Gender expectations spill into work roles and cost women authority

Evidence

Eagly and Steffen (1984) found that gender stereotypes are derived from assumptions about men and women occupying different roles. In particular, it was demonstrated that people judge women to be “communal” because it is consistent with their assumed “homemaker” role, and they judge men to be “agentic” because it is consistent with their assumed role of “employee.” Thus, male homemakers were rated to be as communal as female homemakers and more communal than females whose occupation was unspecified, while female employees were seen as more agentic than male employees and males with no occupational description given. Eagly and Steffen (1986) extended these results by demonstrating that part-time female employees were stereotyped as more communal and less agentic than full-time female employees, and part-time male employees were judged to be less agentic than full-time male employees. The authors argued that “the proximal cause of gender stereotypes is the differing distributions of women and men into social roles” (Eagly & Steffen, 1984, p. 752), because people’s stereotypes were mediated by their beliefs about the targets’ occupations. — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology, 2919 (#complicates, via linked claim)

The combination of men’s political repression, women’s relative freedom of movement, and the dominance of men in social movement organizations resulted in women’s central bridging role in the American civil rights movement and the South African anti‐apartheid movement (Kuumba, 2002). — Silke Roth, Intersectionality and coalitions in…, 159 (#complicates, via linked claim)

Although women make up 46 percent of the workforce, they are underrepresented in positions of power and prestige (Eagly & Diekman, ch. 2 this volume). Gender prejudice helps to perpetuate this fact, as backlash research makes clear. However, women’s own choices (i.e., self-selection bias) may also be an important factor. Compared with men, women tend to shy away from positions that carry the highest rewards, both social and economic (Pratto, Stallworth, Sidanius, & Siers, 1997). — John F. Dovidio, Peter Glick, Laurie A. Rudman, On the Nature of Prejudice, 767 (#complicates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Workplace atmosphere results from conflicts between workers’ social expectations and objective factory conditions. — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School: Its History,…, 2093; Work-life balance discourse in tech masks a gendered pressure to choose work — Alice E. Marwick, Status Update: Celebrity, Publicity,…, 184; Women’s tech careers were systematically credited to male mentors while men’s were not — Alice E. Marwick, Status Update: Celebrity, Publicity,…, 704 (+15 more)

Broader Connections

• Occupational roles rather than sex drive gender stereotypes #complicates (0.82) — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology, 2919
• Structural factors, not ideology, gave women bridging roles #complicates (0.75) — Silke Roth, Intersectionality and coalitions in…, 159
• Women self-select away from the highest-reward positions, sustaining gender hegemony #complicates (0.72) — John F. Dovidio, Peter Glick, Laurie A. Rudman, On the Nature of Prejudice, 767