Revisited: how gender role stereotypes affect the image of entrepreneurs among young adults

Purpose Entrepreneurship is shaped by a male norm, which has been widely demonstrated in qualitative studies. The authors strive to complement these methods by a quantitative approach. First, gender role stereotypes were measured in entrepreneurship. Second, the explicit notions of participants were captured when they described entrepreneurs. Therefore, this paper aims to revisit gender role stereotypes among young adults. Design/methodology/approach To measure stereotyping, participants were asked to describe entrepreneurs in general and either women or men in general. The Schein Descriptive Index (SDI) for characterization was used. Following the procedures of Schein (1975), intra-class-correlation was calculated as a measure of congruence. This approach was complemented by controlling explicit notions, i.e. the image that participants had when describing entrepreneurs. Findings The images of men and entrepreneurs show a high and significant congruence (r = 0.803), mostly in those adjectives that are untypical for men and entrepreneurs. The congruence of women and entrepreneurs was low (r = 0.152) and insignificant. Contrary to the participants’ beliefs, their explicit notions did not have any effect on measures of congruence. However, young adults who knew business owners in their surroundings rated the congruence of women and entrepreneurs significantly higher (r = 0.272) than average. Originality/value This study is unique in combining “implicit” stereotypes and explicit notions. It demonstrates that gender stereotypes in entrepreneurship are powerful. The image of the entrepreneur remains male, independent of explicit notions. As young adults who knew business owners in their surroundings rated the congruence of women and entrepreneurs higher, this could be a starting point for education programmes.

Analyzing the Correlation between Gender Traits and the Perception of Effective Leadership

As the percentage of women managers has risen in the workforce, so have questions of whether women could effectively manage corporations. This curiosity has yielded studies designed to analyze the correlation between gender and management. Additionally, the research has led to contrary views from one research project to another. In their article, Leadership, Education and Gender Roles: Think manager, Think '?'., Coder and Spiller (2013) reviewed three varying trains of thought from the 1970s through the 1990s to examine how various shortcomings in methodology might impact comprehension and remediation of gender issues and management. The article reviews research that appears to substantiate that when people think manager, they think male. This is followed by data, which suggests that when people think research, we think female and finally research endorsing the train of thought that when people think manager, there is no gender specific thought. Two Indexes developed in the 1970s greatly impacted gender and its correlation to management traits. These were the Schein Descriptive Index (SDI) and the BEM Sex Role Index (BSRI). According Coder and Spiller (20113) results of the Schein Descriptive Index, a test developed by Virginia Schein, indicated the characteristics of women managers more closely resembled males than females.

PERCEPTIONS OF MEN, WOMEN, AND CEOS: THE EFFECTS OF GENDER IDENTITY

Previous studies (e.g., Heilman, Block, & Martell, 1995; Heilman, Block, Martell, & Simon, 1989; Kunkel, Dennis, & Waters, 2003; Schein, 1973, 1975; Schein & Mueller, 1992) have detected differences in how participants perceive the characteristics of males and females in general and those of male and female managers, though sex-based stereotyping dissipated with the consideration of successful managers. This study, an administration of the Schein Descriptive Index (SDI, Schein, 1973) and the Bem Sex Role Inventory (BSRI; Bem, 1974) to 220 participants (125 women and 95 men), is the second to extend the operationalization of the extant program beyond the commonplace label of manager to that of chief executive officer (CEO) and the first to find that participants' gender identities may be critical to their perceptions of similarities and differences between the sexes. While males and masculinity continue to be associated with organizational leadership attributes, individuals of either sex who express feminine orientations perceive little difference between the sexes.

"LAS NIÑAS TAMBIÉN JUEGAN CON CARRITOS" La Mujer en la Gerencia: el caso del Perú

The purpose of this research is to determine whether there are differences between managers’ perceptions about the characteristics of a successful manager. It is based on Schein’s studies of gender role stereotypes and the characteristics required to be considered a successful manager. The hypotheses, one for men and one for women, are that managers will perceive that successful ones have attitudes, characteristics and temperaments that are more commonly attributed to men in general than to women in general. The slightly modified Schein Descriptive Index questionnaire to a sample of 268 managers working in Lima. Interclass correlation coefficients (r’) were calculated from two random group analysis of variance of the 92 descriptive items. In conclusion, it is found that while the hypothesis in confirmed in male managers, the same is not true in female managers, who perceive thar both men and women have characteristics of successful managers. Another finding is that age and years of experience moderate the perceptions of women, while the level of education moderates those of men.