Event Title

Women on Top: Prejudices and Advantages of the Female Leader

Presenter Information

Lauren Marie Bach, Minnesota State University, MankatoFollow

Location

CSU Ballroom

Start Date

16-4-2013 2:00 PM

End Date

16-4-2013 4:00 PM

Student's Major

Psychology

Student's College

Social and Behavioral Sciences

Mentor's Name

Susan Anderson

Mentor's Department

Psychology

Mentor's College

Social and Behavioral Sciences

Description

According to the role congruity theory, female leaders encounter prejudice in seeking top-level leadership positions (e.g., corporate manager) because female gender roles are incongruent with valued leadership roles (Eagly & Karau, 2002). However, past research suggests that females at the highest leadership positions (e.g., female president) may not experience the same prejudice; rather, they are considered to be regarded favorably and as highly competent leaders (a finding that contrasts with role congruity theory; Rosette & Tost, 2010). The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of gender and leader position on perceptions of female leaders. Participants in this experiment (n=52) were asked to read an article about a leader in which the gender and leadership position (Division Manager vs. Senior Executive Vice President) were manipulated. Participants subsequently answered a short questionnaire, rating the leader on effectiveness, likeability, agentic and communal traits. The perceptions of leaders did not significantly differ between the conditions. Though these results fail to support a female leader advantage or prejudice, further research should be conducted to determine the implications of female leader perceptions.