Climbing the ladder under pressure: precarious manhood and the ambition gender gap

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine gender identities of Chinese male and female middle leaders in secondary schools and how gender dynamics play in the leadership process and impact on career aspirations and career development.Design/methodology/approachThis paper draws on the data of a larger qualitative study conducted using the life history approach. Cases of four male and female middle leaders, which are able to demonstrate the “efficacy” of life stories to enhancing our appreciation of the process of gender negotiation and the impact of gender dynamics on leadership behaviour, are reported.FindingsEvidence suggests that traditional Chinese gender identities played out in the leader‐follower relationships although signs of hybrid gender identities were also evident in some cases. Gender identities and the family role perception of the middle leaders have impact on their career aspirations and development.Research limitations/implicationsFindings yield implications for the professional development needs of Chinese middle leaders not only regarding their professional role but also their personal understanding of how gender identities and family role perception impact on their career development. Further study with overlapping and complementary methods to a larger sample could be more illuminating to this complex and multifaceted issue.Originality valueIn the context of global concerns about the shortage of leader talent, the present study illuminates gender identities and the dynamics of the interactions between Chinese superiors and subordinates of different sexes and adds perspective to the leadership development literature.

The current study investigates how descriptive and prescriptive gender norms that communicate work and family identities to be (in)compatible with gender identities limit or enhance young men and women’s family and career aspirations. Results show that young adults (N = 445) perceived gender norms to assign greater compatibility between female and family identities and male and work identities than vice versa, and that young men and women mirror their aspirations to this traditional division of tasks. Spill-over effects of norms across life domains and cross-over effects of norms across gender-groups indicated that young women, more than young men, aimed to ‘have it all’: mirroring their career ambitions to a male career model, while keeping their family aspirations high. Moreover, young women opposed traditional role divisions in the family domain by decreasing their family aspirations in face of norms of lower family involvement or higher career involvement of men. Conversely, in line with traditional gender roles, young men showed lower family aspirations in the face of strong male career norms; and showed increases in their career aspirations when perceiving women to take up more family roles. Young men’s family aspirations were, however, more influenced by new norms prescribing men to invest more in their family, suggesting opportunities for change. Together, these findings show that through social norms, young adults’ gender identity affects aspirations for how to manage the co-presence of their work and family identities. Altering these norms may provide leverage for change to allow both men and women to combine their multiple identities in an enriching way.

Exploring cannabis consumption stigma in Canada with consideration of age and gender differences.

Longitudinal changes in women's career aspirations: Developmental or historical?

In addition to education, based on statistics, it is evident that ambition is a crucial factor when it comes to building a career and pursuing success. More ambitious people tend to strive for greater accomplishments and achieve a higher level of education and independence (in both personal and professional aspects of life). Previous research show that, even though the distribution of graduate degrees among women and men is similar, fewer women are working in executive-level jobs because women need to overcome more social, organizational and personal barriers to higher work positions. The goal of research conducted among students at Algebra University College was to examine if there is a gender gap in the level of ambition and career aspiration among male and female students because of the gender differences that were spotted among the workforce. The results of the conducted research have shown that there are some differences between male and female students when it comes to level of self-esteem and career aspiration, but there is no significant gender gap in ambition level among students.

A discrepancy exists between the number of men and women pursuing careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). To investigate this discrepancy, this study examined a model assessing the potential influence of multiple variables on the career aspirations of women pursuing these degrees. Two hundred thirty-two first and second-year women majoring in STEM fields completed measures assessing quality and quantity of role modeling relationships, STEM self-efficacy, STEM interests, sex role conflict, and career aspirations. Quality of role modeling relationships and STEM selfefficacy significantly predicted career aspirations. STEM self-efficacy did not mediate the relation between quality of role modeling relationships and career aspirations. Findings highlight the importance of role modeling relationships and STEM self-efficacy for women pursuing careers in STEM fields.

Although the ratio of males to females in a population is known to influence behavior in nonhuman animals, little is known about how sex ratio influences human behavior. We propose that sex ratio affects women's family planning and career choices. Using both historical data and experiments, we examined how sex ratio influences women's career aspirations. Findings showed that a scarcity of men led women to seek high-paying careers and to delay starting a family. This effect was driven by how sex ratio altered the mating market, not just the job market. Sex ratios involving a scarcity of men led women to seek lucrative careers because of the difficulty women have in finding an investing, long-term mate under such circumstances. Accordingly, this low-male sex ratio produced the strongest desire for lucrative careers in women who are least able to secure a mate. These findings demonstrate that sex ratio has far-reaching effects in humans, including whether women choose briefcase over baby.

Korean college women's career aspirations were examined among 482 Korean college women in South Korea. The inability of women to envision themselves in a career has been largely attributed to formal education that perpetuates gender inequality. As such, this study investigated the inter-relationships between external factors (school experiences and peer influences) and internal factors (maternal influences with the mother–daughter relationship) in Korean women's development of self-perception and in the significance of their sex-role behaviors (career orientation and feminist identification). The structural equation model (SEM) utilized in this study revealed that Korean women's career orientation was determined directly by their nontraditional sex-role attitudes and by a close, continuous, and satisfactory relationship with their mothers. Overall, maternal influences on the development of daughters' career orientation outweigh other factors encountered in schools, and emerge as key predictor variables in Korean women's career development.

Still, (1986) has claimed that representation of women in management is low and has changed little since the late 60s. There may be structural reasons for this, in particular concentration of women in a relatively restricted spread of occupations and industries. Perceived lack of long term career commitment by women has also been put forward as a factor (Still, 1986; Rosenfeld, 1979). Interaction will exist between women's human capital investments and career commitment. It is also claimed that women may have lower motivation to succeed and that this could account for their low participation rates in upper management (Albrech, 1978; O'Leary, 1974).

This study aims to uncover some of the reasons for differences in attitudes towards family‐friendly and equal opportunities (EO) policies for women between senior and junior staff and between male and female staff. This in‐depth case study of a multi‐national corporation in Hong Kong that included a survey questionnaire, interviews and participant observation suggests four categories of female employees according to their approach to EO: advocators, supporters, outsiders and rejecters. The approach adopted was dependent on the woman's level of empathy towards the situation of working women and the extent of her career ambition. Four categories of male employees can also be classified depending on their level of empathy towards women's situation (similar to women's case) and their extent of career satisfaction (in contrast to women's career ambition), namely, antagonists, outsiders, fence‐sitters and sympathizers. Women at higher levels were less supportive of EO than women at lower levels. No such clear relationship between organizational level and attitudes towards EO was observed among men. In Hong Kong, female managers had little expectation that their organization would be family‐friendly and women workers who consciously chose to balance work and family accepted that it meant fewer promotional chances. No such self‐adjusted depressed ambition was observed among men.

This study aims to uncover some of the reasons for differences in attitudes towards family‐friendly and equal opportunities (EO) policies for women between senior and junior staff and between male and female staff. This in‐depth case study of a multi‐national corporation in Hong Kong that included a survey questionnaire, interviews and participant observation suggests four categories of female employees according to their approach to EO: advocators, supporters, outsiders and rejecters. The approach adopted was dependent on the woman's level of empathy towards the situation of working women and the extent of her career ambition. Four categories of male employees can also be classified depending on their level of empathy towards women's situation (similar to women's case) and their extent of career satisfaction (in contrast to women's career ambition), namely, antagonists, outsiders, fence‐sitters and sympathizers. Women at higher levels were less supportive of EO than women at lower levels. No such clear relationship between organizational level and attitudes towards EO was observed among men. In Hong Kong, female managers had little expectation that their organization would be family‐friendly and women workers who consciously chose to balance work and family accepted that it meant fewer promotional chances. No such self‐adjusted depressed ambition was observed among men.

This paper explores the factors that are likely to motivate members of the future workforce, namely high school students from the United States who are actively considering their career goals. We surveyed 382 high school students participating in a career readiness program to assess their connection to nature (CTN), environmental stewardship, and environmental career aspirations. We analyzed this survey data to 1) test prevailing theories about the connection between CTN and career aspirations, and 2) explore differences along gender identity. Women and gender diverse (WGD) individuals in our sample experience higher CTN and stewardship values when compared to their male peers, but the same levels of career aspiration. Further, our results demonstrate that, while CTN and environmental stewardship did indeed impact our respondents’ aspirations towards an environmental career, gender also had a significant effect. We discuss the potential reasons for our findings, including exploring known barriers in career aspirations among WGD folks, such as early gender stereotypes and explicit discrimination. We then explore the potential of environmental education as a mediator for these troubling trends. We encourage future scholarship to build on our work and contribute towards the creation of a more equitable and impactful environmental workforce.

This study examines the gender-role orientation, gender-role conflict, job commitment and work motivation of female student nurses in the Republic of Ireland. Career aspirations, year of nurse training and geographical area of upbringing were examined as potential concomitants of these dependent measures. Subjects completed self-report measures of job involvement, work motivation, gender-role orientation and gender-role conflict. Results obtained showed that aspiring towards a traditionally female career area of nursing was associated with higher levels of work motivation and lower levels of gender-role conflict. Higher levels of job commitment amongst final year students were also significantly related to traditionally female career aspirations. Year of training had a significant and negative influence on work motivation and job commitment. Finally, nurses from rural areas aspiring towards a traditionally female area of nursing had significantly more feminine gender-role orientations than either their urban counterparts or rural colleagues with non-traditional career aspirations. The theoretical and practical implications of these results are discussed.

Measuring the career aspirations of women in Nepalese banking sector was the objective of the study. The study's population were women who worked in Nepali commercial banks as supervisors or higher. A sample size of 319 women was used for the research. Information was gathered via a questionnaire that included 18 statements about women's career aspirations. Women's career aspirations were measured using a descriptive research approach. The data was described by mean percentage, frequency, and standard deviation. Women moderately agreed that they do not aspire to careers in organizations because they are family-focused, shun risky occupations, lack advocacy, lack ambition, want high job security and fewer challenges, according to the overall mean score of their career aspirations. The study's findings will help them stay informed about their professional goals and areas that require attention if they wish to advance in their careers.

A 300-item questionnaire designed to assess the relationship and relative importance of several factors for women's career aspirations was answered by 169 female college juniors and seniors. Regression analyses showed that women with high career aspirations were satisfied with their lives; confident of their career plans; willing to postpone marriage; nontraditional in their values and behaviors; generally external in orientation, believing that discrimination is responsible for many of women's failures and that organized pressure rather than individual action is necessary to combat this discrimination; certain that women's demands for equality are justified and that most men agree with them; likely to have had a working mother who was perceived as being dissatisfied with her own life; and if planning to marry soon, endorsing dual role compatability. When all variables were considered simultaneously, attitudinal factors were found to best predict career aspirations, while socialization variables were relatively unimportant.