Gender and Managerial Stereotypes: Have the Times Changed?

Abstract

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.