The social stereotypes of the Portuguese female and male manager

Abstract

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the social stereotypes of the male and the female manager and their implications for the persistent inequalities between men and women in the management context.Design/methodology/approachThe study was conducted using a sample of undergraduate management students who were asked to fill in a questionnaire containing a comprehensive list of descriptors of male and female managers.FindingsThe social stereotypes of the female and the male manager appear to be relatively close and reflecting the dimensions of instrumentality and rationality associated with the work and the management contexts. The similarity is explained by the adoption of the masculine subcategory as the referent to the female manager. In contrast with what was obtained for the female manager, respondents tend to associate the male manager exclusively with the public context. Female students, in particular, seem to assume the social constraints inherent to women as a social category, while perceiving the female manager as an outstanding individual who goes beyond what is expected for her gender group.Research limitations/implicationsFuture research needs to overcome thinking about gender as a dichotomy and start voicing the diversity of women and men managers as individuals.Practical implicationsThe recognition and acceptance of women in management will not be achieved simply by the demographic feminisation of management. It requires questioning the symbolic meanings embedded in the management discourse and social practices that keep the masculine as the referent.Originality/valueThe findings point towards an asymmetric relationship between the meanings associated with the female and the male manager subcategories that lead to additional difficulties in the acceptance of women as managers and help to understand the inequalities that persist between men and women in management.