be fulfilled by men (Heilman, Manzi, & Braun, 2015). Successful leaders are often perceived as having masculine traits, which are more congruent with the agentic male gender role, compared with the communal female gender role, which leads to a lower fit with leadership because of stereotyping among men and women (Powell et al., 2002).

Based on the discussed literature, this study aims to determine the differences between men and women in terms of leadership ambition and turnover intention, with the perceived lack of fit as a mediating variable. Therefore, the third hypothesis is as follows:

Hypothesis 3a: The perceived lack of fit mediates the relation between gender and leadership

ambition (3a) and turnover intention (3b). Women have a higher perceived lack of fit with the

stereotypical leader of an organization, and that perception relates to lower leadership

ambition and higher turnover intentions.

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12 The moderating effect of a role model

Role models can be defined as “individuals who influence role aspirants’ achievements, motivation, and goals by acting as behavioral models, representations of the possible, and/or inspiration” (Morgenroth et al., 2015:4). Role models could inspire individuals to set ambitious goals and motivate them to achieve those objectives. As mentioned earlier, social learning theory (Bandura, 1977) suggests that individuals attend to role models who could help in learning new tasks, skills, attitudes, and norms and that learning often occurs by imitation and modelling. Gender is an important factor in social learning theory (Bandura, 1977) because men and women perceive role models differently. Indeed, research by Lockwood (2006) suggests that women are more inspired by successful female role models, compared with men. Those female role models can demonstrate to women that they can overcome gender barriers to attain a successful career.

The effectiveness of role models is based on individuals perception of them. Therefore, Gibson (2003) made a distinction between close and distal role models. According to Gibson (2003), a close role model is someone with whom an individual interacts frequently and is in the same workgroup or department, whereas distant role models are outside of the workgroup or department and are those with whom an individual interacts infrequently or not at all. The idea of the effect of a close role model can be found in the reasoning of Powell (1993), who proposed that once employees become familiar with a female manager as a person instead of a representative of her gender, the managerial stereotypes should theoretically disappear.

Therefore, the present study proposes that this effect could have a positive influence on the

perceived lack of fit an employee has with the stereotypical leader of an organization. Evidence

for the positive effects of a distal role model can be found in the example of Michelle Obama,

who functioned as an inspiring role model by talking to pupils at schools about the importance

of education. The performance of those pupils eventually improved substantially after she

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13 visited them (Burgess, 2016). By choosing a role model, the relevance of social and demographic characteristics such as gender, age, experience, and background, thus plays an important role (Gibson, 2003; Kulik & Ambrose, 1992).

Also, Gibson (2003) emphasizes the importance of role models with respect to career and leadership, such as career success, as well as individual growth and development. Empirical evidence for the impact of a positive role model is provided by Latu, Schmid Mast, Lammers, and Bombari (2013) who demonstrated that the exposure of successful female role models to women before performing a leadership task increased the empowerment of those women and improved task performance. An increase in women who fulfill top positions, especially in male- dominated organizations, could thus motivate women who fulfill lower positions in the organization. This is because researchers have indicated that upward social comparison is a source of social learning and adds value to a person’s self-concept, motivation, inspiration, and performance, especially when the comparison focuses on similarities to the superior other (e.g.

Bandura, 1986; Hoyt & Simon, 2011).

Therefore, the present study suggests that role models will have an influence on the relationship between gender and perceived lack of fit with the stereotypical leader of an organization. More specifically, women will have a lower perceived lack of fit when role models are provided. Moreover, based on Gibson’s (2003) distinction of close and distant role models, this thesis examines whether a role model who is a distal leader (a distant role model) and one who is a direct manager (a close role model), influences the perceived lack of fit women experience.

Hypothesis 4: The presence of a role model moderates the relation between gender and

perceived lack of fit. Women who have a role model will experience a lower perceived lack of

fit with the prototype leader.

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14 The hypotheses are depicted in the conceptual model in Figure 1, below.

H4

H1 H2

Figure 1: Conceptual model

METHOD Procedure and participants

This study was conducted at a Ministry located in the Netherlands. An online questionnaire was used to gather the data needed to test the hypotheses. To perform this test, the questionnaire was distributed to men and women who fulfil the role of an operational or middle manager. All managers (N = 430) received an email, along with a URL survey link, and the survey was conducted in English, as all the managers are able to understand this language.

The email was sent by the coordinator of diversity and inclusivity at the ministry. After 4 weeks, all participants (N = 430) received an email with a reminder to complete the survey. The total number of respondents was 97, of which 44.57% were female (N = 41) with an average age of 47.33 years (SD = 6.00), and 55.43% of the respondents were male (N = 51) with an average age of 52.92 years (SD = 7.05). Of the 97 respondents, 5 people did not fill in their gender and were recoded as missing scores. The educational level of the respondents was not measured, because all the participants who work as managers at the ministry have completed a university degree. The average tenure of women was 18.41 years (SD = 7.55) whereas that of men was 24.33 years (SD = 10.02).

Perceived lack of fit H3

Leadership Ambition Turnover intentions Gender

Role model

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15 Measurements

Perceived lack of fit. The perceived lack of fit was measured using the prototype fit scale (based on Peters et al., 2011). This scale included three items rated on a seven-point Likert scale (0 = strongly disagree and 7 = strongly agree). Participants were asked to rate the following statements: “Generally, I really ‘fit’ with this leader”, “I see myself as being quite different from this leader” (recoded) and lastly, “I am very similar to this leader”. The internal consistency based on three items was sufficient; α = 0.69.

Distal leader role model. This item was measured by first asking participants whether they have a certain person in mind when they think of a successful leader in the organization.

When a participant answered yes, he or she continued to answer questions about this role model (adapted from Peters et al., 2018). Additionally, the following statements required ratings, on a seven-point Likert scale (0 = strongly disagree to 7 = strongly agree): “This person is someone I consider to be a role model in my life,” “This person sets an example I want to live up to in my own career,” “This person is someone whose footsteps I would like to follow,” “This person is someone I will look to when thinking about the next steps in my career,” and “This person provides an example of the career I would like to pursue for myself.” Internal consistency was high (Cronbach’s α = 0.84).

Direct manager role model. To indicate whether a participant’s direct manager functions as a role model, the same five questions were asked as those for the distal leader role model (adapted from Peters et al., 2018). However, the words “this person” in the previous questions were changed to “my manager”. Internal consistency was high (Cronbach’s α = 0.89).

Leadership ambition. This item was assessed with a seven-item scale rated on a five-

point Likert-type scale (1=strongly disagree to 5=strongly agree). The seven utilized items

related to the “leadership aspiration” subscale of the “Career Aspiration Scale-Revised” (CAS-

R) by Gregor and O’Brien (2016), which is an adjusted scale based on the originally Career

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16 Aspiration Scale by O’Brien (1996). The CAS-R scale consists of 24 items divided into the following three subscales: achievement aspiration, leadership aspiration, and educational aspiration. While the scale was developed for graduates and undergraduates, Gregor and O’Brien (2016) pointed out that the leadership aspiration scale is appropriate for workplace settings.

In the present study, the first question in the original CAS-R, namely “I hope to become a leader in my career field,” was omitted because the participants already fulfill a leadership position. Questions such as the following were asked: “When I am established in my career, I would like to manage other employees,” “I want to have responsibility for the future direction of my organization,” and “I hope to move up to a higher leadership position in my organization.” Questions one and four were recoded, and internal consistency was high (Cronbach’s α = 0.85).

Turnover intention. In accordance with Colarelli’s (1984) three-item scale for intention to quit and turnover intention, this item was rated on a five-point Likert scale (1 = strongly disagree to 5 = strongly agree). The three-item scale measured turnover intention with the following statements: “I frequently think of quitting my job,” “I am planning to search for a new job during the next 12 months,” and “If I have my own way, I will be working for this organization one year from now” (recoded). The internal consistency was sufficient (Cronbach’s α = 0.69).

Gender. The gender of the participants was assessed at the end of the survey where participants had to report their biographical data. Gender was coded as 1 = female and 2 = male.

Control variables. To control for the hypothesized variables, the following were taken into account, measured with single-item questions: age, tenure, and gender identity.

Participants’ ages and tenure were considered as possible control variables for leadership

ambition and turnover intention, since research has indicated that younger people have a higher

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17 probability of leaving an organization, so there is a consistent negative relationship between turnover intention and age (e.g. Mowday, Steers, and Porter, 1979).

Furthermore, given that the image of a leader is still related to masculine traits, gender identity may influence the relationship between gender and perceived lack of fit (Powell et al., 2002). Therefore, it is important to indicate the extent to which an individual identifies with his or her true gender (Luhtanen and Crocker, 1992).

Main analyses

Before performing the analyses and after calculating mean scores and standard

deviations of all the scales, all variables were standardized. First, a Pearson Correlations test is

used to determine the separate relationships between the conceptual model variables and control

variables. Following up, hierarchical regression analyses were performed to test whether there

are direct and conditional effects as proposed in Hypothesis 1, 2, and 4. In order to test the

mediation hypothesis, PROCESS model 4 was used (Hayes, 2013). Finally, to test the full

moderated mediation model, model 7 from Hayes’s PROCESS was executed (Hayes, 2013).

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18 RESULTS

Descriptive statistics and correlations

Table 1 provides descriptive statistics and inter correlations for all studied variables.

The results indicate that there is no significant correlation between gender and perceived lack of fit (r= -.149, p> 0.05) which means that women do not have a significant higher perceived lack of fit with the stereotypical leader of the organization. Moreover, perceived lack of fit displayed no significant correlation with leadership ambition (r= .110, p> 0.05) nor with turnover intention (r= .218, p> 0.05) which was not expected based on the theory. However, gender negatively correlates with distal leader role model (r= -.307, p < 0.01), which means that women have more distal role models in the organization compared to men. In addition, a positive correlation is found between distal leader role model and perceived lack of fit (r=.392**, p < 0.01), meaning that the more distal role models in the organization, the higher the perceived lack of fit.

Concerning the control variables, gender identity is significantly correlated with turnover intention (r= .225, p < 0.05), and gender (r= -.301, p < 0.01), meaning that women identify more with their true gender. Tenure showed a significant correlation with gender (r= - .313**, p < 0.01). Lastly, while age correlate positively with gender (r= .390**, p < 0.01), a negative significant relation is found between age and distal leader role model (r= -.228*, p <

0.01), and leadership ambition (r= -.258*, p < 0.01).

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19 Table 1: Descriptive statistics and correlations

Variables M SD 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

1. Age 50.47 7.14 -

2. Tenure 21.70 9.43 .713** -

3. Gender identity 4.23 1.70 -.225* -.163 -

4. Gender 1.55 .500 .390** -.313** -.301** -

5. Perceived lack of fit 4.43 1.10 -.008 -.076 -.129 -.149 -

6. Distal leader RM 4.55 1.25 -.228* -.032 .093 -.307** .392** -

7. Direct manager RM 4.00 1.30 -.138 .022 .106 .011 .117 .446** -

8. Leadership ambition 3.38 .71 -.258* -.144 .116 -.081 .110 .434** .224* -

9. Turnover intention 2.56 1.43 -.058 -.116 .225* -.103 .218 -.246* -.178 -.039 -

Note. Age (N=89), Tenure (N=88), Gender identity (N=92), Gender (N=92), Perceived lack of fit (N=85), Distal leader RM (N=86), Direct manager RM (N=97), Leadership ambition (N=91), Turnover intention (N=93). *p < .05, **p < .01. For gender 1= female 2= male. RM= role model. Age is reported in years.

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20 Hypothesis testing

Hypothesis 1: women have a higher perceived lack of fit with the stereotypical leader of the organization than men. The results of the linear regression analysis between gender and perceived lack of fit, including the control variables age, tenure, and gender identity are shown in table 2. The control variables are taken into account in the first step and the independent variable in the second step. However, no significant relation between gender and perceived lack of fit could be found (β= -.49, p= .09). Consequently, hypothesis 1 could not be confirmed. In this sample, women do not have a higher perceived lack of fit with the stereotypical leader of the organization than men.

Table 2. Results of the Hierarchical Regression for Gender and Perceived lack of fit (Hypothesis

1) Perceived lack of fit

Step 1 Step 2 Control variables

Age .00 (.03) .01 (.03)

Tenure -.01 (.02) -.01 (.02)

Gender identity

Independent variables

Gender

R² (adjusted R²)

-.09 (.08)

.03 (-.02)

.14 (.08)

-.49 (.29) .07 (.01)

Δ R² .03 .03

Notes. Age (N=89), Tenure (N=88), Gender identity (N=92), Gender (N=92) Perceived lack of fit (N=85). *p < .05, **p < .01.

Hypothesis 2a: The perceived lack of fit with the stereotypical leader of the organization

is negatively related to leadership ambition. In order to test this hypothesis, a linear regression

analysis is performed, in which the control variables age, tenure, and gender identity are

included. The results of the analysis are shown in table 3. The results indicate that there is no

significant relation between the perceived lack of fit with the stereotypical leader of the

organization and leadership ambition (β= .05, p= .50) and thus, hypothesis 2a could not be

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21 confirmed. The results show a significant negative relationship between the control variable age and leadership ambition (β= -.04, p= .03) meaning that the older the employee, the less leadership ambition.

Table 3. Results of the Hierarchical Regression for Perceived lack of fit and leadership ambition (Hypothesis 2a)

Leadership ambition Step 1 Step 2 Control variables

Age -.04 (.02)* -.04 (.02)*

Tenure .01 (.01) .01 (.01)

Gender identity

Independent variables

Perceived lack of fit

R² (adjusted R²) .02 (.05)

.11 (.07)

.03 (.05)

.05 (.08) .12 (.06)

Δ R² .11 .01

Notes. Age (N=89), Tenure (N=88), Gender identity (N=92), Gender (N=92), Perceived lack of fit (N=85) Leadership ambition (N=91). *p < .05, **p < .01

Hypothesis 2b: The perceived lack of fit with the stereotypical leader of the organization

is positively related to turnover intention. A linear regression is done to test whether there exist

a relationship between perceived lack of fit and turnover intention, while controlling for age,

tenure, and gender identity. The results of the analysis are shown in table 4. Results show that

perceived lack of fit is a significant predictor of turnover intention (β= .30, p= .05). Thus, this

supports the hypothesis such that the higher the perceived lack of fit with the stereotype leader

of the organization, the higher the turnover intention. Therefore, hypothesis 2b holds true.

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22 Table 4. Results of the Hierarchical Regression for Perceived lack of fit and turnover intention(Hypothesis 2b)

Turnover intention

Step 1 Step 2 Control variables

Age .01 (.03) .01 (.03)

Tenure -.02 (.03) -.02 (.02)

Gender identity

Independent variables

Perceived lack of fit

R² (adjusted R²)

.09 (.14)

.01 (.01)

.09 (.14)

.30 (.15)*

.07 (.03)

Δ R² .01 .02

Notes. Age (N=89), Tenure (N=88), Gender identity (N=92), Gender (N=92), Perceived lack of fit (N=85), Turnover intention (N=93). *p < .05, **p < .01.

Hypothesis 3a predicted a mediation relationship, namely that the relationship between gender and leadership ambition is mediated by the perceived lack of fit with the stereotypical leader. However, since results already showed no significant interactions on the relationships proposed in hypotheses 1 and 2, exploring this mediation relationship became unnecessary

1

.

The same yields for hypothesis 3b, in which the relationship between gender and turnover intention was expected to be mediated by the perceived lack of fit with the stereotype leader.

However, no significant relationship is found in hypotheses 1 and therefore, performing this mediation relationship became unnecessary

2

.

1 The insignificant indirect relationship between gender and leadership ambition is confirmed by testing PROCESS model 4 (Hayes, 2009), based on 5,000 bootstrap samples. Indeed, results show a non-significant effect of the mediator perceived lack of fit (β= .00, p=.98) as well as on the indirect effect of gender on leadership ambition (β= -.01, S.E.=.03, Boot CI [-.11, .02].

2 Also, insignificant results have been confirmed by performing PROCESS model 4 (Hayes, 2009), based on 5,000 bootstrap samples. Results show a non-significant effect of the mediator perceived lack of fit (β= -.55, p=.12) as well for the indirect effect (β= .11, S.E.=.12, Boot CI [-.06, .46].

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23 Hypothesis 4: The presence of a role model moderates the relation between gender and perceived lack of fit.. Women who have a role model will experience a lower perceived lack of fit compared to men. This hypothesis is tested due to hierarchical linear regression, summarized in table 4. No evidence for a moderating effect of the interaction of gender and role model distal leader has been found (β= .14, p=.66), neither on the interaction effect of gender and role model direct manager (β= -.12, p=.66). However, the results show a strong significant direct relationship between role model distal leader and perceived lack of fit (β= .50, p= .00). Thus, the more distal role models in the organization, the higher the perceived lack of fit. But, however, the relationship between gender and distal role model organization becomes insignificant after adding the interaction-effects (see Table 4, step 3). Hypothesis 3 is not confirmed.

Table 5. Results of the Moderation analyses for role model on gender and perceived lack of fit (Hypothesis 3).

Perceived lack of fit

Step 1 Step 2 Step 3 Control variables

Age .01 (.03) .03 (.03) .03 (.03)

Tenure -.01 (.02) -.02 (.02) -.02 (.02)

Gender identity -.01 (.11) -.08 (.10) -.07 (.11)

Independent variables

Gender -.03 (.28) -.04 (.28)

RM distal leader .50 (.15)** .29 (.51)

RM direct manager -.06 (.13) .11 (.41)

Interaction term

Gender x RM distal leader .14 (.31)

Gender x RM direct manager -.12 (.28)

R² (adjusted R²) .01 (-.04) .18 (.11) 19 (.09) Δ R² .01 .15 .02

Notes. Age (N=89), Tenure (N=88), Gender identity (N=93), Gender (N=92), Perceived lack of fit (N=85), Turnover intention (N=93). *p < .05, **p < .01. RM= role model

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24 Finally, the conceptual model predicted a moderation-mediation, namely that the relation between gender and leadership ambition and turnover intention as mediated by perceived lack of fit is stronger when women have a role model in the organization. However, since results already showed no significant interactions on the moderator and mediator, exploring model 7 in PROCESS (Hayes, 2009, 2013) is unnecessary.

DISCUSSION

The purpose of this study was to explore the extent to which the presence of a role model in an organization influences the perceived lack of fit among women and consequently their leadership ambition and turnover intentions. The results demonstrate that in this sample, consisting of 97 managers of a ministry, no evidence was found for the hypothesized relationship between gender and perceived lack of fit with the stereotypical leader.

Second, it was hypothesized that the perceived lack of fit with the stereotypical leader of an organization relates to lower leadership ambition and higher turnover intention among women. While there was no evidence supporting the relation between perceived lack of fit and leadership ambition, there was a significant relationship between perceived lack of fit and turnover intention, such that a greater perceived lack of fit relates to higher turnover intentions.

The third hypothesis proposed that the relationship between gender and leadership ambition and turnover intention would be mediated by perceived lack of fit, in which women were expected to have a higher perceived lack of fit than men, which in turn lowers women’s leadership ambition and increases turnover intention. However, these predictions could not be confirmed in this sample.

Lastly, hypothesis 4 predicted that the relationship between gender and perceived lack of

fit is moderated by role models, with women expected to experience a lower perceived lack of

fit when they have role models. While no evidence was found to support that gender and role

models (consisting of role model in the form of distal leaders and direct managers) have an

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25 interaction effect on perceived lack of fit, this study found a strong, significant direct effect between a distal role model in an organization and perceived lack of fit. Therefore, the more distal role models are in the organization, the higher the perceived lack of fit is.

Theoretical implications

Although this study has not found any evidence for the impact of a role model on the relationship between gender and both leadership ambition and turnover intention, it has highlighted some important implications for the concepts of role models and perceived lack of fit.

While research suggested that, because of inspiration and attainability, the attendance of a role model could decrease the perceived lack of fit women experience in an organization (Morgenroth et al., 2012), this study does not support that theory. In fact, distal role models in an organization influence the perceived lack of fit of employees, but in a way that the attendance of more role models leads to a greater lack of fit. This is in line with the reasoning of Gibson (2003) about negative role models, which helps individuals by demonstrating how not to do something, and by indicating that certain behavior or action, will be followed up with negative outcomes, a lack of rewards, and punishments (Bandura, 1986).

Second, the findings concerning the perceptions of perceived lack of fit leading to higher

turnover intention support Harman and Sealy’s (2017) research, which mentioned the positive

influence of a person’s self-concept on both identification with the prototypical leader of an

organization and organizational commitment. The present research also adds value to the already

existing literature by Kristof-Brown et al. (2005) by providing empirical evidence for the

relationship between perceived lack of fit and turnover intention.

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26 Practical implications

This study proposed that a role model moderates the relationship between gender and perceived lack of fit. However, this is not confirmed, meaning that in this study and at the ministry where the research was conducted, the attendance of role models does not make any difference to the perceived lack of fit women experience with the stereotypical leader. So, an important implication is the awareness of the current situation regarding role models: a lack of sufficient role models in the organization who make a difference for middle managers. The HR- department could anticipate on this outcome by encouraging managers and employees to join mentoring programs, which could stimulate the perceptions of role models who contradict the stereotype (Roberson & Kulik, 2007; Stoker et al., 2012).

Moreover, in this study, a negative relationship exists between distal role model leaders

and perceived lack of fit. A possible explanation for this result could be that there might be

negative role models. Although research indicates that mere exposure to role models has various

positive outcomes such as an increase in ambition and more positive feelings towards the work

tasks (Stout, Dasgupta, Hunsinger, & McManus, 2011), this research shows the contrary, namely

a higher perceived lack of fit with the stereotypical leader. This outcome is in line with

conversations which have been conducted with some middle managers before starting this

research. During these conversations, the opinions differ among these middle managers with

respect to the higher management, in which some middle managers were really positive about

these higher managers in the organization, whereas there were also negative experiences. One

middle manager mentioned “I don’t want to be like them” and “All the top positions are still

mostly fulfilled by men, it seems like an old boys network”. This outcome implies that pointing

more women in higher management positions to reduce the impact of perceived lack of fit with

stereotypical leaders will not be enough: according to Roberson and Kulik (2007), an implication

for organizations could be to start with acknowledging the fact that stereotypical leaders still

exist, and that an important first step to reduce their impact, is by discussing stereotypes.

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27 Limitations and future directions

This study contains several limitations. First, the sample size was quite small. Out of the 430 middle managers, 97 employees filled in the survey. Moreover, the number of respondents differ per measurement which causes bias for reliability. Approaching a larger group of respondents and requesting that they answer all the questions would benefit the quality of this study. Future research should hence be done to test the conceptual model.

Another limitation of the study concerns the use of only one company, which restricts the generalizability of the findings. Since every organization has a different environment, this study’s findings do not necessarily hold true for other organizations, especially because women at this ministry are still underrepresented in top positions. Therefore, it is recommended that future studies conduct the same research in different industries to increase the generalizability.

Third, to examine whether a direct manager functions as a role model, middle managers were asked to indicate the extent to which they see their direct manager as such a role model. However, as a result of factors such as social desirability, leniency, or severity, the existence of bias is unavoidable (LeBreton & Senter, 2008). Therefore, the reliability of this study needs to be questioned.

Lastly, given that this study was conducted in a cross-sectional manner, the determination of

the direction of the relationships is missing. Therefore, a longitudinal study design would benefit

both the estimation of this direction and further insights into the proposed relationships.

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34 APPENDIX 1 – SURVEY ITEMS

IV – Gender

• What is your gender?

DV 1 – Leadership ambition

• Becoming a leader in my job is not at all important for me (recoded)

• When I am established in my career, I would like to manage other employees

• I want to have responsibility for the future direction of my organization

• Attaining a higher leadership status in my career is not that important for me (recoded)

• I hope to move up to a higher leadership position in my organization

• I plan to rise to the top leadership position in my organization

DV 2 – Turnover intention

I frequently think of quitting my job

I am planning to search for a new job during the next 12 months

• If I have my own way, I will be working for this organization one year from now (recoded)

Mediator – Perceived lack of fit with the stereotypical leader

• Generally, I really ‘fit’ with this leader

• I see myself as being quite different from this leader (recoded)

• I am very similar to this leader

Moderator 1 –Role model distal leader

• When you think about a successful leader in your organization, do you have a certain person in mind?

• This leader is someone I consider to be a role model in my life

• This person sets an example I want to live up to in my own career

• This person is someone whose footsteps I would like to follow

• This person is someone I will look to when thinking about the next steps in my career

• This person provides an example of the career I would like to pursue for myself Moderator 2 – Role model direct manager

• My manager is someone I consider to be a role model in my life

• My manager sets an example that I want to live up to in my own career

• My manager is someone whose footsteps I would like to follow

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35

• My manager is someone I will look to when thinking about the next steps in my career

• My manager provides an example of the career I would like to pursue for myself Control variables

• What is your age?

• For how long have you been working for the ministry?

• My gender is an important part of my self-image

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