Perceived Fit as a Mechanism Behind Differences in Leadership
Aspirations
Master Thesis, MSc Human Resource Management (HRM) University of Groningen, Faculty of Economics and Business
January 27th, 2016
Mareike van Wijk Hamburgerstraat 8b 9714 JB Groningen +49 176 56 96 06 82 m.van.wijk.1@student.rug.nl
Student number: S2157195
ABSTRACT
Although the number of women in the workforce has been increasing over the last centuries, they remain highly underrepresented in higher management and leadership positions. In this paper, we argue that female students have lower aspirations to hold a leadership position in the future compared to male students and that these aspirations evolve over time. Further, it is proposed that female students perceive less of a fit with the leadership stereotype and that a lower perceived fit is associated with lower leadership aspirations. In addition, compared with a feminine gender identity, a masculine gender identity is suggested to strengthen the relationship between students’ gender and their perceived fit with the leadership stereotype. We found evidence that there are indeed gender differences with respect to perceived fit with the leadership stereotype and that a high perceived fit is related to high leadership aspirations. Against our expectations, we did not find a direct relationship between gender and leadership aspirations. However we did find evidence that the study program of students strongly relates to leadership aspirations, as especially Business & Economics students had higher leadership aspirations compared to students from other fields.
!
Key words: leadership aspirations; ambition; gender identity; perceived fit; gender
INTRODUCTION
Throughout the last centuries, women have managed to become increasingly active in the workforce. Whereas in 1971 only 29.9 % of women in the Netherlands took part in the workforce, this percentage rose to 74.7 % by 2015 (OECD.Stat, 2017). Similar patterns can be observed in other European countries (OECD.Stat, 2017). Women represent half of the population, which only justifies that they also represent to be half of the labor force. Today, this is the case in almost all European countries. In 2014, 46.1 % of the Dutch workforce were women (The World Bank, 2017). In Germany it is similar, where 45.9 % of workers were female (The World Bank, 2017). In the UK the same can be observed, namely 46 % of the labor force constituted of women in 2014 (The World Bank, 2017).
Nevertheless, the higher up the hierarchy ladder, the fewer women can be found. In the Netherlands women only held 23.8 % of the board seats in 2015 (European Commission, 2015). Similarly, 25.4 % of German management boards consisted of female managers (European Commission, 2015). With 25.9 %, the UK is only slightly above that (European Commission, 2015). The picture worsens when looking at board chairs. In 2014, there were no chairwomen in the Netherlands (Deloitte, 2014). In Germany it were only 4.4 % and in the UK also just 3.8 % (Deloitte, 2014). These numbers appear to be especially striking considering that organizations are actually engaging in a number of actions to promote women in leadership positions, such as the implementation of diversity targets, flexible working hours, easing the return after maternity leave, and trainings (Barsh, Devillard, & Wang, 2012). According to a study by Barsh, Devillard and Wang (2012) 60 % of 235 interviewed companies indicated that they have implemented no less than 20 gender diversity action plans. The question that appears is, why are there still so few female leaders in leadership positions?
2007). Even though their study does not provide the exact reasons for this phenomenon, a number of suggestions are provided. It was assumed to be “[…] an adaptive response of female students to perceived social reality […]” (Danziger & Eden, 2007, p. 144). Apparently, university students reevaluate their prioritization and initial expectations of the desired career as a reaction to expected or felt social restrains. Yet, it is open whether this is due to an increasing realistic perception of the occupation as a partner, the expectations regarding the role of being a women, suggestions from others that chances of entering an advanced career is not likely anyway, or the expected presence of a so-called glass ceiling (Danziger & Eden, 2007), which is referred to as “a transparent barrier that keeps women from rising above a certain level in organizations” (Morrison, White, Van Velsor, & Centre for Creative Leadership, p. 13, as cited in Sools, Van Engen, & Baerveldt, 2007).
The probably most important conclusion to draw from the results of Danziger and Eden (2007) is that merely inspiring young women to enter a male-typical study program, such as accounting, is not enough with regards to dismissing gender inequalities (Danziger & Eden, 2007). Students are the potential managers and leaders of tomorrow and their aspirations are very predictive with regards to the actual development. Therefore, it is essential to know whether these gender differences still exist and if so, what it is that makes female students have lower leadership aspirations. Knowing the reasons for such degradation of aspirations can support the development of more targeted and specific programs to maintain and enhance female students’ aspirations already during their years at university.
consequence is that they are still confronted with prejudices based on the gender role violation (Rudman & Glick, 1999; Rudman & Phelan, 2008). Thus, “[…] being competent provides no assurance that a woman will advance to the same organizational levels as an equivalently performing man.” (Heilman, 2001, p.677) Based on these discrepancies others are likely to perceive a low fit between women and what a leader supposedly is like. More importantly, women themselves engage in such a comparison as well and if this comparison does not match, it is unlikely that they will decide to enter such a career path (Powell et al., 2002). Hence, their leadership aspirations are low.
Besides gender, it is suggested that gender identity plays an important role with regards to leadership aspirations (Powell & Butterfield, 1981; Powell & Butterfield, 2003). Powell and Butterfield (1981) investigated the relationship between gender and leadership aspirations and found that next to gender itself, gender identity appeared to be related to such aspirations. Accordingly, a masculine gender identity was more associated with higher levels of leadership aspirations than a feminine gender identity. It is proposed that the role of gender identity needs to be taken into consideration as a variable when investigating gender differences (Powell & Butterfield, 1981). The authors replicated these findings after some years trying to find out whether social trends with respect to an increased amount of women in leadership positions had an effect on female’s leadership aspirations. However, the same results could be observed regarding gender differences in aspirations as well as the importance of including gender identity (Powell & Butterfield, 2003).
In this study, we combined the above-mentioned findings into one model aiming at exploring the possible gender differences in leadership aspirations, and at explaining the corresponding underlying mechanism. The aim of this research was to find out if and why female students have lower leadership aspirations than their male counterparts and whether this relationship differs between students at the beginning of their study and those who are at the end of it. We labeled the stage of their study as ‘educational tenure’. In addition, we aimed at investigating how the (lack of) perceived fit with the leadership stereotype mediates the relationship between gender of students and their leadership aspirations. Further, we built on the results of Butterfield and Powell (1981, 2003) that gender identity could also work as a moderator to have an impact on the degree of perceived fit with the leadership stereotype.
THEORY AND HYPOTHESES Gender and Leadership Aspirations
According to Oxford Dictionaries, ‘ambition’ and ‘aspiration’ essentially have the same meaning, namely “a strong desire to do or achieve something “ (Ambition, 2017) and “a hope or ambition of achieving something” (Aspiration, 2017). As the literature mainly utilizes the word ‘aspiration’ (e.g. Aspiration: Cuadrado, García-Ael, & Molero, 2015; Karami, et al., 2011; Litzky & Greenhaus, 2007; Watts, Frame, Moffett, Van Hein, & Hein, 2015; Ambition: Van Vianen, 1999), we follow this notion and thus, for the remainder of the paper use ‘aspiration’.
they fit with their occupational position on every level, whereas women cannot perceive this fit based on being stereotyped by society (Karami et al., 2011).
In line with these findings, we hypothesize that there are gender differences concerning students’ aspirations to hold a leadership position in the future. Specifically, women’s aspirations are lower compared to men’s aspirations.
Hypothesis 1: Female students are more likely to have lower levels of aspirations to hold a
leadership position in the future compared to male students.
The question that appears is: what is the underlying mechanism for these gender differences, to answer the question why females’ leadership aspirations are significantly lower than males’ aspirations.
Gender and Leadership Stereotypes
Gender and Perceived Fit with the Leadership Stereotype
Based on the findings that stereotypes about leaders are predominantly masculine, a dilemma for women in such positions emerges. There is an imbalance between stereotypical leadership characteristics and stereotypical female characteristics. Eagly and Karau (2002) describe this incongruence in their role congruity theory. The stereotypical sex role of women restrains them with regards to which job appears to be appropriate in the eyes of men as well as of women themselves. According to Bakan (as cited in Pratch & Jacobowitz, 1996) such assumptions about men and women can be put on two dimensions, namely agentic and communal behavior. Correspondingly, women are expected to possess more communal characteristics in terms of being more socially oriented. They are expected to express their emotions more openly and to be more people centered. In contrast, men supposedly are more agentic in the sense that they are more independent, competent, and self-assured (Bakan, as cited in Pratch & Jacobowitz, 1996). These two dimensions correspond to the previously established Bem Sex-Role Inventory (BSRI), which utilizes two separate dimensions, namely a masculinity scale and a femininity scale (Bem, 1974). In this sense, agentic and communal behaviors are equivalent to Bem’s concepts of masculinity and femininity, respectively (Wood & Eagly, 2015). Women are stereotypically expected to have less agentic traits and more communal traits, which, however, seems to not coincide with the expected traits necessary for being a successful leader. Therefore, women are perceived as not being as well equipped for leadership positions as their male counterparts based on their communal traits (Eagly & Karau, 2002).
This role congruity model by Eagly and Karau (2002) is in line with Heilman’s (1983, 1995, 2001) lack of fit model. According to the lack of fit model, such role discrepancies between women and leadership increase the likelihood of expected failure and make success appear to be improbable. Specifically, the larger the extent of stereotyping or the evaluated masculinity of a job, the less the perceived fit for women and thus, negative expectations about performance are the consequence (Heilman, 2001).
Thus, based these findings, we hypothesize that students’ gender has an influence on their perceived fit with the leadership stereotype. Specifically, female students perceive less of a fit with the leadership stereotype compared to male students.
Hypothesis 2: Female students are more likely to perceive a lower fit with the leadership
Perceived Fit with the Leadership Stereotype and Leadership Aspirations
Powell et al. (2002) suggest that when considering one’s career path in management, individuals compare themselves with the prevalent stereotype of what a leader should be and whether this comparison is congruent. If there seems not to be enough fit, they are likely to shy away from such a position. Litzky and Greenhaus (2007) conducted a study amongst currently employed students confirming Powell’s et al. (2002) suggestion. Based on a lack of fit between women’s perceptions of their personal traits and the characteristics of senior management positions, they had lower levels of aspirations to hold such a position. Hence, the higher such fit between one’s own and the job characteristics, the higher the corresponding aspirations. Litzky and Greenhaus (2007) conclude that females’ weaker aspirations to hold a senior management position was due to the fact that they perceived themselves as less fitting and that they did not consider it to be realistic to obtain such a position in the first place. Peters, Ryan and Haslam (2012a) conducted two studies confirming the assumption that the more perceived fit the higher the leadership aspirations. In both studies they made participants think that their personal and the predominant leadership style in their occupational field either did or did not correspond. In the first study they looked at policewomen and their second study they examined male as well as female psychology students. In both studies, it could be observed that those who were manipulated in a way to believe the two were congruent showed a greater fit and higher levels of motivation to enter such a leadership career compared to those who did not believe so. As the first study only examined females, gender was not considered. However, the findings of the second study suggest that this was the case for male and female students.
Thus, based on the discussed literature, we expect that the higher the perceived fit with the leadership stereotype, the higher the aspirations to hold a leadership position in the future.
Hypothesis 3: Students perceiving a higher fit with the leadership stereotype are more likely
to have higher aspirations to hold a leadership position in the future compared to students with a lower perceived fit.
Based on the first three hypotheses, we thus argue that perceived fit with the leadership stereotype is the mechanism behind gender differences in leadership aspirations.
Hypothesis 4: Perceived fit with the leadership stereotype mediates the relationship between
The Moderating Role of Educational Tenure
Aspirations are not steady and can evolve over time. Especially female leadership aspirations appear to be decreasing as they reach adulthood and mature. In their study, Lee and Rojewski (2009) investigated the development of participants’ career aspirations for a time period starting in the beginning of high school and lasting until eight years after having graduated, without considering whether they went to college. During the high school years, females’ levels of career aspirations were higher than that of males. Yet, whereas men’s aspirations persisted throughout the years after high school, women’s aspirations decidedly decreased to a significantly lower level than that of men.
A study by Danziger and Eden (2007) offers further evidence for the notion that leadership aspirations decrease over. The results demonstrate that in the beginning of their tertiary education, male and female students showed comparable levels of aspirations to become a partner at an accounting firm. Yet, as their studies advanced, these levels were no longer the same. Whereas both levels decreased, women’s aspirations decreased significantly more. With the years of studying, women’s desires to commit to a demanding career, as becoming a partner, decreased. Thus, it appears that after the years of school and during the time of tertiary education, a process is set into motion that causes women to lower their leadership aspirations (Danziger & Eden, 2007). Consequently, we expect that gender differences in aspirations to hold a leadership position are more likely to become observable when educational tenure is high, rather than low. Educational tenure is students’ degree of advancement in their study program. Specifically, when educational tenure is high, gender differences with regards to leadership aspirations increase in the sense that female students’ aspirations are significantly lower than that of male students.
Hypothesis 5: The relationship between gender of students and their aspirations to hold a
The Moderating Role of Gender Identity
According to O’Neill and O’Reilly (2004) gender identity can be defined as “[…] the characteristics an individual develops or learns rather than characteristics that emerge from biological origins.” (p. 5). Consequently, gender identity is to be differentiated from sex as gender identity is constructed in a socio-cultural context. Gender identity is independent of sex and is the degree to which an individual perceives him or herself to be more masculine or feminine (Kagan, as cited in Storms, 1979). Thus, men as well as women can perceive themselves to be more masculine or feminine, or even both, in which case it is called androgynous (Karami et al., 2011).
O’Neill and O’Reilly (2004) found that a combination of gender and gender identity contributes to the explanation of differences in leadership aspirations. A masculine gender identity was connected with putting more emphasize on achieving a higher-level position. Yet, compared to women with a masculine gender identity, masculine men still had higher earnings and experienced more promotions. Thus, masculine identity seems to benefit men more than women. These results are coherent with other studies. Powell and Butterfield (1981, 2003) found that men as well as women with a masculine gender identity showed higher levels of management aspirations. Though, men in general still had higher aspirations. Powell and Butterfield (2013) encountered similar results, namely that participants with low masculine gender identities also showed lower management aspirations compared to those high in masculinity. Further, a study conducted by Karami et al. (2011) also suggests that gender identity has an effect on an individual’s aspirations to hold a top management position. Accordingly, women with a feminine gender identity had lower occupational aspirations compared to men with a feminine gender identity. Overall, masculinity fostered enhanced management aspirations.
As the image of a leader is still considered to be predominantly male (Cuadrado et al., 2015; Powell et al., 2002), individuals with a masculine gender identity are more likely to perceive a fit with the stereotypical image of a leader (Butterfield & Powell, 2003). This disadvantages women, as they are less likely to perceive a high fit with the leadership stereotype based on their gender and gender identity.
perceived fit with leadership stereotypes is moderated by gender identity. Specifically, male and female students with a masculine gender identity perceive a higher fit with the leadership stereotype, although females’ perceived fit is slightly less than that of males. Accordingly, male and female students with a feminine gender identity perceive a lower fit with leadership stereotypes, although males’ perceived fit is still higher than of females.
Hypothesis 6: The relationship between the gender of students and their perceived fit with the
leadership stereotype strengthens when their gender identity is masculine, rather than feminine. However, male students with a masculine gender identity are still likely to perceive a higher fit with the leadership stereotype compared to female students with a masculine gender identity. Equally, male students with a feminine gender identity are still likely to perceive a higher fit with the leadership stereotype compared to female students with a feminine gender identity.
Based on the previously presented hypotheses, we thus come up with our final moderated mediation hypothesis (Figure 1) that the mechanism behind gender differences in students’ leadership aspirations is grounded in their level of perceived fit the leadership stereotype. This mechanism is stronger if students are at the end of their study and when their gender identity is masculine.
Hypothesis 7: The relationship between students’ gender and their aspirations to hold a
H3
H2 H6
Figure 1: Conceptual Model
METHODOLOGY Sample
In total, the sample consisted of 277 male and female students with different nationalities and study programs. As the underrepresentation of women in leadership positions is not restricted to certain countries, there was no limitation with regards to nationality or residence. During the process of data collection careful attention was given to the gender ratio of the participants. In case there was an imbalance, intervention took place in form of specifically targeting one gender to increase responses and to balance the ratio again. In addition, it was important to monitor that there was an even distribution of students in the beginning and end of their studies in order to obtain statistically relevant results with respect to educational tenure. This was done in the same manner as when monitoring the gender distribution.
Procedure
Data was collected using convenience sampling, a non-probability method. An online link to the questionnaire was distributed randomly through different social networks and sending out emails to accessible individuals. From here snowballing was used as a sampling method in the form that contacted individuals where asked to forward the link to the questionnaire. The only prerequisite to participate in this study was that one had to be a student at an institution for Gender of
students Students’ aspirations
to hold a leadership position in the future Perceived fit with
higher education. Participation was completely voluntary. Before filling out the questionnaire, participants were made aware of the opportunity to participate in a lottery to win one out of three gift cards for an online shop. After filling out the survey, they then could indicate whether they would like to be included in the lottery. Further, participants were required to complete each step in order to be able to continue to the next question. Only completely filled in questionnaires were used in the analysis.
Measures
Aspirations to hold a leadership position in the future were assessed using a 5-item scale by
Van Vianen (1999). The original statements were adopted in order to be applicable for students. On a 5-point Likert scale ranging from 1(not at all applicable) to 5 (fully applicable), participants were asked to indicate the degree to which the listed statement was applicable to them (see appendix for the full scale). The α improved from 0.69 to 0.75 by eliminating item 2 (“Management would be a special challenge to me”). Thus, this item was not included for the further analysis.
Perceived fit with the leadership stereotype was measured with a scale adapted from
Singh (as cited in Litzky & Greenhaus, 2007) consisting of six items (see appendix for the full scale). The original statements were adopted for our purposes. Participants were asked to indicate on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from 1(strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree) the extent of their agreement with the listed statement. Also in this study, the scale proved to be internally consistent (α=0.89).
Gender identity was measured using the Short Bem Sex-Role Inventory by Bem (as
the further analysis. For the masculinity scale α was 0.83 and for the femininity scale α was 0.84, thus very reliable.
Educational tenure as the moderating variable was assessed in the demographics
section of the survey by asking the participants to indicate in which year of their study they were. Based on the literature and thereupon-based hypothesis, we divided students into having low or high educational tenure. First and second year Bachelor students were considered to have low educational tenure as they have either just started studying or only have been studying for a year. Students in their third year Bachelor or further and Master students were considered to have high educational tenure. Low educational tenure was coded as 1 and high educational tenure as 2. To test our hypothesis this categorical variable was used. However, educational tenure measured in years was included in the correlation analysis and when necessary used as a control variable in the analysis.
Gender as an independent variable was also asked in the demographics section. In the
analysis, male students were coded as 1 and female students as 2.
In addition, a number of control variables were asked in the demographics section, such as nationality, country of study, study program, and whether the participant had any relevant work experience in the field of study. Based on the frequencies, we came up with dummy variables for the first three. Regarding nationality, being German was coded 1 and not being German coded as 0. Being Dutch was coded 1 and not being Dutch was coded 0. Being neither German nor Dutch was coded 1 and being German or Dutch coded as 0. Studying in Germany was coded 1 and not studying in Germany was coded 0. Likewise, studying in the Netherlands was coded 1 and not studying in the Netherlands was coded 0. Not studying in Germany or the Netherlands was coded 1 and studying in Germany or the Netherlands was coded 0. With regards to study subjects, studying Business & Economics was coded 1 and not studying Business & Economics was coded 0. Studying Educational Sciences was coded as 1 and not studying it coded 0. Studying Engineering Sciences was coded 1 and not studying this subject was coded 0. Studying Language and Cultural Studies was coded 1 and not studying it was coded 0. Studying Law was coded 1 and not studying Law was coded 0. Studying Natural Sciences was coded 1 and not studying Natural Sciences was coded 0. Finally, studying an other subject as listed was coded 1 and studying one of the listed subjects was coded 0.
Data Analysis
hierarchical regression analyses were performed to assess the direct and conditional effects as stated in Hypotheses 1, 2, 3, 5, and 6. In addition, to test the (conditional) indirect relationships and the full moderated mediation model suggested in Hypotheses 4 and 7, we used the bootstrap procedure as suggested by Hayes (2009).
RESULTS Respondent’s demographic characteristics
Participants were between 17 and 36 years old, with an average age of 21.7 years. Based on the convenience sampling method, the majority (82.3 %) was German, followed by Dutch students (7.2 %). The remaining (10.5 %) were from a variety of different countries, such as Austria (1.1 %), Finland (0.4 %) or Turkey (1.1 %). Similarly, the majority of students was studying in Germany (75.1 %) or the Netherlands (15.9 %). Others were studying for instance in Denmark (0.4 %) or Ireland (1.8 %). The portfolio of study subjects among the students was quite diverse, however the majority was studying Business & Economics (33.2 %). Further, 7.2 % of the sample was studying Educational Sciences followed by students studying Natural Sciences (6.5 %), Engineering Sciences (6.1%), Language and Cultural Studies (6.1 %) and Law (6.1%). The rest were studying different subjects. 159 (57.4%) students were in their first or second year Bachelor and thus considered to have low educational tenure. Of these 159 students, 60 (37.7 %) were male and 99 (62.3 %) were female. 118 (42.6 %) were in their third year Bachelor or higher and thus considered to have high educational tenure. Of these 118 students, 53 (44.9 %) were male and 65 (55.1%) were female.
Descriptive Statistics
Table 1. Scale means and bivariate correlations (N=277) Variable M SD 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 1. Gender 1.59 .49 1 2. Aspirations 3.50 .86 -.13* 1 3. Fit 3.54 .74 -.18** .74** 1 4. Masculine Gender Identity 4.71 .80 -.14* .51** .67** 1 5. Feminine Gender Identity 5.28 .78 .19** .05 .13* .15* 1 6. Age 21.74 3.29 -.20** .08 .12* .15* -.13* 1 7. Dutcha .07 .26 -.02 .06 -.04 -.03 -.03 .03 1 8. Germana .82 .38 .00 -.07 -.00 .07 .12 -.11 -.60** 1 9. Neither German or Dutcha .10 .31 .20 .03 .04 -.07 -.12* .11 -.10 -.74** 1 10. Germanyb .75 .43 -.02 -.20** -.11 -.05 .06 -.24** -.49** .54** -.27** 1 11. Netherlandsb .16 .37 .04 .15* .05 -.03 -.02 .09 .57** -.39** .01 -.75** 1 12. Neither Germany or Netherlandsb .09 .29 -.02 .11 .11 .13* -.07 .24** .01 -.32** .39** -.55** -.14* 1 13. Business & Economicsc .33 .47 -.16** .31** .27** .15* .00 .30** .04 -.04 .01 -.14* .13* .05 1 14. Educational Sciencesc .07 .26 .09 -.23** -.09 -.02 .09 -.01 -.08 .06 .00 -.16** -.12* -.09 -.20** 1 15. Engineering Sciencesc .06 .24 -.16** .03 -.05 .02 -.17** .15* -.01 .00 .01 .04 -.07 .03 -.18** -.07 1 16. Language & Cultural Studiesc .06 .24 .12* -.16** -.14* -.06 .09 .14 -.01 .08 -.09 .11 -.07 -.08 -.18** -.07 -.07 1 17. Lawc .06 .24 -.06 .08 .10 .06 .05 -.09 -.05 .00 -.04 .01 .01 -.03 -.18** -.07 -.07 -.07 1 18.Natural Sciencesc .06 .25 .04 -.06 -.07 .01 .07 -.19* -.07 .12* -.09 .15* -.12 -.08 -.19** -.07 -.07 -.07 -.07 1 19. Otherc .09 .29 -.04 -.02 -.06 -.09 .03 -.18** .05 -.05 .01 .01 .03 -.06 -.23** -.09 -.08 -.08 -.08 -.09 1 20. Educational tenure high/low 1.43 .50 -.07 .11 .11 .08 -.05 .67** .04 -.14* .14* -.30** .17** .24** .23** -.10 .15* -.19** .02 -.23** -.15* 1 21.Educational tenure in years 3.18 2.73 -.12 .13* .08 -.04 .00 .69** .09 -.16** .12* -.35** .22** .26** .27** -.08 .11 -.19** .03 -.21** -.16** .86** 1 22. Work Experienced 1.49 .50 .00 -.09 -.10 -.15* .05 -.51** .12* -.12 .04 .13* -.05 -.13* -.18** -.16** -.10 .08 .11 .21** .11 -.45** -.44** 1
Also, educational tenure measured in years correlated significantly positively to leadership aspirations (r=0.13, p<0.05). Furthermore, concerning the control variables, studying Business & Economics was significantly positively related to leadership aspirations (r=0.31, p<0.01). In contrast, studying Educational Sciences or Language and Cultural Studies correlated significantly negatively with aspirations (r=-0.23, p<0.01; r=-0.16, p<0.01, respectively). Country of study correlated significantly to leadership aspirations, such that studying in Germany was significantly negatively related (r=-0.20, p<0.01) and studying in the Netherlands was significantly positively related (r=0.15, p<0.05).
Hypothesis Testing
In order to test Hypothesis 1, we first investigated whether gender is related to aspirations to hold a leadership position in the future. We performed a regression analysis, where we also included the control variables that correlated significantly with our dependent variable, that is certain study programs, countries of study, and educational tenure measured in years. The corresponding results are displayed in Table 2. No significant relation between gender and leadership aspirations could be found (β=-0.07, p=0.22) while controlling for country of study, study programs and study year.1 This result can be explained by the fact that there was
a significant positive relationship between studying Business & Economics and leadership aspirations (β=0.23, p<0.001). Consequently, Hypothesis 1 cannot be confirmed.
Table 2. Results of the Hierarchical Regression for Leeadership Aspirations (Hypothesis 1) Aspirations
Step 1 Step 2
Control variables
Germany -.14 (.09) -.14 (.09)
Netherlands -.01 (.09) -.01 (.09)
Business & Economics .24 (.06)*** .23 (.06)*** Educational Sciences -.17 (.06)** -.16 (.06)** Language & Cultural Studies -.11 (.06) -.11 (.06) Educational tenure in years -.02 (.06) -.02 (.06)
Indepedent variables
Gender -.07 (.06)
R2 (adjusted R2) .15 (.13)*** .16 (.14)
ΔR2 .15*** .01
Note: N = 277. standard errors are noted within parentheses. *p < .05. **p < .01. ***p<.001
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
1 Performing the regression analysis without controlling for study programs would result in a
Next, we examined whether gender is related to perceived fit with the leadership stereotype to investigate Hypothesis 2. The results of the regression analysis are displayed in Table 3. Consistent with Hypothesis 2, Step 2 shows a significant negative relationship between gender and perceived fit (β =-0.13, p<0.05) after controlling for age and two study programs as they correlated significantly with perceived fit. The results indicate that female students perceived less of a fit with the leadership stereotype than male students. Therefore, Hypothesis 2 is confirmed.
Table 3. Results of the Hierarchical Regression for Perceived Fit with Leadership Stereotype (Hypothesis 2)
Perceived Fit
Step 1 Step 2
Control variables
Age .04 (.06) .02 (.06)
Business & Economics .25 (.06)*** .23 (.06)*** Language & Cultural Studies -.09 (.06) -.08 (.06)
Indepedent variables
Gender -.13 (0.06)*
R2 (adjusted R2) .08 (.07)*** .10 (.09)*
ΔR2 .08*** .02*
Note: N = 277. standard errors are noted within parentheses. *p < .05. **p < .01. ***p<.001
Table 4. Results of the Hierarchical Regression for Leadership Aspirations (Hypothesis 3) Aspirations
Step 1 Step 2
Control variables
Germany -.14 (.09) -.03 (.06)
Netherlands -.01 (.09) .06 (.06)
Business & Economics .23 (.06)*** .07 (.06) Educational Sciences -.16 (.06)** -.14 (.04)*** Language & Cultural Studies -.12 (.06) -.05 (.04) Educational tenure in years -.02 (.06) .01 (.04)
Gender -.07 (.06) .02 (.04)
Indepedent variables
Perceived fit .70 (.04)***
R2 (adjusted R2) .16 (.14)*** .60 (.58)***
ΔR2 .16*** .43***
Furthermore, we assessed the relationship between perceived fit with the leadership stereotype and leadership aspirations by performing a regression analysis. In line with Hypothesis 3, results in Table 4 show a very strong and highly significant positive relationship between perceived fit scores and scores of leadership aspirations (β =0.70, p<0.001), signifying that students with a high perceived fit with the leadership stereotype, also displayed higher aspirations to hold a leadership position in the future. Therefore, we can confirm Hypothesis 3.
Next, in order to test Hypothesis 4, we investigated the indirect relationship between gender and leadership aspirations through perceived fit and therefore performed a mediation analysis according to Hayes (2009, 2013) with PROCESS. As shown in Table 5, the relationship between gender and perceived fit was significantly negative (B=-0.13, p<0.05). Further, the regression of perceived fit on leadership aspirations was highly significant (B=0.60, p<0.001). The relationship between gender and leadership aspirations while controlling for perceived fit was not significant (B=-0.02, p=0.60). The total direct effect of gender on leadership aspirations was not significant either (B=-0.06, p=0.22). However, Hayes (2009; 2013) emphasizes that a significant total effect is not necessary for mediation.
Table 5. Results of the Mediation Analysis (Hypothesis 4)
Perceived fit Aspirations
Step 1 Step 2
Control variables
Germany -.16 (.09) -.03 (.05)
Netherlands -.10 (.09) .05 (.05)
Business & Economics .24 (.06)*** .06 (.04) Educational Sciences -.02 (.06) -.13 (.04)*** Language & Cultural Studies -.08 (.06) -.04 (.04) Educational tenure in years -.05 (.06) .01 (.04)
Independent variables
Perceived fit .60 (.04)***
Gender -.13 (.06)* -.02 (.04)
R2 .11*** .59***
Total effect Aspirations
Total effect of X on Y -.06 (.05)
Indirect effect
Indirect effect Boot SE Boot LLCIa Boot ULCIa Sobel Test
-.08 .04 -.15 -.01 -2.23*
Accordingly, the indirect effect of gender on aspirations is still significant with an effect size of -0.08 and a 95 % confidence interval not including zero (-0.15, -0.01). Also, the Sobel test was significant (Z= -2.23, p<0.05) supporting the notion of an indirect effect of gender on leadership aspirations through perceived fit. Thus, Hypothesis 4 can (partially) be confirmed.
Based on the strong impact of studying Business & Economics, additional analyses were performed. We split the sample into two groups, namely into those studying Business & Economics and those not studying Business & Economics. Subsequently we performed a mediation analysis for each of the two groups separately. Table 6 shows the results of the mediation analysis with only Business & Economics students. As can be seen the relationship between gender and perceived fit (B=-0.03, p=0.70) was not significant for this group. Accordingly, the indirect effect of gender on leadership aspirations was -0.02 with a 95 % confidence interval including zero (0.07, -0.38). Therefore, for Business & Economics students, gender is not related to perceived fit, and therefore perceived fit did not mediate the relationship between gender and aspirations to hold a leadership position in the future.
Table 6. Results of the Mediation Analysis with Business & Economics students only (additional analysis)
Perceived fit Aspirations
Step 1 Step 2
Control variables
Germany -.31 (.12)* -.03 (.07)
Netherlands -.20 (.09) .02 (.07)
Educational tenure in years -.05 (.09) .10 (.05)
Independent variables
Perceived fit .60 (.06)***
Gender -.03 (.09) -.02 (.05)
R2 .07 .55***
Total effect Aspirations
Total effect of X on Y -.004 (.07)
Indirect effect
Indirect effect Boot SE Boot LLCIa Boot ULCIa Sobel Test
-.02 .05 -.13 .07 -.38
Note: N = 92. standard errors are noted within parentheses. * p < .05. ** p < .01. *** p<.001. abased on 5000
Table 7 shows the results of the mediation analysis with only students not studying Business & Economics. As can be seen, the relationship between gender and perceived fit was significant (B=-0.20, p<0.05) for this group of students. Further, the relationship between perceived fit and leadership aspirations was highly significant (B=0.61, p<0.001). When controlling for perceived fit, the relationship between gender and leadership aspirations was not significant (B=-0.001, p=0.98). The total effect of gender and leadership aspirations was nearly significant (B=-0.12, p=0.07). Accordingly, the indirect effect of gender on leadership aspirations was -0.12 with a 95 % confidence interval excluding zero (-0.22, -0.03). Likewise, the Sobel test was statically significant (Z=-2.47, p<0.05). Thus in the sample of students who were not studying Business & Economics, gender had an indirect effect on leadership aspirations through perceived fit.
Table 7. Results of the Mediation Analysis with non-Business & Economics students only (additionaly analysis)
Perceived fit Aspirations
Step 1 Step 2
Control variables
Germany -.07 (.13) -.08 (-.08)
Netherlands -.03 (.13) .09 (.08)
Educational tenure in years -.02 (-.09) .05 (.05)
Independent variables
Perceived fit .61 (.05)***
Gender -.20 (-.08)* -.001 (.05)
R2 .04 .53***
Total effect Aspirations
Total effect of X on Y -.12 (.07)
Indirect effect
Indirect effect Boot SE Boot LLCIa Boot ULCIa Sobel Test
-.12 .05 -.22 -.03 -2.47*
Note: N = 185. standard errors are noted within parentheses. * p < .05. ** p < .01. *** p<.001. abased on 5000
In the next step, by using PROCESS we tested whether educational tenure moderated the relationship between students’ gender and aspirations to hold a leadership position as stated in Hypothesis 5. As can be seen in Table 8, Step 1 shows no significant interaction effect of gender and educational tenure on students’ levels of aspirations to hold a leadership position in the future (B =0.04, p=0.39). Therefore, we are unable to confirm Hypothesis 5.2
Table 8. Results of the Moderation Analyses (Hypothesis 5 and Hypothesis 6) Leadership Aspirations Perceived Fit
Step 1 Step 2 Step 3
Control variables
Germany -.12 (.08) Netherlands -.01 (.07)
Business & Economics .20 (.05)*** .12 (.03)*** .17 (.05)***
Educational Sciences -.14 (.05)** -
Language & Cultural Studies -.09 (.05) -.05 (.03) -.06 (.04)
Age -.03 (.04) .02 (.05)
Indepedent variables
Gender -.06 (.05) -.05 (.03) -.12 (.04)**
Educational tenure high/low -.02 (.05)
Masculine gender identity 47 (.03)***
Feminine gender identity .12 (.04)**
Interaction term
Gender x educational tenure high/low
.04 (.05) Gender x masculine gender
identity
.05 (.03) Gender x feminine gender
identity
-.06 (.04)
R2 .49*** .13***
Note: N = 277. standard errors are noted within parentheses. *p < .05. **p < .01. ***p<.001
In addition, we tested whether the relationship between gender of students and their perceived fit with the leadership stereotype is moderated by gender identity. By using PROCESS, we first performed a moderation analysis with masculine gender identity and then with feminine gender identity. Step 2 in Table 8 shows that there was no significant interaction effect of gender and masculine gender identity on perceived fit scores (B =0.05, p=0.16). Likewise, Step 3 shows that there was no significant interaction effect of gender and feminine gender identity on perceived fit scores (B =-0.06, p=0.14) either. Thus, we must !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
2 As educational tenure measured in years was significantly correlated with leadership
aspirations, we also performed this moderation analysis with educational tenure as a
reject Hypothesis 6. Nevertheless, we did find a highly significant and strong direct relationship between masculine gender identity and perceived fit (B =0.47, p<0.001).
Finally, Hypothesis 7 predicted a moderated mediation, namely that the relationship between gender and leadership aspirations as mediated by perceived fit is stronger when educational tenure is high and when gender identity is masculine. However, since results already showed no significant interactions of gender and educational tenure, and of gender and gender identity, this model was not further explored. Thus, Hypothesis 7 must be rejected.
DISCUSSION
The purpose of this study was to explore whether gender differences regarding students’ leadership aspirations still exist. Based on the literature (Karami et al., 2001; Danziger & Eden, 2007; Litzky & Greenhaus, 2007; Powell & Butterfield, 2003), we argued that female students have lower aspirations to hold a leadership position in the future compared to their male counterparts. Further, we aimed at explaining the underlying mechanism behind these possible gender differences. In this light, we developed a moderated mediation model to illustrate our argumentation framework, in which we predicted that female students are more likely to perceive a lower fit with the leadership stereotype than male students. Also, we suggested that a high perceived fit with the leadership stereotype is associated with higher levels of leadership aspirations. Based on these first three hypotheses, we argued that perceived with the leadership stereotype mediates the relationship between students’ gender and their leadership aspirations. In addition, we hypothesized that the relationship between students’ gender and their leadership aspirations is moderated by their educational tenure, in the sense that a high educational tenure strengthens this relationship. Furthermore, we argued that the relationship between gender of students and their perceived fit with the leadership stereotype strengthens when students’ gender identity is masculine rather than feminine. Finally, we predicted a moderated mediation, namely that the relationship between students’ gender and their aspirations to hold a leadership position in the future as mediated by their perceived fit with the leadership stereotype strengthens when students’ educational tenure is high and gender identity is masculine.
Business & Economics had a very significant and positive relationship with leadership aspirations in the present sample. Studying in the field of Educational Sciences had a negative relationship with leadership aspirations. Therefore, we can conclude that the variable study program, Business & Economics and Educational Sciences, had a stronger relationship with our dependent variable than gender.
Further, the findings of our study demonstrate that, in line with Hypothesis 2, female students perceived a lower fit with the leadership stereotype compared to their male counterparts, even when controlling for study programs. Also, in line with our argumentation in Hypothesis 3, higher levels of perceived fit were significantly associated with higher levels of leadership aspirations.
In support of our fourth hypothesis, we found evidence for the mediating role of perceived fit on the relationship between students’ gender and their aspirations to hold a leadership position in the future. Although when looking at the whole sample, we could not find significant evidence for a direct effect of gender on aspirations, there was indeed an indirect relationship between gender and leadership aspirations through perceived fit. Based on the strong impact of studying Business & Economics, we divided the sample into those studying Business & Economics and those studying something different, and subsequently performed a mediation analysis for each sub-sample. When only examining students studying something other than Business & Economics, a nearly significant direct effect of gender on aspirations was detected. Here, gender was also significantly related to perceived fit with the leadership stereotype and perceived fit in turn with leadership aspirations. Thus, enough support in favor of the mediation hypothesis was found. When looking only at participants studying Business & Economics, neither an effect of gender on leadership aspirations, nor on perceived fit with the leadership stereotype was detected. Thus, in contrast to the sample with students not studying Business & Economics, there was no evidence to support the mediation hypothesis for this sub-group consisting of only Business & Economics students.
In contrast to what was expected, our moderators educational tenure and gender identity did not relate to leadership aspirations and perceived fit, respectively. First, educational tenure did not moderate the relationship between students’ gender and their leadership aspirations in our sample. Similarly, no evidence could be found to support the hypothesis that gender identity moderated the relationship between the gender of students and their perceived fit with the leadership stereotype.
significant differences between males and females with respect to their leadership aspirations (e.g. Karami et al. 2011; Litzky & Greenhaus, 2007, Powell & Butterfield, 2003). However, there is a more recent study of Powell and Butterfield (2013) that fails to find differences in aspirations explained by gender, although the study design did not significantly differ compared to a previous one (2003). An explanation for our results could be that the differences in aspirations between men and women, especially for students in the field of Business & Economics, are slowly disappearing. Hence, our results serve as an important contributor to the up until now limited amount of research on potentially disappearing gender differences in leadership aspirations.
In an attempt to explain the differences between students studying Business & Economics and those studying, for instance, Educational Sciences, we suspect that individuals who decide to study Business & Economics are in fact studying management and thus one could expect that the decision for such a study implies a certain level of leadership aspiration, irrespective of gender. Similarly, the primary reason to study Educational Sciences probably is to work in the field of education, which typically is not very much related to working in a management position. Thus, it intuitively makes sense that both male and female students studying Business & Economics have higher leadership aspirations compared to students in the area of Educational Sciences. In this sense, we propose that choosing a study program is an antecedent for leadership aspirations. To our knowledge, previous studies on aspirations have not taken the study program of students into close consideration, let alone have found any significant effects of it. In the light of our results namely that study programs had a stronger relationship with leadership aspirations than gender, we are one of the first pointing out to the importance of carefully considering the role of study programs when examining students’ leadership aspirations.
The finding supporting our second hypothesis, that gender relates to perceived fit with the leadership stereotype corresponds to the role congruity theory by Eagly and Karau (2002). It suggests that stereotypical leadership characteristics do not coincide with stereotypical female characteristics restraining women in their vision which occupation may be an appropriate fit for them. In this sense, our results are also is in line with the notion that the leadership stereotype in fact is still predominantly male as argued by Cuadrado et al. (2015) and Powell et al. (2002). As female students did not identify with this male stereotype of a leader, their perceived fit scores were significantly lower than those of male students.
significant relationship between gender and perceived fit. Nevertheless, in our sample again studying Business & Economics still significantly related to students’ perceived fit with the leadership stereotype. Accordingly, female and male students studying Business & Economics showed higher levels of perceived fit compared to those studying something different. In line with what we suggested above, we propose that one possible reason for this discovery is that individuals who decided to study Business & Economics, must already perceive a certain degree of fit with the leadership stereotype. Otherwise, they probably would not have decided to go into this field in the first place. This notion corresponds to what has been argued by Powell et al. (2002), namely that when individuals think about their career path, they make a comparison between themselves and the prevalent leader stereotype and consider whether this is congruent. Thus, if students did not perceive a general fit with what they thought a leader is, they would not choose to study Business & Economics in the first place. If they did not want to work in a leading position, going to university would not be necessary.
In accordance with previous literature on leadership aspirations (Litzky & Greenhaus, 2007; Peters et al. 2012a), we found strong evidence to support our third hypothesis that perceived fit with the leadership stereotype was significantly related with leadership aspirations. Students perceiving a higher fit with the leadership stereotype also demonstrated higher aspirations to hold a leadership position in the future. This is also in line with the results of Peters, Ryan, Haslam and Fernandes (2012b) that people’s comparison between themselves and stereotypical representatives of their occupational field can have either a boosting but also an eliminating effect on their personal identification with their occupation. In the light of the latter, people do not aspire a certain position or career if they perceive it to be unreachable or unfitting (Litzky & Greenhaus, 2007).
achieve a leadership position, the more they work to actually achieve it (Litzky & Greenhaus, 2007). This again supports the relevance of aspirations, namely its predictive nature.
The fact that we could not detect mediation in the sample with only Business & Economics students contradicts previous research, where also business students were studied and gender differences in leadership aspirations were indeed discovered (Danziger & Eden, 2007; Powell & Butterfield, 2003). As already mentioned, we suggest that also in the light of the more recent study by Powell and Butterfield (2013), gender differences in leadership aspirations might be decreasing amongst those students studying Business & Economics. Further, we again suggest the reason for the non-existence of mediation is that that the decision to study Business & Economics presumes a certain level of leadership aspirations as well as a perceived fit with the leadership stereotype, for both male and female students. Individuals would not have decided to study such a subject if they did not think it was the right fit.
In contrast to previous studies (Danziger & Eden, 2007; Lee & Rojewski, 2009), we could not find significant results to support our fifth hypothesis that high educational tenure strengthens the relationship between students’ gender and their leadership aspirations. As we did not find gender differences in general, it is reasonable that we therefore could not find support for moderation either. Besides, there was also no direct effect of educational tenure on leadership aspirations. Thus, in our sample students at the beginning of their academic career and towards the end of it, did not differ with respect to their leadership aspirations. However, Danziger and Eden (2007) specifically looked at a male dominated field, accounting. This could be a reason why their results were significant and stronger compared to ours as we only asked about leadership in general and did not attach it to a specific occupational field.
In our sixth hypothesis we assessed the effects of gender identity on women’s perceived fit with the leadership stereotype. However, against our expectations, we did not find significant evidence to be able to confirm the moderating role of gender identity on perceived fit, neither masculine nor feminine. However in line with the literature (Butterfield & Powell, 1981, 2003) direct effects of a masculine gender identity on perceived fit scores could be detected indicating that gender identity does indeed play a role regarding the degree of perceived fit with the leadership stereotype.
Limitations & Future Research
The sampling method of this study can be considered a limitation. Even though the goal was to conduct the study on a global scale, the majority of participants was German due to the convenience sampling. Although nationality did not significantly influence the results, future studies should consider conducting a study with a more diverse sample in order to obtain more representative results applicable on a global level. Also, it is quite possible that we could not find any gender differences in leadership aspirations, specifically in the Business & Economics students sample, as only participants from the author’s direct and indirect network were approached. The degree of likeness amongst friends can be quite high with respect to their preferences and behaviors (McPherson, Smith-Lovin, & Cook, 2001). Accordingly, friends are similar as they also are in contact with others who are similar and based on these similar contacts, they develop into becoming even more similar (de Klepper, Sleebos, van de Bunt, & Agneessens, 2010). Therefore, it is likely that the sample in this study was also quite alike as it is fair to assume that individuals forwarded the survey mainly to friends from their direct surrounding.
Although the insignificance of gender on leadership aspirations in our study is in line with Powell and Butterfield (2013) results, the majority of studies (e.g. Karami et al. 2011; Lips, 2000; Litzky & Greenhaus, 2007; Powell & Butterfield, 1981, 2003) did encounter gender differences. Based on the fact that study program had a much stronger and very significant effect on leadership aspirations than gender, we suggest that future studies account for that by only examining students from the same or at least similar study program, which for instance has not been done by Karami et al. (2011), Litzky & Greenhaus, 2007 and Lips (2000). Furthermore, it would be interesting to explore the reasons why gender differences amongst Business & Economics students may not exist in contrast to other fields of study. In this study, we could only speculate what might have been the reason.
A further limitation of this study is that it is likely to be socially desirable to have high aspiration (Furnham, 1986). We suspect that it is expected of university students to be ambitious. It might be especially frowned upon for women to admit that their leadership aspirations are low. Although the survey was completely anonymous, this issue should still be taken into consideration when looking at the results.
Nevertheless, as suggested by Danziger and Eden (2007) it would still increase the generalizability of the results if a longitudinal study was performed. Due to the scope of this study we were limited in this respect and thus recommend such a design for future research.
Furthermore, a longitudinal study design would also benefit the estimation of the direction of the relationships. As this study was conducted in a cross-sectional manner, we cannot draw definite conclusions with respect to cause and effect. Nevertheless, it is reasonable to assume that for the hypotheses including gender as an independent variable a clear direction is provided, as gender cannot be the effect.
Practical Implications
Based on our results and the predictive nature of aspirations (Schoon & Parson, 2002; Schoon & Poolek, 2011), we suggest that it is possible that as the generation of the underlying sample of Business & Economics students matures and reaches professional seniority, the female percentage of board members could increase to approximately the same as the male percentage. Apparently female Business & Economics students have increasing leadership aspirations and thus, it is likely that they will also pursue these aspirations to hold a leading position in the future, for instance being a board member.
Accordingly, this could have an influence on the gender quota system, namely that in the long run it may not be necessary to have gender quotas in management boards as more females would also pursue such a career path and thus an equal gender distribution would likely happen. In order to influence individuals’ perceived fit, one should provide them with a “stimulus person” (Bosak & Sczesny, 2008, p. 683). Hence, in the short-term, the gender quota system could still be a useful tool as a way of disconfirming existing male stereotypes about leadership and setting positive examples for women.
Nevertheless, although our study could not find gender differences amongst Business & Economics students regarding leadership aspirations and perceived fit with the leadership stereotype, it is necessary to pay attention that these aspirations do not drop after entering the workforce as it was likely to be the case in the study by Powell & Butterfield (2013). Here, the sample consisting of full-time business students had significantly higher aspirations to hold a position in top management compared to the other group consisting of part-time MBA students already working. To prevent such a potential decrease of aspirations, we suggest that organizations continue to provide a high amount of information devaluating the masculine stereotype of leadership (Rothbart, 1981).
Our results of the sub-sample consisting only of students from other educational programs indicate that gender differences with respect to perceived fit with the leadership stereotype and leadership aspirations exist in this group. Although these students probably do not primarily study to achieve a leadership position at some point, as it might be the case with Business & Economics students, they still can become leaders. Every occupational field needs leaders. For instance, considering the students studying Law in our sample. Although in 2016 45 % of associates at U.S. law firms were female, at partner level only 22.1 % were women (NALP, 2017). Further, when looking at politics, in 2016 only 22.8 % of members of national parliaments were females (UN Women, 2016).
CONCLUSION
REFERENCES
Ambition. Def. 1. (2016). Oxford Dictionaries Online. Retrieved January 17th 2017 from http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/ambition
Ashby, J. S., & Schoon, I. (2010). Career Success: The Role of Teenage Career Aspirations, Ambition Value and Gender in Predicting Adult Social Status and Earnings. Journal
Of Vocational Behavior, 77(3), 350-360
Aspiration. Def. 1. (2016). Oxford Dictionaries Online. Retrieved January 17th 2017 from http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/aspiration
Barsh, J., Devillard, S., & Wang, J. (2012). The Global Gender Agenda. Retrieved January 19th, 2017 from:
http://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/organization/our-insights/the-global-gender-agenda
Bem SL. (1974). The measurement of psychological androgyny. Journal Of Consulting And Clinical Psychology, 42(2), 155-62.
Bonnard, C., & Giret, J.-F. (2016). Gender differences in French undergraduates’ academic plans and wage expectations. Gender And Education, 28(4), 581-598.
doi:10.1080/09540253.2016.1156060
Bosak, J., & Sczesny, S. (2008). Am I the Right Candidate? Self-Ascribed Fit of Women and Men to a Leadership Position. Sex Roles, 58(9-10), 682-688.
Cuadrado, I., García-Ael, C., & Molero, F. (2015). Gender-typing of leadership: Evaluations of real and ideal managers. Scandinavian Journal Of Psychology, 56(2), 236-244. doi:10.1111/sjop.12187
Danziger, N., & Eden, Y. (2007). Gender-related differences in the occupational aspirations and career-style preferences of accounting students: A cross-sectional comparison between academic school years. Career Development International, 12(2), 129-149. de Klepper, M., Sleebos, E., van de Bunt, G., & Agneessens, F. (2010). Similarity in
friendship networks: Selection or influence? The effect of constraining contexts and non-visible individual attributes. Social Networks, 32(1), 82-90.
doi:10.1016/j.socnet.2009.06.003
Deloitte. (2014). Women on boardroom: A global perspective. Retrieved January 19th, 2017
from: https://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/global/Documents/Risk/gx-ccg-women-in-the-boardroom-a-global-perspective4.pdf
Eagly, A. H., & Carli, L. L. (2007). Through the labyrinth: The truth about how women
Eagly, A. H., & Karau, S. J. (2002). Role congruity theory of prejudice toward female leaders.
Psychological review, 109(3), 573.
European Commission. (2015). Gender balance on corporate boards: Europe is cracking the
glass ceiling. Retrieved January 19th, 2017 from:
http://ec.europa.eu/justice/gender-equality/files/womenonboards/factsheet_women_on_boards_web_2015-10_en.pdf Farmer, H. S., & Chung, Y. B. (1995). Variables related to career commitment, mastery
motivation, and level of career aspiration among college students. Journal of Career
Development, 21(4), 265-278.
Furnham A. (1986). The social desirability of the type A behaviour pattern. Psychological
Medicine, 16(4), 805-11.
Hansen, K., & Schönfeld, H. (2014). 2. DAX-Vorstands-Report. Retrieved January 26th, 2017 from http://www.odgersberndtson.com/media/2348/2dax-vorstands-report.pdf
Hayes, A. F. (2009). Beyond Baron and Kenny: Statistical mediation analysis in the new millennium. Communication Monographs, 76(4), 408-420.
doi:10.1080/03637750903310360
Hayes, A. F. (2013). Introduction to Mediation, Moderation, and Conditional Process
Analysis : A Regression-Based Approach (Methodology in the social sciences;
Methodology in the social sciences). New York, NY: The Guilford Press. http://public.eblib.com/choice/publicfullrecord.aspx?p=1186800
Heilman, M. E. (1983). Sex bias in work settings: The lack of fit model. In B. Staw and L. Cummings (Eds.), Research in organizational behavior (Vol. 5). Greenwich, CT: JAI. Heilman, M. E. (1995). Sex stereotypes and their effects in the workplace: What we know and
what we don’t know. Journal of Social Behavior and Personality, 10(6), 3–26. Heilman, M. E. (2001). Description and prescription: How gender stereotypes prevent
women's ascent up the organizational ladder. Journal of social issues, 57(4), 657-674. Karami, R., Ismail, M., & Sail, R. M. (2011). Gender Identity and Career Aspiration to Top
Management of Malaysian Graduate Students. Asia Pacific Journal Of Education, 31(4), 439-454.
Lee, I. H., & Rojewski, J. W. (2009). Development of Occupational Aspiration Prestige: A Piecewise Latent Growth Model of Selected Influences. Journal Of Vocational
Behavior, 75(1), 82-90.
