When agency “fits” regardless of gender: Perceptions of applicant fit when job and organization signal male stereotypes

Sure you are ready? Gendered arguments in recruitment for high-status positions in male-dominated fields

Recruitment contexts such as STEM professorships promote clearly defined selection criteria and objective assessment. We illuminate in these contexts, the subjective interpretation of seemingly objective criteria and gendered arguments in discussions of applicants. Additionally, we explore gender bias despite comparable applicant profiles investigating how specific success factors lead to selection recommendations for male and female applicants. Implementing a mixed methods approach, we aim to highlight the influence of heuristics, stereotyping, and signaling in applicant assessments. We interviewed 45 STEM professors. They answered qualitative open-ended interview questions, and evaluated hypothetical applicant profiles, qualitatively and quantitatively. The applicant profiles enabled a conjoint experiment with different applicant attributes varied across the profiles (i.e., publications, willingness to cooperate, network recommendation, and applicant gender), the interviewees indicating scores of selection recommendation while thinking aloud. Our findings reveal gendered arguments, i.e., questioning women potentially fueled by a perception of women's exceptional status and perceived self-questioning of women. Furthermore, they point to gender-independent and gender-dependent success patterns, thereby to potential success factors particularly for female applicants. We contextualize and interpret our quantitative findings in light of professors' qualitative statements.

Perceived competence overrides gender bias: gender roles, affective trust and leader effectiveness

Purpose

Despite abundant research on the negative effect of gender stereotypes on female leaders, it remains unclear whether leader competence perceived by the subordinates could overcome this backlash effect. Drawing on expectation states theory and expectancy violation theory, the authors investigate how the interaction among leaders' gender roles, leader sex and subordinates' perceived leader competence influences leader effectiveness through subordinates' affective trust.

Design/methodology/approach

Data were collected through two-wave surveys among 489 participants from various sectors in different parts of China. SPSS and Hayes PROCESS were used to test the hypotheses.

Findings

High competence perceived by the subordinates helps female leaders to overturn the negative effect of masculinity and strengthen the positive effect of femininity, whereas this positive moderation does not hold for male leaders.

Originality/value

This study addresses the ongoing debate about “female advantage” in leadership by showing that female leaders benefit from high perceived competence and are penalized by low perceived competence to a greater extent than male leaders in terms of leader effectiveness.