The Gendered Stereotype of the ‘Good Manager’ Sex Role Expectations towards Male and Female Managers

Markus Gmür

doi:10.5771/0935-9915-2006-2-104

Abstract

mrev management revue , Seite 104 - 121

Highlights

In an article in the German Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology the authors (Rustemeyer/Thrien 1989) asked a provocative question: “The female manager – the male manager: How feminine, how masculine should they be?“ Their study responds to a research question, which has been the subject of discussion in the USA since the beginning of the 1970s, but addresses it from a German perspective
The results of the study confirm the findings of previous German and American studies of the gender roles ascribed to managers and extend them to include the difference between men and women in managerial positions
The findings confirm the assumption that previous studies using a similar approach have overlooked: the significant connection between the ideal manager and the gender of the person under evaluation

Summary

Introduction

In an article in the German Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology the authors (Rustemeyer/Thrien 1989) asked a provocative question: “The female manager – the male manager: How feminine, how masculine should they be?“ Their study responds to a research question, which has been the subject of discussion in the USA since the beginning of the 1970s, but addresses it from a German perspective. Thirty years have past and sensitivity to gender relevant issues in Germany seems to be ebbing away (Krell/Karberg 2002), after peaking in the first half of the 1990’s During this period, the proportion of women in managerial positions in business, politics, research and teaching increased considerably. The share of top management positions in private industry held by women varies between 5% und 15% from industry to industry and overall correlates negatively with firm size: In 1999, of the 2,071 management and executive board members of the 500 biggest German companies only 18 (0.87%) were women (Schmacke 2000) This percentage is very low compared to figures in Great Britain, France, and Scandinavia

Methods

Results

Conclusion