Female bosses are often rated on effectiveness based on stereotypes

Kyzandrha Zarate/The Times-Union

Magnify

By SARA CONRAD
The Times-Union

Anna Lopez Brosche, local COO of Ennis Pellum & Associates CPAs, remembers when a potential client referral source 20 years older than she asked, “How did you become a partner?”

“The question seemed to emanate from a mix of being young and a woman. I believe if I had been young and a man, I would not have been asked that question,” she said.

Women usually expect that if they solve problems with ease, make good decisions, come up with innovative ideas and excel with the resources they’re given, they’ll be perceived as great managers and leaders.

But women are often judged on more than that.

A 2006 Gallup poll found that of people who preferred their manager to be a certain gender,

37 percent wanted a man, compared with only 19 percent who preferred a woman (that’s at least better than in 1953, when a similar Gallup poll found a full two-thirds preferred a male boss and just 5 percent preferred a female.)

Yet studies show male and female managers don’t behave differently, and that they “have the same abilities and liabilities,” said Alice Adams, author of “Playing to Strength: Leveraging Gender at Work” (Praeger, 2010).

So, why the gender preference?

Women are often judged on their abilities to fit into prescribed feminine stereotypes, as well as their job performance, according to Adams and recent studies.

STEREOTYPES PLAY FAVORITES

Most people know the stereotypes: Women are perceived as being better nurturers and “good listeners,” men as being “tough when they need to be” and “good decision makers.” But women are also perceived as “back-stabbing, manipulative and not as decisive,” Adams said, while men showing the same behaviors are seen positively — as doing what they have to to get things done, as being strategic and as being open to collaboration, respectively.

While these views on women in authority are polarizing, there is one constant: the stereotyped liabilities and abilities women are perceived to have would make for bad managers, while the stereotypes for men, like good decision-making skills, are popularly perceived as qualities of an excellent manager.

For example, qualities perceived to be soft and feminine are usually considered to be weak, whereas qualities perceived to be hard and masculine are seen to be strong. A “good listener” is perceived as weaker and less capable of making decisions independently than an assertive decision-maker who goes with his gut feeling without consulting others first, experts note.

“If we think women are supposed to be nurturing and communicative and men are supposed to be decisive ... a woman might find that those traits that help her do her job better as a manager might be perceived as masculine traits,” said Krista Paulsen, associate professor of sociology at the University of North Florida.

“People don’t tend to polarize about men as much because we’re used to seeing men in those leadership roles,” added Adams, vice president of Common Ground Consulting, which focuses on workforce diversity education.

That’s called the “think-leader-think-male” phenomenon, she said.

“We give men more latitude in management to make mistakes. If a male boss seems abrupt or distant, we tend to think that he has a lot on his mind and give him his space, but when a woman boss behaves the same way, we are more likely to think she is being unpleasant.”

RULES OF THE GAME

So why not just play the game and adhere to gender stereotypes?

If you play into the nice, good-girl gender stereotype, you will most likely be viewed as a weak and indecisive manager, experts say. Conversely, if you forgo gender stereotypes, you will be seen as aggressive and likely perceived as behaving “masculine,” said Paulsen.
Caring about the impression you leave can matter at promotion time.

Paulsen remembers the 1989 case of Ann Hopkins vs. Price Waterhouse, which involved a woman who didn’t make partner at her company partly because of gender stereotyping. Her co-workers complained she was “macho” and unladylike.

Paulsen also recalls the way Hillary Clinton had to “make up” for her toughness during the 2008 presidential election by trying to act more feminine; television hosts were calling her femininity into question. Yet, when Clinton cried in public, she was seen as weak.
There is no way for women to win at the game of stereotyping — that’s called the “double-bind” for women, according to a Catalyst research report, and it can be an exhausting, lose-lose situation.

DISCRIMINATION IN MANY FORMS

Sometimes discrimination is unconscious.

Adams cites a study in which people expressed their opinion of equality for women but were more likely to make a sexist hiring decision after voicing their favor of equality because they assumed their hiring decisions would be fair.

Brosche agreed, saying discrimination can come in subtle forms.

“Women are sometimes evaluated and monitored differently once they reach positions of leadership,” she said.

For example, she’s seen situations outside her current workplace in which the opinions of female leaders were not valued in management team meetings. Even though that wasn’t shown outwardly, the fact there was routinely no movement on recommendations by female leaders made it clear they weren’t being valued, said Brosche.

Sometimes the stereotypes aren’t unconscious. At some businesses, people are paid to come in and validate the use of stereotypes among employees, calling attention to female stereotypes they call the “female advantage,” according to Adams.

However, Selena Rezvani, author of “The Next Generation of Women Leaders” (Praeger, 2009), said she does believe men and women “clearly have different styles” of management.

She said women will tend to “coach” employees instead of “reprimand” them, and she believes that’s an asset women can bring to business.

“There’s a lot of strength in women’s natural leadership style,” she said — adding, however, that she also believes these styles are learned behaviors.

Adams said she often hears it said that women have particular strengths in leadership that can give them a “female advantage.” However, that can create an expectation that women have nurturing skills that men don’t have, or that only men have skills like decisiveness.

“[Then] we are pretty surprised when women cross that line and behave like men 'should’ behave.”

But, she said there is nothing advantageous about stereotypes — they’re damaging even if considered good.

Gender stereotypes are thriving in a society that has recognized on many fronts that racial stereotypes are damaging, Paulsen pointed out.

“I think the stereotypes are harmful even when the stereotypes are positive. Would we be comfortable even embracing positive stereotypes about certain ethnic groups?” said Paulsen.

That doesn’t respect the reality of men and women, Adams said.

“Women don’t have special advantages, and neither do men — telling people about gender bias and then relaying stereotypes is misleading. If we really had different skills, it would be bad news for us because those things we describe about men and women are those things that we all need in the world.”

“It’s unfair and unfortunate that we have these definitions of gender that make it so hard to be good in authority and a 'good woman,’ ” added Paulsen.

Adams agreed.

“As a concept, it’s simple, but it’s harder to practice, which is why education on bias can make such a big difference,” said Adams.

sara.conrad@skirt.com,
(904) 359-4693