IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v16y2019i10p1813-d233256.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

“Why Can’t I Become a Manager?”—A Systematic Review of Gender Stereotypes and Organizational Discrimination

Author

Listed:
  • Ana M. Castaño

    (Department of Psychology, Universidad de Oviedo, 33003 Oviedo, Spain)

  • Yolanda Fontanil

    (Department of Psychology, Universidad de Oviedo, 33003 Oviedo, Spain)

  • Antonio L. García-Izquierdo

    (Department of Psychology, Universidad de Oviedo, 33003 Oviedo, Spain)

Abstract

Women continue to lag behind for accessing managerial positions, partially due to discrimination at work. One of the main roots of such discrimination is gender stereotyping, so we aim to comprehend those biased procedures. First, we have analyzed those highlighted gender lawsuit cases in the scientific literature that have dealt with stereotypes both in the American and the European work contexts. Second, meta-analytic studies regarding organizational consequences of gender stereotypes have been synthetized. Third, gender stereotypes have been grouped by means of a content analysis of the existing literature after processing 61 articles systematically retrieved from WOS, SCOPUS, and PsycINFO databases. As a result, a taxonomy of gender stereotypes has been achieved evidencing that descriptive and prescriptive stereotypes have an impact on decision-making procedures through the apparently perception of women as less suitable for managerial positions. Moreover, we offer a deep explanation of the gender discrimination phenomenon under the umbrella of psychosocial theories, and some measures for successfully overcoming management stereotyping, showing that organizational culture can be improved from both the perspective of equal employment opportunities and the organizational justice frameworks for reaching a balanced and healthier workplace.

Suggested Citation

  • Ana M. Castaño & Yolanda Fontanil & Antonio L. García-Izquierdo, 2019. "“Why Can’t I Become a Manager?”—A Systematic Review of Gender Stereotypes and Organizational Discrimination," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(10), pages 1-29, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:16:y:2019:i:10:p:1813-:d:233256
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/16/10/1813/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/16/10/1813/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Sergio Pérez & Samuel Fernández-Salinero & Gabriela Topa, 2018. "Sustainability in Organizations: Perceptions of Corporate Social Responsibility and Spanish Employees’ Attitudes and Behaviors," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(10), pages 1-15, September.
    2. Dušan Drbohlav & Dagmar Dzúrová, 2017. "Social Hazards as Manifested Workplace Discrimination and Health (Vietnamese and Ukrainian Female and Male Migrants in Czechia)," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 14(10), pages 1-16, October.
    3. Deybbi Cuéllar-Molina & Antonia M. García-Cabrera & Ana M. Lucia-Casademunt, 2018. "Is the Institutional Environment a Challenge for the Well-Being of Female Managers in Europe? The Mediating Effect of Work–Life Balance and Role Clarity Practices in the Workplace," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(9), pages 1-16, August.
    4. David Mayer & Maribeth Kuenzi & Rebecca Greenbaum, 2010. "Examining the Link Between Ethical Leadership and Employee Misconduct: The Mediating Role of Ethical Climate," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 95(1), pages 7-16, September.
    5. Dominique A Potvin & Emily Burdfield-Steel & Jacqueline M Potvin & Stephen M Heap, 2018. "Diversity begets diversity: A global perspective on gender equality in scientific society leadership," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 13(5), pages 1-14, May.
    6. Schminke, Marshall & Ambrose, Maureen L. & Neubaum, Donald O., 2005. "The effect of leader moral development on ethical climate and employee attitudes," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 97(2), pages 135-151, July.
    7. Unnur D. Einarsdottir & Thora H. Christiansen & Erla S. Kristjansdottir, 2018. "“It’s a Man Who Runs the Show†: How Women Middle-Managers Experience Their Professional Position, Opportunities, and Barriers," SAGE Open, , vol. 8(1), pages 21582440177, March.
    8. Luke Holman & Devi Stuart-Fox & Cindy E Hauser, 2018. "The gender gap in science: How long until women are equally represented?," PLOS Biology, Public Library of Science, vol. 16(4), pages 1-20, April.
    9. Jan de Jonge & Maria C.W. Peeters, 2019. "The Vital Worker: Towards Sustainable Performance at Work," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(6), pages 1-6, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. M. Guerci & Giovanni Radaelli & Elena Siletti & Stefano Cirella & A. Rami Shani, 2015. "The Impact of Human Resource Management Practices and Corporate Sustainability on Organizational Ethical Climates: An Employee Perspective," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 126(2), pages 325-342, January.
    2. Ozgur Demirtas & A. Akdogan, 2015. "The Effect of Ethical Leadership Behavior on Ethical Climate, Turnover Intention, and Affective Commitment," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 130(1), pages 59-67, August.
    3. Damini Saini & Sunita Singh Sengupta, 2021. "Leading the Indian Managers to Satisfaction: The Mediating Role of Ethical Climate," Global Business Review, International Management Institute, vol. 22(2), pages 485-499, April.
    4. Kubilay Gok & John J. Sumanth & William H. Bommer & Ozgur Demirtas & Aykut Arslan & Jared Eberhard & Ali Ihsan Ozdemir & Ahmet Yigit, 2017. "You May Not Reap What You Sow: How Employees’ Moral Awareness Minimizes Ethical Leadership’s Positive Impact on Workplace Deviance," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 146(2), pages 257-277, December.
    5. Stijn Decoster & Jeroen Stouten & Thomas M. Tripp, 2021. "When Employees Retaliate Against Self-Serving Leaders: The Influence of the Ethical Climate," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 168(1), pages 195-213, January.
    6. Lin Zhang & Yuanyuan Shang & Ying Huang & Gunnar Sivertsen, 2022. "Gender differences among active reviewers: an investigation based on publons," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 127(1), pages 145-179, January.
    7. Wenxuan Shi & Renli Wu, 2024. "Women’s strength in science: exploring the influence of female participation on research impact and innovation," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 129(7), pages 4529-4551, July.
    8. Dong-Hong Zhu & Ya-Ping Chang, 2013. "Negative Publicity Effect of the Business Founder’s Unethical Behavior on Corporate Image: Evidence from China," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 117(1), pages 111-121, September.
    9. Yidong Tu & Xinxin Lu & Yue Yu, 2017. "Supervisors’ Ethical Leadership and Employee Job Satisfaction: A Social Cognitive Perspective," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 18(1), pages 229-245, February.
    10. Isabel-María García-Sánchez & Cristina Aibar-Guzmán & Carmen Serrano-Valdecillos & Beatriz Aibar-Guzmán, 2022. "Analysis of the Dialogue with Stakeholders by the IBEX 35 Companies," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(3), pages 1-26, February.
    11. Elizabeth Sheedy & Patrick Garcia & Denise Jepsen, 2021. "The Role of Risk Climate and Ethical Self-interest Climate in Predicting Unethical Pro-organisational Behaviour," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 173(2), pages 281-300, October.
    12. Emmelie Hazelzet & Eleonora Picco & Inge Houkes & Hans Bosma & Angelique de Rijk, 2019. "Effectiveness of Interventions to Promote Sustainable Employability: A Systematic Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(11), pages 1-17, June.
    13. Harris, Jared D. & Sapienza, Harry J. & Bowie, Norman E., 2009. "Ethics and entrepreneurship," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 24(5), pages 407-418, September.
    14. Kwiek, Marek & Szymula, Łukasz, 2024. "Growth of Science and Women: Methodological Challenges of Using Structured Big Data," SocArXiv w34pr, Center for Open Science.
    15. Silke Eisenbeiss & Daan Knippenberg & Clemens Fahrbach, 2015. "Doing Well by Doing Good? Analyzing the Relationship Between CEO Ethical Leadership and Firm Performance," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 128(3), pages 635-651, May.
    16. Josh Yamamoto & Eitan Frachtenberg, 2022. "Gender Differences in Collaboration Patterns in Computer Science," Publications, MDPI, vol. 10(1), pages 1-21, February.
    17. Michele Pezzoni & Fabiana Visentin, 2024. "Gender bias in team formation: the case of the European Science Foundation’s grants," Science and Public Policy, Oxford University Press, vol. 51(2), pages 247-260.
    18. Sorana-Alexandra Constantinescu & Maria-Henriete Pozsar, 2022. "Was This Supposed to Be on the Test? Academic Leadership, Gender and the COVID-19 Pandemic in Denmark, Hungary, Romania, and United Kingdom," Publications, MDPI, vol. 10(2), pages 1-13, April.
    19. Francesca Gino & Erin L. Krupka & Roberto A. Weber, 2013. "License to Cheat: Voluntary Regulation and Ethical Behavior," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 59(10), pages 2187-2203, October.
    20. Jody Illies & Roni Reiter-Palmon, 2008. "Responding Destructively in Leadership Situations: The Role of Personal Values and Problem Construction," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 82(1), pages 251-272, September.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:16:y:2019:i:10:p:1813-:d:233256. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.