Gender gaps in academia persist with women being less likely to attain leadership, earning less salary, and receiving less research funding and resources compared to their male peers. The current research proposes yet another gender gap in academia called lack of fit, whereby compared to male academics, female academics perceive themselves to fit less well with the masculine 'superhero' stereotype of the successful academic. Results from a nationwide survey performed on all Dutch universities (N = 3978) demonstrated that academics perceive agency (e.g., self-confident, self-focused, competitive) as more descriptive of the stereotypical successful academic than communality (e.g., team-oriented, good teacher, collegial). Moreover, early career female academics perceived highest lack of fit with this agentic occupational stereotype, which predicted lower work engagement, career efficacy and career identification, and higher stress and exit intentions. Implications for building more inclusive academic cultures, where not only agentic, but also communal academic practice is recognized and rewarded are discussed.
Academics as Agentic Superheroes: Female academics’ lack of fit with the agentic stereotype of success limits their career advancement
