Women must disconfirm gender stereotypes to enter male-dominated jobs

Evidence

The socioeconomic implications of this discrepancy were immediately clear to gender researchers. Gutek (1985) argued that the tendency for gender-based expectations to influence work roles (termed “sex-role spillover”) was costly for women. For example, female supervisors are expected to be more nurturant and sympathetic than men in the same positions, which may undermine their authority. Heilman’s (1983) “lack of fit” hypothesis argued that women were not considered to be suitable managers because they were perceived as insufficiently agentic. As a consequence, for women to gain entry into male-dominated positions, it was necessary for them to disconfirm gender stereotypes – in short, to act more like men. In fact, unless a woman provides evidence that she is not a “typical” female, she may not be seriously considered as a candidate for jobs that require leadership skills (Glick, Zion, & Nelson, 1988; Rudman & Glick, 1999). — John F. Dovidio, Peter Glick, Laurie A. Rudman, On the Nature of Prejudice, 753

Categorization

• DEFINE: Defines both ‘sex-role spillover’ and the ‘lack of fit’ hypothesis in one compact passage.
• XREF: connects to: Career women face obstacles comparable to those confronting racialized newcomers — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 1936; Work-life balance discourse in tech masks a gendered pressure to choose work — Alice E. Marwick, Status Update: Celebrity, Publicity,…, 184; Tech women’s success is dismissed as appearance-driven rather than earned — Alice E. Marwick, Status Update: Celebrity, Publicity,…, 707