1
Differences in the motivation for career development between men and
women:
Gender differences in leadership aspiration
Master thesis, MSc HRM
University of Groningen, Faculty of Economics and Business
Tom Schnorrenberg S2999994 Fichtenweg 5 26725 Emden
t.schnorrenberg@student.rug.nl
Supervisor: Prof. Dr. J. I. Stoker Co-Supervisor: Prof. Dr. F.A. Rink Organizational supervisor: K. Thomas
2 Abstract
3 Table of Content
INTRODUCTION ... 4
THEORY ... 9
Gender and Leadership Aspiration ... 9
Perceived Fit with the Job ... 11
Role Models ... 14
Work-Family Conflict ... 16
METHOD ... 18
Participants and Design ... 18
Measures ... 20
RESULTS ... 23
Descriptive Statistics ... 23
Hypotheses Testing ... 26
DISCUSSION ... 32
Theoretical Implications and Suggestions for Future Research ... 33
Practical Implications ... 37
Limitations ... 39
4
INTRODUCTION
Women are an essential part of the professional labor market, yet they only make up a very low percentage of leaders in companies. The “Leadership Labyrinth” (Hoyt, 2010:485) refers to the amount of challenges rather than a single barrier that women face on their way from graduation to leadership jobs, which allows for only a small percentage of women to progress to the top leadership positions. This theory explains why women make up the bigger part of bachelor’s and master’s degrees, but only 25% of CEO positions in the US are occupied by women (Hoyt, 2010). In the European Union, despite recent increases, these numbers are even lower, with 21.2% of female board members in the biggest listed companies as of 2015 and only 3.6% of female CEOs (European Commission, 2016). This is often accounted to the differences men and women have in the possibilities they are offered and challenges they face, attributed specific traits and styles, as well as in the private and public responsibilities (cf. Hoyt, 2010, Eagly & Carli, 2007; Hewlett, 2002). But how is it that women, despite the fact that they are equally or even more effective in leadership positions as men (cf. Eagly, Karau, & Makhijani, 1995; Powell, 1993), advance to these executive positions less than men do? Literature has called to focus research on the underlying variables behind this question (Schuh, Bark, Quaquebeke, Hossiep, Frieg, Dick, 2014). We will present our research in the field of leadership aspirations in order to explain the relations between gender and leadership aspirations and investigate possible mediating and moderating variables in this relationship. It is important to study the gender differences in leadership aspiration, as aspirations are related to hierarchical advancement as well as career attainment (cf. Tharenou, 2001; Schoon & Polek, 2011).
5
influenced by many different factors, such as stereotype threat (Casad & Bryant, 2016), which refers to the feeling of being judged by others because of stereotypes that are assigned to a person’s group (cf. Steele & Aronson, 1995). Eagly’s Social Role Theory (1987) states that women face incongruence in their role as a female and as a leader, suggesting that women’s leadership aspiration is not as high as that of men. This might have a negative effect on the aspirations women have towards attaining a leadership position. To interpret the relation between gender and leadership aspirations, we will apply Social Role Theory (Eagly, 1987), as this theory has a significant impact on individuals’ aspirations and motivations, suggesting that women will have lower aspiration than men through the challenges they face if they want to progress their career towards leadership jobs.
6
cf. also Thoits, 1992). Therefore, especially women are suggested to have lower leadership aspiration through the perceived fit with a leadership job compared to men (cf. Killeen, López-Zafra, Eagly, 2006). Hence, we suggest that the perceived fit with a leadership job is a mediating factor in our model.
After explaining our basic model with the main effect and the mediating mechanism, it is necessary to turn to possible factors that might interact with this process. Namely, based on the Role Congruity Theory (Eagly & Karau, 2002) and inter-role conflict (Kahn, Wolfe, Quinn, Snoek, & Rosenthal, 1964), we identified role models and work-family conflict as such factors. Role models, according to Merriam-Webster’s Learner’s Dictionary, mean “someone who another person admires and tries to be like” (Role model, n.d.). Applying the Role Congruity theory (Eagly & Karau, 2002), we suggest that role models will have a positive relation towards perceived fit with the job especially for women, as they would serve as positive, counter-stereotypical examples of leaders. Thus, overall leadership aspiration could increase for women, and if the suggestion is right, it could be a possible factor that companies can work on in order to increase female leadership. Role models, even when they are not directly available, have been the focus of studies regarding the actual performance in the job (e.g. Hoyt & Simon, 2011; Hoyt, 2012; Latu, Schmid Mast, Lammers & Bombari, 2013). Besides studies towards the impact role models have on performance, the literature lacks on the effect role models have on women. Thus, we will examine the moderating effect that role models have on the relation between gender and perceived fit.
7
work-family conflict is negatively related to organizational commitment and job satisfaction and positively related to job tension and role conflict, we suggest that this inter-role conflict between work and family demands has an impact on the overall leadership aspirations. Namely, we suggest that this effect is due to increasing the role conflict, which in turn decreases the effect of perceived fit of individuals on leadership aspirations, as it produces strain on the individuals. While role models may positively influence the relation between
gender and perceived fit, work-family conflict might hinder individuals’ leadership aspirations. Applying the Role Congruity Theory (Eagly & Karau, 2002), especially the stress and role conflict that is produced through conflict concerning work and family could be a factor that has an impact on the relation of perceived fit with the leadership job with leadership aspirations. We will therefore further examine the moderating effect of work-family conflict on the relation between the perceived fit with a leadership job and leadership aspiration. Overall, this moderator is not hypothesized to have an influence on gender effects, as the stress it produces will be equal for both men and women. While for example the European Commission (2016) found that involuntary part-time work because of child-caring or looking after incapacitated adults is fairly higher in women (27.2%) than it is in men (4.2%), Byron (2005), in a meta-analytic review towards work-family conflict and its antecedents, found that gender and work-family conflict have a relationship near zero.
8
contributing to practical implications for companies, as the model lays out a framework to show the problems and differences of gender towards leadership aspirations and therefore discovers possible factors that can be manipulated by companies that wish to increase gender diversity. Therefore, we are able to highlight possible action areas for companies. By defining the gender differences in leadership aspirations, we can optimize the personnel development and training measures, in order to reduce the gender diversity discrepancies in companies. The advantages of gender diverse workplaces have been researched thoroughly and sufficiently in the literature, expressing the need of more women in higher positions.
9 THEORY Gender and Leadership Aspiration
Aspiration, or the interchangeable term ‘ambition’, as defined by Benschop, van den Brink, Doorewaard and Leenders (2013), means the “one-dimensional orientation on and prioritization of work, upwards career mobility, influence, power, a high salary and full-time working” (Benschop et al., 2013:700). We define leadership aspiration as the goal of pursuing a managerial position as leader of a team, department or organization. While women and men are at about the same percentage rate in entry-level jobs and degrees, there is a fairly low percentage of women in leadership positions (cf. European Commission, 2016). This phenomenon has been explained by Hoyt’s (2010) theory of a “leadership labyrinth”, rather than a glass wall or glass ceiling, which indicates that women not just face a single barrier to advance to leadership jobs, but rather several challenges that only allow for a small percentage of women to rise to leadership positions. While the glass ceiling explains that the entry for people who are different to the existing workforce, in the case of mostly male leaders the restriction of women, is restricted (Morrison et al., 1987), the leadership labyrinth rather focuses on several difficulties in the development of women towards leadership roles. The reduced number of women that results of these problems leads to a “token” status of women who are obtaining a leadership position, resulting in higher pressure on the individual (Ezzedeen, Budworth, & Baker, 2015).
10
dimensions of attributes; communal attributes, such as helpfulness, gentleness, and kindness, are attributes that concern other people’s welfare and wellbeing, while agentic attributes are rather concerning the self, relating to attributes like assertiveness and self-confidence (cf. Eagly, 1987; Eagly & Karau, 2002). Gender stereotypes derive from observation of the typical gender roles, with stereotypes of men being ascribed rather agentic traits and less communal than women (Eagly & Steffen, 1984). There is an abundance of evidence that points to the difference in women and men concerning attributed descriptive norms (cf. Broverman, Vogel, Broverman, Clarkson, & Rosenkrantz, 1972; Diekman & Eagly, 2000). Schein discovered the “think manager – think male” effect, which states that leadership roles are associated with being a man, not just the behavioral masculine attributions (Schein, 1973; Schein, 1975). Schein, Mueller, Lituchy and Liu (1996) state that this effect serves as a psychological barrier, due to the concept of role congruity and gender stereotypes. If women break with their prescribed roles, they might face social disapproval by both peers and outside groups (Cialdini & Trost, 1998). Schein (1973, 1975) found that masculine, agentic features such as competitiveness, self-confidence and ability to lead are rather ascribed to leadership roles than female, communal attributes (cf. also Heilman, Block, Martell, & Simon, 1989; Schein, 2001; Powell & Butterfield, 1989).
11
and perceived in leaders (cf. Eagly & Karau, 2002), as it does not fit in the social role that is assigned to women, thus creating a double bind. While women are supposed to behave as ‘good women’, that is being nurturing and caring for others, with a people-orientation and the communal features that are ascribed to them, they also should fulfill the stereotype of the ‘good leader’, which is seen as masculine, with agentic features like willingness to take risks and a task-orientation (Eagly & Karau, 2002). Thus, the stereotypes of two roles have to be handled by women who advance to leadership roles. This double bind, causing female leaders to be assigned to two opposing roles, that of a good leader with the masculine traits and that of a good woman with primarily feminine traits, creates tension for women, which might then result in decreased aspirations to take on a leadership job (cf. Bierema, 2016). Women who break with these prescribed social roles might be facing disapproval and will often be socially penalized by others (e.g. Cialdini & Trost, 1998; Heilman & Okimoto, 2007).
As we found out, even in times of an increasing percentage of women on the labor market and especially a high percentage of female graduates, there are still a lot of limiting factors for women’s access to leadership positions. Therefore, as this may also decline their leadership aspirations, we assume that gender has a significant relationship with leadership, leading us to our first hypothesis:
Hypothesis 1: Women have a lower leadership aspiration than men.
Perceived Fit with the Job
12
prejudices they face because of incongruity between their female gender role and the leadership role. This theory specializes and extends the Social Role Theory of Eagly (1987) by focusing on the prejudice toward female leaders, rather than their general social roles, explaining possible difficulties and problems women face on their way to leadership roles. Thus, while Social Role Theory states that there are differences in the perceived gender attributes, it needs to be extended by the implications that the female gender role and leadership roles are incongruent. In their Role Congruity Theory, Eagly and Karau define gender roles as “consensual beliefs about the attributes of women and men” (2002:574). These attributes are manifested in two types of prejudices, one being that women are evaluated less favorably than men in their potential to take on a leadership role because of the descriptive gender attributes, and the other type being that women are evaluated less favorably when being in a leadership role because of the perception that leadership behavior is less desirable for women than for men (Eagly & Karau, 2002). This may lead to less access for women than men to reach leadership positions as well as more obstacles for women to reach these positions compared to men.
13
Masculine leadership stereotypes are creating a mismatch between the gendered characteristics of women and the perceived demands of leadership (Koenig, Eagly, Mitchell, & Ristikari, 2011). This incongruity between the female gender role and leadership role generates a role incongruity for women as well as disparities in perceived fit, which will be examined towards the effect it has on overall leadership aspirations. Furthermore, the perceived fit of women with jobs at the managerial level might help to explain the relationship between gender and leadership aspiration, as Seron, Silbey, Cech and Rubineau (2015) found that gender segregation still influences the perceived fit with the job and the job culture. According to their study, women face gender stereotyping in male-dominated fields, leading to a lack of perceived fit within the culture of the job. Peters, Ryan and Haslam (2015) found that gendered stereotypes about certain roles and characteristics that are needed for a job may also lead to a lack of perceived fit with the job. Evaluating who is the right person for a job involves several factors, which include competence, leadership and potential (van den Brink, Holgersson, Linghag, & Deé, 2016). As these are mostly attributed towards men, women are rather evaluated as lacking the fit with the job (Ely & Meyerson, 2010). As van den Brink et al. (2016) found out in their study on gender differences in inflating and down laying strengths and weaknesses, male candidates’ weaknesses were downplayed in the selection process, whereas their strengths were inflated. Women, on the other hand, were treated the other way around; their strengths were doubted and were seen as limited, while their weaknesses were inflated.
14
leaders may lead to less leadership aspiration, as Gottfredson (1981) found that occupations which are congruent with the own attributes are rather preferred to those that are incongruent. Additionally, congruity between self-ascribed attributes and attributes that are ascribed to a job may lead to a preference for entering this occupation (Chartrand & Walsh, 1999). Heilman (1983) suggested that the incongruity between individuals’ gender role attributes and the workplace role leads to a lack of perceived fit with the job, lowering other- and self-evaluation as well as decreasing the expectations to succeed. Consequently, our second hypothesis is as follows:
Hypothesis 2: The relation between gender and leadership aspiration is mediated by the perceived fit with the job. Women have a lower perceived fit with leadership positions than men, resulting in lower leadership aspiration for women.
Role Models
15
suggests that there are gender differences about role models and how men and women perceive them.
Role models play a significant role in several career and leadership related aspects, such as career success, individual growth and development (Gibson, 2004). As Latu et al. (2013) have found out, women who were primed with female role models before performing a leadership task have shown a higher empowerment and a better task performance than others. This raises the issue of not having a sufficient percentage of women in these positions leading to problems especially in male-dominated companies and domains, limiting the possibilities for female leaders to perform and eventually limiting the perceived fit with leadership jobs. The foundation for having a positive role model, as defined by Gibson (2003) is “the degree to which the individuals think they are sufficiently similar in their environment” (2003:599). These similarities can be actual, perceived, or desired. Beaman, Duflo, Pande and Topalova (2012) have shown the influence of role models and female leaders in their policy experiment in India, where female leaders have been elected in the politics. There has been an increase in parents’ aspiration for their girls to reach a similar position when the leader has been female. While this experiment has been conducted with infants, we suggest that role models will also have an influence on the aspiration in adults by positively influencing the perceived fit with a leadership job, which we suggested to be lower in women than men due to an incongruity with their gender role, through decreasing the attributed masculinity of leadership roles by providing a successful female example. Thus, role models may ultimately lead to increased leadership aspiration. Hence, our hypothesis is as follows:
16 Work-Family Conflict
Work and family are the most important life domains for most people, and reducing work-life conflict is getting more important in the workplace (Twenge, Campbell, Hoffman, & Lance 2010). Due to different reasons, such as the increase of households where both men and women are working, the two domains work and family life need to be balanced for each individual on a daily basis, resulting in conflicts between them (Michel, Kotrba, Mitchelson, Clark, & Baltes, 2011). Work-family conflict, also phrased as the less negative sounding “work-life balance”, is defined by Greenhaus and Beutell as “a form of interrole conflict in which the role pressures from the work and family domains are mutually incompatible in some respect” (1985:77).
17
Several studies have found a relation between work-life balance and characteristics that are linked to career advancement (cf. Kofodimos, 1993, Fry, 2009). In their study on tactics and strategies for career advancement, Laud and Johnson (2012) found that a balance between work and life is an important criterion for upward mobility. The authors suggest that the relation between work-family conflict and upward career mobility should be further studied. Powell and Greenhaus (2012), in their study on work-family factors in decision-making processes, found that these factors play an important part in several aspects of career decisions. In 2010, Powell and Greenhaus examined the effect of family-related factors on three types of career and work decision, namely role entry, participation and exit decisions. They found that family factors play an important role for individuals’ decision-making. These studies indicate that overall, work-family conflict has an effect on several aspects of work, which leads us to the fourth hypothesis:
Hypothesis 4: Work-family conflict moderates the relation between perceived fit with the job and leadership aspiration, such that experiencing a higher work-family conflict will lead to lower leadership aspiration.
Based on these hypotheses, we will now present our conceptual model, depicted in figure 1.
18 METHOD Participants and Design
In order to investigate the conceptual model that was presented before, we conducted research at an automobile plant in Germany, which struggles with gender diversity in managerial positions. As the indirect departments (those that are not directly producing cars but have supporting tasks, such as quality control, organizational planning and human resources) have higher chances of reaching a position in leadership than the direct employees, we conducted the research with its approximately 1700 indirect employees. Direct employees have restricted access to leadership positions due to the training measures and the qualifications that are needed for leaders at our company such as a university degree and experience abroad, as well as a limited number of leadership roles in the direct departments. Additionally, there are less possibilities for direct employees to show their potential as leaders, as the work processes are built in such ways that tasks are kept relatively simple and short. Indirect employees on the other hand are working with the leaders, having the possibility to signal their potential as leaders.
19
return, this email was sent to the secretaries by the head of the HR department. In the process of coordination with the Commission on Data Protection, we had to ensure the anonymity of the participants. Therefore, we added envelopes for each respondent in addition to an addressed internal mail envelope for the gathered surveys. Two weeks after handing out the survey, we sent another email as a reminder to fill out the survey and send it back to us.
We handed out the survey to 300 indirect employees who were based in the administration building, which they were expected to fill out on a voluntary basis and then anonymously send back to the HR department. 163 employees filled out the paper survey, which contained 37 items including biographical data and the variables of our conceptual model (see below). All the scales were measured on a five-level Likert-scale from “strongly disagree” to “strongly agree”. Additionally, there were questions concerning the biographical characteristics of the participants, such as gender, age, education and tenure.
The survey was conducted in German, as this is the language spoken by the participants. We did a back-translation in a double-blind procedure so that we could rule out any deviation due to translation errors. Additionally, the terms of leaders (“Führungskräfte”) was adapted in order to fit the term used at our company. There was also a short definition of work-family conflict and the meaning of “family”, for the matter of clear instruction. To meet the standards of the Commission on Data Protection, we mentioned how the survey would be helpful for our company and its employees in the cover letter. We hoped that this would also be a reminder for the hesitant participants, as they were shown that they are contributing to everyone’s work life. The publication of the results was also announced to be published in the internal employee magazine, which is distributed once a month to all employees of our company.
20
1.46). Men had a slightly higher average age than women with approximately 35.35 years (M= 3.67, SD=1.68). Of the female participants, 1.4% had primary education, 28.6% had secondary education, 15.7% had higher vocational education (“Abitur”), and 54.3% had a university degree, while male participants were distributed 3.5%, 22.4%, 16.5% and, 57.6% respectively. 35.7% of the female participants had children (male: 53.0%), and 80.9% were married or in a relationship (male: 84.3%). Medium tenure of women was approximately 6.5 years (M=2.63; male: 7.7 years, M= 2.91).
Measures
Gender was assessed at the last page of the survey where participants reported their biographical data. Gender was coded 0 for male and 1 for female.
21
Negating items were reverse-coded and the mean of the seven items was calculated in order to form a single item.
Perceived fit with the job was tested by using the six-item, five-point “Self-Senior Management Congruence” scale of Singh (2001). The respondents were asked to rate on a scale from 1 to 5 (1= “strongly disagree” to 5= “strongly agree”) whether they agree with the statements or not. Sample statements include “A position as a leader would be a good fit for me.” and “My personality fits in well with the requirements of a leading position.”. The scale had a good internal consistency (Cronbach’s α = .95).
Role models was assessed by using Nauta and Kokaly’s (2001) “Inspiration/Modeling” subscale of the “Influence of Others on Academic and Career Decisions” scale. The original seven-item scale includes statements concerning the influence of role models on both the career and academic decisions of individuals, thus we adapted the scale in order to fit our conceptual model, removing the academic-related references, which left us with seven statements only concerning the career decisions. The subscale of “Inspiration/Modeling” was chosen, as previous research showed that it is more relevant in predicting the individuals’ aim on career interest and choice (Quimby & DeSantis, 2006; Nauta & Kokaly, 2001). The statements include, for instance, “There are many examples of successful female leaders in the organization.” and “Female leaders increase my ambitions to develop my career towards managerial jobs.”. Internal consistency was good (Cronbach’s α = .84).
22
23 RESULTS
In order to investigate our conceptual model with the main relationship between gender and leadership aspiration, we conducted a regression analysis on the survey data obtained at our company. We analyzed the main relationship between our independent variable gender and the dependent variable leadership aspirations by using simple linear regression. Further, we analyzed the model using the SPSS macro PROCESS (Hayes, 2013) to test the mediation and the moderations.
Descriptive Statistics
24
25
Table 1. Means, Standard Deviations, and Correlations
Variables Mean S.D. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 1) Gender .46 .50 2) Age (N=159) 3.42 1.60 -.17* 3) Education (N=155) 3.26 .93 -.03 -.25** 4) Tenure (N=160) 2.78 1.17 -.12 -.74*** -.37*** 5) Children (N=153) .45 .50 -.17* .59*** -.16* .51*** 6) In Relationship (N=151) .83 .38 -.05 .20* -.03 .08 .34*** 7) Role Models 2.79 .89 -.22** -.29*** .08 -.23** -.23** .07 8) Work-Family-Conflict 2.32 1.02 .07 .06 .03 .01 .19* .15 -.07 9) Perceived Fit 3.07 1.06 -.37*** -.13 .11 -.18* -.04 -.02 .44*** .02 10) Leadership Aspiration 3.24 1.09 -.41*** -.23** .18* -.26** -.17* -.06 .50*** .04 .84**
26 Hypotheses Testing
The hypotheses have been tested using linear regression as well as the SPSS macro PROCESS (Hayes, 2013). The PROCESS regression was conducted with the standardized variables and a bootstrap of 5,000. The control variables age, education, children and tenure have been included in the regression analysis. Being in a relationship was excluded, as it did not show significant correlations towards the dependent variable, as can be seen in table 1. Hypothesis 1: Direct main relationship between gender and leadership aspirations
27
Table 2. Results of Hierarchical Regression for Leadership Aspiration (Hypothesis 1)
Leadership Aspiration Step 1 Step 2 Age -.18 (.08) -.21 (.07) Education .14 (.09) .10 (.08) Children -.02 (.21) -.09 (.18) Tenure -.03 (.11) -.06 (.10) Gender -.46*** (.15) R2 (adjusted R2) .08* (.06) .29*** (.26) ΔR2 .08 .20
Note: N = 148. Standard errors are noted within parentheses.*p < .05, **p < .01, ***p < .001 (two tailed
significance).
Hypothesis 2: Mediating effect of perceived fit with the job
28
mediating variable perceived fit has been found to be significant (β= .83, p < .001). The relation between perceived fit and leadership aspiration was significant with β= .75, p < .001. With the mediating effect included, the total relationship of gender and leadership aspiration was less strong (β= -.31, p < .01). The mediation effect of perceived fit has been found to be significant, with β= -.62, S.E. = .12, Boot CI [-.86 – -.38]. Therefore, we found evidence that perceived fit mediates the relationship between gender and leadership aspirations, while women showed lower perceived fit than men. These findings indicate that hypothesis 2 holds true.
Table 3. Results of the Mediation Analysis (Hypothesis 2)
Perceived Fit Leadership Aspirations Control variables Age -.07 (.08) -.07 (.04) Education .04 (.09) .07 (.05) Children .03 (.20) -.20 (.11) Tenure -.10 (.10) .02 (.06) Independent variables Perceived Fit .75*** (.05) Gender -.83*** (.16) -.31** (.09) R2 .19 .75
Total effect Leadership Aspirations
Total effect of X on Y -.31** (.09)
Indirect effect
Indirect effect Boot SE Boot LLCIa Boot ULCIa Sobel Test
-.62 .12 -.87 -.38 -5.01***
29
Hypothesis 3: Moderating effect of role models on the relation between gender and perceived fit
30
Table 4. Results of Hierarchical Regression for Perceived Fit (Hypothesis 3) Perceived Fit
Step 1 Step 2 Step 3
Age -.09 (.09) -.01 (.08) -.01 (.08) Education .08 (.10) .04 (.08) .04 (.09) Children .07 (.21) .05 (.19) .06 (.19) Tenure -.09 (.11) -.13 (.10) -.13 (.10) Gender -.31*** (.16) -.31*** (.16) Role Model .33*** (.08) .30** (.10)
Gender x Role Model .04 (.16)
R2 (adjusted R2) .03 (.01) .28*** (.25) .28*** (.24)
ΔR2 .03 .25 .00
Note: N = 148. Standard errors are noted within parentheses. *p < .05. **p < .01. ***p<.001.
Hypothesis 4: Moderating effect of work-family conflict on the relationship between perceived fit and leadership aspirations
31
indicating that our hypothesis 4 does not hold true. With these findings, a regression analysis using PROCESS model 21 became unnecessary.
Table 5. Results of Hierarchical Regression for Leadership Aspiration (Hypothesis 4)
Leadership Aspiration
Step 1 Step 2 Step 3
Age -.18 (.08) -.11 (.04) -.10 (.04) Education .14 (.09) .08 (.05) .08 (.05) Children -.02 (.21) -.09 (.11) -.09 (.11) Tenure -.03 (.11) .05 (.06) .05 (.06) Perceived Fit .82*** (.04) .82*** (.04) Work-Family Conflict .05 (.04) .05 (.04)
Perceived Fit x Work-Family
Conflict -.05 (.04)
R2 (adjusted R2) .08* (.06) .74*** (.72) .74*** (.72)
ΔR2 .08 .65 .00
32 DISCUSSION
The goal of our study was to empirically investigate the differences in male and female leadership aspiration in order to add to the existing studies on this topic as well as finding a possible moderated mediation effect that might influence the relation between gender and leadership aspiration. By examining the mediating effect of perceived fit with the leadership job, we outline the importance this effect may have on future as well as previous studies towards gender differences in leadership aspiration, as it accounts for a large part of the difference between men and women in their leadership aspiration, which suggests that the differences of the perceived fit with leadership jobs should be taken into account when explaining gender differences in leadership aspiration. For years, research has focused on leadership aspirations and the differences between men and women, yet results have been inconsistent (cf. Singer, 1991; Savery, 1990). We identify missing implicit mediating effects as well as moderating effects towards gender differences in leadership aspiration as the main theoretical gap, with the inconsistencies suggesting that other factors influence this relationship, which have not yet been addressed. With this thesis, we are able to contribute to the studies that have been done and improve further studies which may arise.
33
perceived fit than men when there are role models. While there was no evidence supporting that gender and role models have an interaction effect on the perceived fit, we found that role models significantly and directly predict perceived fit, so both for men and women. Lastly, we expected work-family conflict to negatively influence the relationship between perceived fit and leadership aspiration. We found no evidence for such a moderating effect, neither did we find evidence for a direct relation between work-family conflict and leadership aspiration. This fourth hypothesis, like the other moderation effect in hypothesis 3, did not hold true. Unlike for role models, we did not find any effect of work-family conflict with the mediator, dependent variable or the independent variable.
Theoretical Implications and Suggestions for Future Research
34
35
research should further analyze whether role models might otherwise influence the relationship between gender and leadership aspiration, as we found that there was a high correlation between these three variables. Additionally, in order to better predict the influence of role models, future research in the direction of role models could analyze which factors are most important for women when assessing role models.
36
impact of work-family conflict should be critically reviewed towards the predominant possibilities of mitigating such conflict.
37
composition, sexism in the workplace and self-esteem seem to be promising factors which influence aspiration (cf. Fedi & Rollero, 2016). Also, research on leadership stereotypes (e.g. Powell & Butterfield, 2013; Koenig et al., 2011; Powell et al., 2002) shows that the individual masculinity and femininity, apart from the gender, might have an influence on the perceived fit. In future research, these factors should be included in order to better understand gender differences and rule out inconsistencies within different studies.
Practical Implications
Gender differences in leadership aspiration may be an important contribution to the gender gap in leadership positions. There are plenty of studies devoted to the gender differences in leadership behavior. For example, it was found that women are rather long-term oriented compared to men (Silverman, 2003). While women in a leadership position were more likely to avoid layoffs than men (Matsa & Miller, 2014), reducing short-term profits, this may lead to long-run agility of companies with female leaders (cf. Matsa & Miller, 2013). As studies suggest that women are as effective as men in leadership positions (Hollander, 1992; Powell, 1993; Eagly et al., 1995), there is certainly a high need to increase the leadership aspiration in women, so organizations have the full workforce to select the best and most able indiviuals. Therefore, we argue that our theoretical findings contribute to the practices that are used to increase women’s percentage in leadership jobs.
38
Hunsinger, McManus, 2011). In their study, Stout and colleagues (2011) found that the self-concept of women benefited from exposure to successful women. Therefore, as we conducted our research in a male-dominated company, this practice could increase the perceived fit with leadership jobs even though stereotype threat is not likely to be lower, as these jobs will remain mostly occupied by men. Exposure to successful ingroup member could be achieved by actively marketing successful women in the company’s communication channels, such as employee magazines, emails, social media and posters. Additionally, using communication to educate employees and managers on diversity issues has also been found to potentially reduce bias (cf. Fiske, 1998; Nelson, Acker, & Manis, 1996; Kalev, Dobbin, Kelly, 2006).
39
In addition to the implementation of mentoring in organizations, derived from our findings of differences in gender concerning the perceived fit with the leadership job and based on the knowledge of Social Role Theory (Eagly, 1987), we promote the practice of quotas in order to increase women’s leadership aspirations, their perceived fit with the job and their chances of actually attaining leadership jobs. While prejudices and social roles based on the gender are still barriers for women, as they remain in the society’s conscience, it needs positive counter stereotypic examples of successful women, consequently reducing the prejudices and injunctive norms and increasing women’s chances to attain leadership jobs. As longitudinal studies suggest (Beaman, Chattopadhyay, Duflo, Pande, & Topalova, 2009), this first barrier could be overcome by using quotas.
Limitations
40
rather a small part of employees. This limitation has to be regarded when interpreting the results.
Another limitation of the study was that we only conducted research at a single company, which limits the generalizability of the study. Since the organizational environment is different in all companies, our findings do not necessarily hold true for all companies. Especially as the automobile industry is male-dominated, future studies should focus on different industries in order to increase the generalizability of these findings.
Moreover, the nature of self-reported items towards the perceived fit with the job represent a limitation, as it might induce socially desirable reports in individuals, which could lead to answers which are not consistent with the participants’ real opinions and feelings (Murphy & Davidshofer, 1998). Those who show higher leadership aspiration might also be inclined to report higher perceived fit. Self-report bias states that individuals report in such a way that they are being viewed as good as possible (Donaldson & Grant-Vallone, 2002).
41
REFERENCES
Aguinis, H., & Kraiger, K. (2009). Benefits of training and development for individuals and teams, organizations, and society. Annual Review of Psychology, 60, 1-741.
Asgari, S., Dasgupta, N., & Stout, J.G. (2012). When do counterstereotypic ingroup members inspire versus deflate? The effect of successful professional women on young women's leadership self-concept. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 38(3), 370-383.
Bandura, A. (1986). Social foundations of thought and action. Englewood Cliffs, NJ:
Beaman, L., Chattopadhyay, R., Duflo, E., Pande, R., & Topalova, P. (2009). Powerful women: Does exposure reduce bias?. The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 124(4), 1497-1540.
Beaman, L., Duflo, E., Pande, R., & Topalova, P. (2012). Female leadership raises aspirations and educational attainment for girls: A policy experiment in India. Science, 335(6068), 582-586.
Bedeian, A.G., Burke, B.G., & Moffett, R.G. (1988). Outcomes of work-family conflict among married male and female professionals. Journal of Management, 14(3), 475-491. Benschop, Y., Van den Brink, M., Doorewaard, H., & Leenders, J. (2013). Discourses of ambition, gender and part-time work. Human Relations, 66(5), 699-723.
Bierema, L.L. (2016). Women’s leadership: Troubling notions of the “ideal” (male) leader. Advances in Developing Human Resources, 18(2), 119-136.
Boatwright, K.H. & Egidio, R.K. (2003). Psychological predictors of college women’s leadership aspirations. Journal of College Student Development, 44(5), 653-669.
Broverman, I.K., Vogel, S.R., Broverman, D.M., Clarkson, F.E., & Rosenkrantz, P.S. (1972). Sex-role stereotypes: A current appraisal. Journal of Social Issues, 28(2), 59–78.
Byron, K. (2005). A meta-analytic review of work-family conflict and its antecedents. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 67(2), 169-198.
Casad, B.J., & Bryant, W.J. (2016). Addressing stereotype threat is critical to diversity and inclusion in organizational psychology. Frontiers in Psychology, 7(8), 1-18.
42
Chao, G.T., Walz, P.M., & Gardner, P.D. (1992). Formal and informal mentorships: A comparison on mentoring functions and contrast with nonmentored counterparts. Personnel Psychology, 45(3), 519-636.
Chartrand, J., & Walsh, W.B. (1999). What should we expect from congruence? Journal of Vocational Behavior, 55(1), 136-146.
Cialdini, R.B., & Trost, M.R. (1998). Social influence: Social norms, conformity, and compliance. In D.T. Gilbert, S.T. Fiske, & G. Lindzey (Eds.), The handbook of social psychology (4th ed.): 151-192. Boston: McGraw-Hill.
Cohen, L.L., & Swim, J.K. (1995). The differential impact of gender ratios on women and men - tokenism, self-confidence, and expectations. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 21(9), 876-884.
Crocker, J., Major, B., & Steele, C. (1998). Social stigma. In D.T. Gilbert, S.T. Fiske, and G. Lindzey (Eds.), The Handbook of Social Psychology (2nd ed.): 504-553. Boston:
McGraw-Hill.
Diekman, A.B., & Eagly, A.H. (2000). Stereotypes as dynamic constructs: Women and men of the past, present, and future. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 26, 1171–1188. Donaldson, S.I., & Grant-Vallone, E.J. (2002). Understanding self-report bias in organizational behavior research. Journal of Business and Psychology, 17(2), 245-260. Eagly, A.H., & Steffen, V.J. (1984). Gender stereotypes stem from the distribution of women and men into social roles. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 46(4), 735-754. Eagly, A.H. (1987). Sex differences in social behavior: A social-role interpretation. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Eagly, A.H., Karau, S.J., Miner, J.B., & Johnson, B.T. (1994). Gender and motivation to manage in hierarchic organizations: A meta-analysis. The Leadership Quarterly, 5(2), 135-159.
Eagly, A.H., Karau, S.J., & Makhijani, M.G. (1995). Gender and the effectiveness of leaders: A meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 117(1), 125-145.
43
Eagly, A.H., & Carli, L.L. (2007). Through the labyrinth: The truth about how women become leaders. Boston: Harvard Business School Press.
Eagly, A.H., & Sczesny, S. (2009). Stereotypes about women, men, and leaders: Have times changed? In M. Barreto, M.К. Ryan, & M.T. Schmitt (Eds.), The glass ceiling in the 21st century: Understanding barriers to gender equality: 21-47. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
Ely, R.J. (1994). The effects of organizational demographics and social identity on relationships among professional women. Administrative Science Quarterly, 39(2), 203-238. Ely, R.J., & Meyerson, D.E. (2010). An organizational approach to undoing gender: The unlikely case of offshore oil platforms. Research in Organizational Behavior, 30, 3-34. European Commission (2016). Strategic engagement for gender equality 2016-2019. Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union.
Ezzedeen, S.R., Budworth, M.-H., & Baker, S.D. (2015). Evaluating a leadership program: A comparative, longitudinal study to assess the impact of the Executive Leadership in Academic Medicine (ELAM) program for women. Journal of Career Development, 42(5), 355-369. Fedi, A., & Rollero, C. (2016). If stigmatized, self-esteem is not enough: Effects of sexism, self-esteem and social identity on leadership aspiration. Europe's Journal of Psychology, 12(4), 533-549.
Fels, A. (2004). Do women lack ambition? Harvard Business Review, 82(4), 50-60.
Fiske, S.T. (1998). Stereotyping, prejudice, and discrimination. In D.T. Gilbert, S.T. Fiske, and G. Lindzey (Eds.), Stereotyping, prejudice and discrimination: 357-411. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Frone, M.R., Russell, M., & Cooper, M.L. (1992). Antecedents and outcomes of work-family conflict: Testing a model of the work-family interface. Journal of Applied Psychology, 77(1), 65-78.
Fry, L. (2009). Towards a theory of being-centered leadership: Multiple levels of being as context for effective leadership. Human Relations, 62(11), 1667-1696.
44
Gibson, D.E. (2003). Developing the professional self-concept: Role model construals in early, middle, and late career stages. Organization Science, 14(5), 591-610.
Gibson, D.E. (2004). Role models in career development: New directions for theory and research. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 65(1), 134-156.
Gottfredson, L.S. (1981). Circumscription and compromise: A development theory of occupational aspirations. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 28(6), 545-579.
Greenhaus, J.H., & Beutell, N.J. (1985). Sources of conflict between work and family roles. The Academy of Management Review, 10(1), 76-88.
Gregor, M.A., & O’Brien, K.M. (2016). Understanding career aspirations among young women: Improving instrumentation. Journal of Career Assessment, 24(3), 559-572.
Hayes, A.F. (2013). Introduction to mediation, moderation, and conditional process analysis: A regression-based approach. New York: The Guilford Press.
Heilman, M.E. (1983). Sex bias in work settings: The lack of fit model. Research in Organizational Behavior, 5, 269-298.
Heilman, M.E., Block, C.J., Martell, R.F., Simon, M.C. (1989). Has anything changed? Current characterizations of men, women, and managers. Journal of Applied Psychology, 74, 935-942.
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., & Okimoto, T.G. (2007). Why are women penalized for success at male tasks?: The implied communality deficit. Journal of Applied Psychology, 92(1), 81-92. Hewlett, S.A. (2002). Creating a life: Professional women and the quest for children. New York: Talk Miramax.
Hippel, C.V., Sekaquaptewa, D., McFarlane, M. (2015). Stereotype threat among women in finance: Negative effects on identity, workplace well-being, and recruiting. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 39(3), 405-414.
45
Hoobler, J.M., Lemmon, G., & Wayne, S.J. (2014). Women's managerial aspirations: An organizational development perspective. Journal of Management, 40(3), 703-730.
Hosking, A., & Western, M. (2008). The effects of non-standard employment on work-family conflict. Journal of Sociology, 44(1), 5-27.
Hoyt, C.L. (2010). Women, men, and leadership: Exploring the gender gap at the top. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 4(7), 484-498.
Hoyt, C.L. & Simon, S. (2011). Female leaders: Injurious or inspiring role models for women? Psychology of Women Quarterly, 35(1), 143-157.
Hoyt, C.L. (2012). Inspirational or self-deflating: The role of self-efficacy in elite role model effectiveness. Social Psychology and Personality Science, 4(3), 290-298.
Hoyt, C.L., & Murphy, S.E. (2016). Managing to clear the air: Stereotype threat, women, and leadership. The Leadership Quarterly, 27, 387-399.
Jansen, N.W., Mohren, C.L., van Amelsvoort, L.G., Janssen, N., & Kant, I. (2010). Changes in working time arrangements over time as a consequence of work-family conflict. Chronobiology International, 27(5), 1045-1061.
Kahn, R.L., Wolfe, D., Quinn, R., Snoek, J., & Rosenthal, R. (1964). Organizational stress: Studies in role conflict and ambiguity. New York: Wiley.
Kalev, A., Kelly, E., & Dobbin, F. (2006). Best practices or best guesses? Assessing the efficacy of corporate affirmative action and diversity policies. American Sociological Review, 71(4), 589-617.
Killeen, L.A., López-Zafra, E., & Eagly, A.H. (2006). Envisioning oneself as a leader: Comparisons of women and men in Spain and the United States. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 30, 312-322.
Koenig, A.M., Eagly, A.H., Mitchell, A.A., & Ristikari, T. (2011). Are leader stereotypes masculine? A meta-analysis of three research paradigms. Psychological Bulletin, 137(4), 616-642.
Kofodimos, J. (1993). Balancing act: How managers can integrate successful careers and fulfilling personal lives. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
46
Latu, I.M., Schmid Mast, M., Lammers, J., & Bombari, D. (2013). Successful female leaders empower women's behavior in leadership tasks. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 49(1), 444-448.
Laud, R.L., & Johnson, M. (2012). Upward mobility. Career Development International, 17(3), 231-254.
Lips, H.M. (2001). Envisioning positions of leadership: The expectations of university students in Virginia and Puerto Rico. Journal of Social Issues, 57, 799-813.
Litzky, B.E. (2002). Senior management aspirations of managers and professionals: A career decision-making perspective. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Drexel University, Philadelphia.
Matsa, D.A., & Miller, A.R. (2013). A female style in corporate leadership? Evidence from quotas. American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 5(3), 136-169.
Matsa, D.A., & Miller, A.R. (2014). Workforce reductions at women-owned businesses in the United States. Industrial and Labor Relations Review, 67(2), 422-452.
Michel, J.S., Kotrba, L.M., Mitchelson, J.K., Clark, M.A., & Baltes, B.B. (2011). Antecedents of work-family conflict: A meta-analytic review. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 32(1), 689-725.
Morgenroth, T., Ryan, M.K., & Peters, K. (2015). The motivational theory of role modeling: How role models influence role aspirants’ goals. Review of General Psychology, 19(4), 465-483.
Morrison, A.M., White, R.P., & Van Velsor, E. (1987). Breaking the glass ceiling. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.
Murphy, K.R. & Davidshofer, C.O. (1998). Psychological testing: Principles and Applications (3rd. Ed.). Prentice-Hall International Inc.: USA.
Nauta, M.M., & Kokaly, M.L. (2001). Assessing role model influences on students’ academic and vocational decisions. Journal of Career Assessment, 9(1), 81-99.
47
Netemeyer, R.G., Boles, J.S., & McMurrian, R. (1996). Development and validation of work-family conflict and family-work conflict scales. Journal of Applied Psychology, 81(4), 400-410.
Nieva, V.G., & Gutek, B.A. (1980). Sex effects on evaluation. Academy of Management Review, 5(2), 267–276.
O’Brien, K. M. (1996). The influence of psychological separation and parental attachment on the career development of adolescent women. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 48(3), 257-274.
Peters, K., Ryan, M.K., & Haslam, S.A. (2015). Marines, medics, and machismo: Lack of fit with masculine occupational stereotypes discourages men’s participation. British Journal of Psychology, 106, 635-655.
Powell, G.N., & Butterfield, D.A. (1979). The “good” manager: Masculine or androgynous? Academy of Management Journal, 22, 395-403.
Powell, G.N., & Butterfield, D.A. (1989). The “good” manager: Did androgyny fare better in the 1980s? Group and Organization Studies, 14, 216-233.
Powell, G.N. (1993). Women & men in management (2nd ed.). Newbury Park, CA: Sage. Powell, G.N., Butterfield, D.A., & Parent, J.D. (2002). Gender and managerial stereotypes: Have the times changed? Journal of Management, 28, 177-193.
Powell, G.N., & Greenhaus, J.H. (2010). Sex, gender, and decisions at the family-work interface. Journal of Management, 36(4), 1011-1039.
Powell, G.N., & Greenhaus, J.H. (2012). When family considerations influence work decisions: Decision-making processes. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 81(3), 322-329. Powell, G.N., & Butterfield, D.A. (2013). Sex, gender, and aspirations to top management: Who's opting out? Who's opting in?. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 82(1), 30-36.
Quimby, J.L., & DeSantis, A.M. (2006). The influence of role models on women's career choices. The Career Development Quarterly, 54(1), 297-306.
48
Rink, F., Ryan, M.K., & Stoker, J.I. (2012). Influence in times of crisis: How social and financial resources affect men’s and women’s evaluations of glass-cliff positions. Psychological Science, 23(11), 1306-1313.
Role Model (n.d.). In: Merriam Webster’s Learner’s Dictionary. Accessed from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/role%20model on 10/10/2016.
Savery, L.K. (1990). Men and women in the workplace: Evidence of occupational differences. Leadership & Organization Development Journal, 11(2), 13-16.
Schein, V.E. (1973). The relationship between sex role stereotypes and requisite management characteristics. Journal of Applied Psychology, 57, 95-100.
Schein, V.E. (1975). Relationships between sex role stereotypes and requisite management characteristics among female managers. Journal of Applied Psychology, 60, 340–344.
Schein, V.E., Mueller, R., Lituchy, T., & Liu, J. (1996). Think manager - think male: A global phenomenon? Journal of Organizational Behavior, 17(1), 33-41.
Schein, V.E. (2001). A global look at psychological barriers to women’s progress in management. Journal of Social Issues, 57, 675–688.
Schoon, I. & Polek, E. (2011). Teenage career aspirations and adult career attainment: The role of gender, social background and general cognitive ability. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 35, 210-217.
Schuh, S.C., Bark, A.S., Quaquebeke, N.V., Hossiep, R., Frieg, P., & Dick, R.V. (2014). Gender differences in leadership role occupancy: The mediating role of power motivation. Journal of Business Ethics, 120(3), 363-379.
Sekaquaptewa, D., & Thompson, M. (2003). Solo status, stereotype threat, and performance expectancies: Their effects on women's performance. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 39(1), 68-74.
Seron, C., Silbey, S.S., Cech, E., & Rubineau, B. (2015). Persistence is cultural: Professional socialization and the reproduction of sex segregation. Work and Occupations, 43(2), 178-214.
49
Singer, M. (1991). The relationship between employee sex, length of service and leadership aspirations: A study from valence, self-efficacy and attribution perspectives. Applied Psychology, 40(4), 417-436.
Singh, R. (2001). The effectiveness of alternative career decision making behaviors: Development and test of a model. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Drexel University, Philadelphia.
Steele, C.M. & Aronson, J. (1995). Stereotype threat and the intellectual test performance of African Americans. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 69(5), 797-811.
Stoker, J.I., van der Velde, M., Lammers, J. (2012). Factors Relating to Managerial Stereotypes: The role of gender of the employee and the manager and management gender ratio. Journal of Business Psychology, 27, 31-42.
Stout, J.G., Dasgupta, N., Hunsinger, M., McManus, M.A. (2011). STEMing the tide: Using ingroup experts to inoculate women’s self-concept in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 100(2), 255-270. Taylor, C.A., Lord, C.G., McIntyre, R.B., & Paulson, R.M. (2011). The Hillary Clinton effect: When the same role model inspires or fails to inspire improved performance under stereotype threat. Group Processes & Intergroup Relations, 14(4), 447-459.
Tharenou, P., & Conroy, D.K. (1994). Men and women managers' advancement. Applied Psychology: An International Review, 43, 5-31.
Tharenou, P. (2001). Going up? Do traits and informal social processes predict advancing in management? Academy of Management Journal, 44, 1005-1017.
Thoits, P.A. (1992). Identity structures and psychological well-being: Gender and marital status comparisons. Social Psychology Quarterly, 55, 236-256.
Twenge, J.M., Campbell, S.M., Hoffman, B.J., & Lance, C.E. (2010). Generational differences in work values: Leisure and extrinsic values increasing, social and intrinsic values decreasing. Journal of Management, 36, 1117-1142.
50
Van den Brink, M., Holgersson, C., Linghag, S., & Deé, S. (2016). Inflating and down playing strengths and weaknesses – Practicing gender in the evaluation of potential managers and partners. Scandinavian Journal of Management, 32, 20-32.
