Managerial Sex Role Stereotyping among Academic Staff within UK Business Schools

Abstract

The growth of women in management positions has largely been at junior levels. This has been particularly so within the education sector, where the growth in the number of women employed has had little impact on the proportion of women in senior positions. One explanation for the lack of women in senior management positions has been the male stereotyping of the manager role. Reports on a survey, using the Schein Descriptive Index, which was carried out among academics in 19 UK business schools or management departments of the new universities which showed different patterns of stereotyping from that found among managers in other organizations. Male academics at lower levels did not stereotype the manager role at all, but those in senior positions stereotyped the manager role as male. Among the female academics the results showed no association between the characteristics of successful managers and those of women in general, but some association between the characteristics of managers and men in general.