D. Anthony Butterfield

Gender and Managerial Stereotypes: Have the Times Changed?

There has been a considerable increase in the proportion of women managers in recent years, from 21% in 1976 to 46% in 1999, and a call for “feminine leadership” to capitalize on this increase. The present study examines whether there has been a corresponding change in men’s and women’s stereotypes of managers such that less emphasis is placed on managers’ possessing masculine characteristics. Data from 348 undergraduate and part-time graduate business students indicate that although managerial stereotypes place less emphasis on masculine characteristics than in earlier studies [Academy of Management Journal 22 (1979) 395; Group and Organization Studies 14 (2) (1989) 216], a good manager is still perceived as predominantly masculine.

The “Good Manager”: Masculine or Androgynous?

The application of the Bern Sex-Role Inventory in a study of 684 business students failed to support the hypothesis that a good manager would be seen as androgynous (possessing both masculine and feminine characteristics). Instead, the good manager was described in masculine terms. Graduate women also described themselves in masculine terms.

Effect Of Race On Promotions To Top Management In A Federal Department

Applicant race did not directly affect promotion decisions for top management positions in a cabinet-level U.S. government department with standardized promotion practices that include a panel revi...

Gender, gender identity, and aspirations to top management

Data gathered by the authors from undergraduate and part‐time graduate business students in 1976‐1977 suggested that men were more likely than women to aspire to top management and that, consistent with traditional stereotypes of males and managers, a gender identity consisting of high masculinity and low femininity was associated with aspirations to top management. As a result of gender‐related social changes, we expected the gender difference in aspirations to top management but not the importance of gender identity to have decreased over time. We collected data in 1999 from the same two populations to test these notions. In newly collected data, high masculinity (but not low femininity) was still associated with such aspirations, and men still aspired to top management positions more than women. However, the gender difference in aspirations to top management did not decrease over time.

Leader evaluations: a new female advantage?

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to examine sex effects in evaluations of transformational and transactional leaders.Design/methodology/approach – A total of 459 part‐time (evening) MBA students, most of whom worked full‐time, read a vignette of either a male or female leader who exhibited either a transformational or transactional leadership style and then evaluated the leaders behavior.Findings – Female‐transformational leaders received more favorable evaluations than male‐transformational leaders, especially from female evaluators. However, evaluations of transactional leaders did not differ according to leader sex, and male evaluators did not evaluate male and female leaders of either style differently.Research limitations/implications – Evaluators were enrolled in a part‐time graduate program in management; hence, results may not be generalizable to other populations. In addition, the study focused on evaluation of hypothetical rather than actual leaders. The results suggest a female advantage...

If “good managers” are masculine, what are “bad managers”?

Little research has been conducted on ineffective behavior or “bad” characteristics of managers as contrasted with effective behavior or “good” characteristics. This study examines the perceived characteristics of bad managers as well as good managers. In contrast to a stereotypical view of the good manager as masculine, bad managers were seen by business students as low in both masculinity and femininity, or in nonstereotypical terms. Results were not affected by the relative social desirability of masculine and feminine characteristics.

SEX, ATTRIBUTIONS, AND LEADERSHIP: A BRIEF REVIEW

Review of attributional research on female and male leaders leads to the following conclusions: (1) Causal attributions for successful performance and evaluations of performance often differ for female and male leaders. (2) Female leaders are not evaluated or perceived differently from male leaders when engaging in the same behavior. (3) When group performance is high, both female and male leaders are evaluated more highly and seen to engage in more behavior than when group performance is low. (4) Female raters may tend to give higher evaluations to leaders and see more behavior of leaders than male raters.

Control theory in Brazilian organizations

Distribution of control is examined in sixteen Brazilian development banks using Tannenbaums control graph model (1968) .1 Contrary to the common assumption that Latin American organizations are authoritarian, control in these organizations is distributed evenly among hierarchical levels. Total control, control by upper hierarchical levels, and control by the national bank in the state-federal system are all associated with bank effectiveness. Bank effectiveness is especially associated with each levels control in that phase of project decision making for which it is most responsible. A competence hypothesis viewing effective development banks as technocracies is suggested to explain these findings.

The glass ceiling: what have we learned 20 years on?

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to consider the current status of women in management and explanations offered for this status in light of a rare empirical field study of the “glass ceiling” phenomenon the authors conducted about 20 years ago. Design/methodology/approach – The authors review the study’s key arguments, unexpected results, and implications for organizational effectiveness (which have been largely ignored). The authors then review what has transpired and what has been learned about the glass ceiling phenomenon since. Findings – The nature of glass ceilings has remained essentially stable over a 20-year period, although further explanations for them have flourished. Research limitations/implications – More scholarly examinations of ways to shatter glass ceilings and thereby enhance organizational effectiveness are recommended. Practical implications – Organizations, human resources directors, and internal decision makers need to adopt practices that foster “debiasing” of decisions about promotions to top management. Social implications – Societies need to encourage organizations to adopt ways to shatter glass ceilings that continue to disadvantage women. Originality/value – A systematic review and analysis of the present-day implications of an early study of the glass ceiling phenomenon has not previously been conducted.

Isn’t It Time We Did Something About the Lack of Teaching Preparation in Business Doctoral Programs?:

In this essay, we explore why there has traditionally been so little emphasis on teaching preparation in business doctoral programs. Program administrators and faculty typically espouse support for teaching development; yet the existing reward systems are powerfully aligned in favor of a focus on research competency. Indeed, through the lens of a performance diagnostic model, it is entirely predictable that doctoral programs have not offered more teaching development opportunities, as administrators often do not have the requisite motivation, ability, opportunity, or resources to develop comparable teaching competence. However, given that the average graduate will take a professorial position with greater than 50% of responsibilities devoted to teaching, most external observers would conclude that there is a curious dearth of teaching preparation in contemporary business doctoral programs. However understandable the dearth of teaching development, we argue that those reasons are no longer acceptable, and the present essay is predominately a call for change. Suggestions for enhancing the depth and nature of teaching development are offered, and we include some examples of progressive initiatives underway in the hopes of provoking a more intense conversation on the teaching preparation of the next generation of business professors.