Study in China shows gender role identity is far more significant than biological gender in determining management aspirations

Purpose The authors wanted to assess the relevance of gender and gender role identity in developing managerial ambitions because of the shortage of females in top positions worldwide. The Chinese context was interesting because of the rapid social changes there. Design/methodology/approach The researchers collected data from participants attending a leadership training programme organized by three Chinese universities in Beijing in 2018. Most were from lower and middle-level managers in various government sectors from all over China. The authors distributed questionnaires with the aid of supervisors. Findings The study confirmed that individuals of either gender with stereotypically masculine characteristics have higher management aspirations. Results also showed people with androgynous traits tend to be more ambitious to be leaders. But female managers who perceive themselves as androgynous and masculine tend to possess higher management aspirations than females who see themselves as exhibiting feminine traits. Originality/value The authors of the study said the results would help companies to reach a better understanding of how to reduce the disparity in numbers of men and women in management positions.

Men’s Psychotherapy Use, Male Role Norms, and Male-Typical Depression Symptoms: Examining 716 Men and Women Experiencing Psychological Distress

Men as compared to women are half as often affected by depressive and anxiety disorders and seek significantly less help for mental health issues than women. Adherence to traditional male role norms (AtTMRN) may hinder men from describing prototypical depression symptoms and from seeking psychotherapy. The current study compared whether AtTMRN, gender role identity, or the experience of prototypical or male-typical externalizing mental health symptoms were associated with psychotherapy use in men and women. In an anonymous online survey, 716 participants (37% men) reporting to currently experience psychological distress were examined. Information was obtained on psychotherapy use, depression and anxiety symptoms, gender role identity, and traditional male role norms. Although experiencing similar levels of depression, men compared to women showed a reduction in psychotherapy use by 29%. Masculine role identity was directly associated with reduced psychotherapy use in men (β = −0.41, p = 0.029), whereas AtTMRN was not (men: β = −0.04, p = 0.818; women: β = −0.25, p = 0.064). Higher externalizing depression symptomatology (β = −0.68, p = 0.005), but not prototypical depression symptomatology (β = −0.02, p = 0.499), was associated with reduced psychotherapy use in men but not women (p > 0.05). Interactions revealed that men, but not women, with high AtTMRN use psychotherapy only when exhibiting elevated symptom levels. The results corroborate previous reports showing reduced psychotherapy use in men as compared to women and identify elevated masculine role identity and male-typical externalizing depression symptomatology as direct factors associated with reduced psychotherapy use in psychologically distressed men. AtTMRN interacts with mental health symptoms to predict psychotherapy use, indicating that men with high AtTMRN only use psychotherapy when exhibiting high symptomatology.

Job Satisfaction Differences by Gender Role Identity among Female Firefighters

This study was conducted to prepare fundamental data, improve job satisfaction, and assess the job satisfaction differences by gender role identity among female firefighters. This study was carried out through a structured self-administered questionnaires survey among 193 female firefighters in a fire station in Kyeong-Nam province. The independent variable was gender role identity type (30 items), and the dependent variable was job satisfaction (33 items). The collected data was analyzed using the SPSS (IBM. Ver. 25.0) statistical package program. There was a positive effect of both types in gender role identity on job satisfaction among female firefighters. When controlling the independent variable affecting job satisfaction, the level of job satisfaction was higher in both types of gender role identity than other factors.