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The purpose of this paper is to examine whether masculine personality traits in women generate better job market prospects, as compared to feminine personality traits.

The authors utilized a field experiment (correspondent test) to capture the way in which firms respond to women who exhibit masculine and feminine personality traits. In doing so, the authors minimized the potential for reverse causality bias and unobserved heterogeneities to occur.

Women who exhibit masculine personality traits have a 4.3 percentage points greater likelihood of gaining access to occupations than those displaying feminine personality traits. In both male- and female-dominated occupations, women with masculine personality traits have an occupational access advantage, as compared to those exhibiting feminine personality traits. Moreover, women with masculine personality traits take up positions which offer 10 percentage points higher wages, in comparison with those displaying feminine personality traits. Furthermore, wage premiums are higher for those exhibiting masculine personality traits in male-dominated occupations than for female-dominated positions.

Within the labor market, masculine personality traits may increase competency levels and leadership capability.

As feminine personality traits are stereotypically attributed to women, and these characteristics appear to yield fewer rewards within the market, they may offer one of many plausible explanations as to why women experience higher unemployment rates, while also receiving lower earnings, as compared to men.

Masculine and feminine personality traits may be a probable outcome of wage-related differentials. The experimental study isolates spurious relationships and offers clear evaluations of the effect of masculine and feminine personality traits on occupational access and wage distribution. To the best of the authors knowledge, this is the first-field experiment to examine the effect of masculine and feminine personality traits on entry-level pay scales.

Does gender stereotype endorsement play a role in the customer's cognitive evaluation of new ventures owned by women entrepreneurs? The authors’ cross-cultural study integrates literature on gender stereotype endorsement and cognitive legitimacy to address this research question.

The authors use a two-study experimental design and analyze our results by cultural context to test our hypotheses: one drawn from college students in Iran and one from working professionals in the United States.

The authors’ comparative results suggest that the evaluation of feminine versus masculine characteristics of women entrepreneurs varies depending on the evaluator's (in this case the customer's) endorsement of gender stereotypes and the cultural context. Specifically, the authors found that a new venture owned by a woman entrepreneur who displays feminine characteristics is perceived as more legitimate when the customer endorses feminine stereotypes, regardless of the country.

The authors’ research contributes to the literature on cognitive legitimacy and women's entrepreneurship by unveiling the cultural conditions and factors that allow women entrepreneurs to benefit from acting in a stereotypically feminine way. The authors use a binary approach to gender. Future research should extend our findings to also include a non-binary approach.

This study contributes to women's entrepreneurship research by unraveling the implications of gender stereotype endorsement, legitimacy and culture in customer evaluation of ventures owned by women.

A key obstacle to women’s advancement to managerial roles and leadership positions is the stereotype of the “good” manager, which is characterized by masculine traits. Although this gendered managerial stereotype has been very persistent over the past decades, Powell et al. (2021) recently showed that business students in the USA reported a decreased preference for masculine leadership traits and an increased preference for feminine leadership traits, resulting in a so-called “androgynous” manager profile that contains both masculine and feminine characteristics. This study aims to replicate Powell et al.’s (2021) findings among an older sample of working adults in The Netherlands.

The present study tests for changes in the managerial stereotype in a sample of 5,542 Dutch employees across 2005, 2010 and 2020.

In line with Powell et al. (2021), the results confirm employees’ decreased preference for masculine and increased preference for feminine leadership traits in 2020 compared to 2005. Nevertheless, Dutch employees still favored masculine over feminine leadership traits in 2020, contrary to the findings by Powell et al. (2021).

These observed changes in the managerial stereotype could prove to be an important step forward for women’s advancement to management and leadership positions.

With the present study, the authors demonstrate cross-cultural generalizability and conclude that the stereotype of a “good manager” is not only changing among US business students but also among working adults in The Netherlands. Overall, this study strengthens the observation that the stereotype of a “good manager” is becoming less gendered.

The paper presents a structural model to explain the relationship between various gender-role orientations (GROs) and motivational antecedents leading to entrepreneurial intention (EI). It examines the influence of GRO in the formation of EI among educated youths of Northeast India.

Using a structural equation modelling approach, the hypothesized model is tested on a sample of 642 post-graduate students from four different universities in Northeast India, a developing region with unique socio-cultural diversity. The mediating role of EI antecedents on the relationship between GRO and EI was examined after establishing the reliability and validity of the measurement model.

Results from the analysis support the hypothesized structural relationship confirming the influence of GRO on EI. The study also finds that androgynous individuals have a higher EI than their masculine or feminine counterparts.

The study contributes to the understanding of EI determinants from a GRO perspective, especially in the industrially backward region of an emerging economy. It adds to the existing literature by empirically proving the role of gender orientation. The results have several policy implications for educational institutions and policymakers in emerging economies.

The paper re-examines the predictive value of the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) model from a GRO perspective and compares indirect effects of gender identity through motivational antecedents on EI. Whilst TPB predicted EI in Western and developed countries, using a more diverse sample provides strong empirical evidence in the context of a developing region.

Literature and practice show that the integration of feminine characteristics into leadership in the management of hotel organizations is becoming increasingly important. Although some leading hotel chains claim to further this integration by encouraging women to develop their career paths upwards into the higher management ranks, little research has been conducted into this phenomenon. This is why this study seeks to assess and elaborate the current status of attempts to integrate feminine aspects into leadership within the hotel industry. The qualitative study held among hotel managers demonstrates that the terms ‘masculine’ and ‘feminine’ are confusing. Additionally, when feminine and masculine leadership are considered, these terms are not carefully implemented. Hence, there is a strong need for greater in-depth knowledge and effective training to enhance the successful implementation of feminine and masculine leadership in the hotel industry.

In this study, the authors relate cultural masculinity to individual level sexist beliefs (hostile and benevolent sexism) and gendered entrepreneurial stereotypes. The purpose of this paper is to explore whether hostile and benevolent sexism affect entrepreneurial intentions and whether this relationship is mediated by gendered entrepreneurial stereotypes.

The proposed relationships are explored using a sample of 192 participants from the USA and India with varying interest in starting a business. An online survey instrument was used to collect the data. Regression and mediation analyses were used to analyze the data.

The authors find that both hostile and benevolent sexism are positively related to entrepreneurial intentions of both men and women. However, only benevolent sexism is related to both the masculine and feminine gender traits ascribed to entrepreneurs. Interestingly, the authors find support that hostile sexism is actually positively related to feminine traits ascribed to entrepreneurs, albeit with a small effect size. The authors do not find any support that these results vary by participant gender; the findings are implicated for both men and women alike. The authors find that for both hostile and benevolent sexism only the feminine traits perceived as stereotypic of entrepreneurs partly mediate their relationship on entrepreneurial intentions.

The survey consists of cross-sectional, self-report data, and therefore the authors cannot conclusively infer causality. The direction of relationships found is of theoretical value. Only two countries are included in the sample limiting generalizability to other countries. Most of the participants in the sample reported some interest or experience in nascent entrepreneurial activities, which may limit the generalizability of findings to those without any prior interest or experience as a nascent entrepreneur.

The relationship between ambivalent sexism (both hostile and benevolent sexism) and both entrepreneurial intentions, and the gendered traits ascribed to entrepreneurs, has not yet been explored before this work. Using the lens of cultural masculinity, we present a theoretical model of how hostile and benevolent sexist attitudes facilitate or inhibit entrepreneurship via how entrepreneurs are perceived. This is the first study we know of which explores the relationship between Ambivalent Sexism and the gender attributes ascribed to entrepreneurs, and how these gendered entrepreneurial stereotypes in turn are related to entrepreneurial intentions.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationships between men and brands and specifically how they configure their masculinities in relation to daily used brands.

In-depth interviews with projective technique were conducted with 20 men with different masculinities and sexual orientations to explore their practices regarding and relations to various product categories and brands.

First, this paper shows how men’s relationships to daily used brands vary according to different forms of masculinities, in a continuum apparently disconnected from sexual orientation. Men with “resistant” masculinities are strongly attached to choosing masculine brands; others with more hybrid masculinities are more open to feminine brands and do not care about brand gender. Second, this paper shows the importance of brand gender salience: Men with more traditional masculinities interpret brands through the prism of gender first and over-interpret gendered cues in brand execution. Third, feminine brands are considered as threats for men with traditional masculinities. Fourth, brand extensions to the opposite sex are criticized by men with more traditional masculinities but appreciated by men with hybrid masculinities, independently of sexual orientation.

This paper investigates the relationships between men and brand gender for daily used brands, by introducing a diversity of masculinities. Furthermore, it builds on a qualitative approach to capture individuals’ diverse masculinities. This helps capture the complexity of gender and better understand the relationships between men, masculinities and brands.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of gender identity on protégés' satisfaction with mentoring relationships. More specifically, it aims to investigate whether or not a protégé's feminine or masculine identity, by virtue of emphasizing different criteria, roles, and preferences, impacts his or her satisfaction with the performance of a mentor.

Managers and/or professionals, identified by in‐career MBA students at large universities in the East, completed surveys to assess relationship satisfaction as a mentoring outcome.

The results of this study indicate that masculine protégés, who strongly identify with their career roles, report being more satisfied with mentors who provide career development support. Conversely, feminine protégés, who measure career success using socio‐emotional‐based criteria, report being more satisfied with mentors who provide psychosocial support.

The study is limited in its generalizability due to the type of sample studied. The sample consisted of managers from a variety of male‐dominated occupations. In addition, since the data were self‐reported on a single survey, common method bias may also be an issue.

Despite limitations, the study implies that assessment of gender identity and related skills can provide organizations with more effective guidance and matching of mentors and protégés to maximize perceived satisfaction on the part of the protégé.

Although many studies have investigated a variety of factors that affect mentoring, few have examined the influence of gender identity on the functioning of these relationships.

The purpose of this study is to examine and discuss whether women executives in the hospitality industry in Hong Kong adopt a feminine, masculine or gender-neutral approach to leadership.

This study focuses on women with positional power in senior-level leadership roles within the hospitality and tourism industry in Hong Kong. A qualitative approach was taken to capture the multiple dimensions of these female executive’s leadership orientations. The participants included 24 women executives.

Participants’ representations show that women have a multitude of leadership styles that operate on three continua. Not all women executives display leadership orientations that adhere to their indigenous culture values. Individual differences or differences related to the organizational culture are still relevant.

A low number of women in leadership positions in Hong Kong limited the selection process of participants. There might be a selection bias based on that the participants volunteered to participate in the research study and some declined. Findings are based on participants’ memory to reflect on their leadership styles.

Because of the traditional and conventional definitions of leadership, women leaders might feel that they should behave in a masculine way to be taken seriously as a leader. There is a need to understand whether women executives today manage to defeat these stereotypes and comfortably display a feminine approach to leadership. A culture that values and leverages feminine approaches in addition to masculine approaches is likely to have higher engagement and retention of women.

The purpose of this paper is to challenge the customary emphasis on masculine values in top management teams (TMTs) and offer a cultural feminist approach to improving women's participation in leadership roles in organisations.

The paper builds on the theory of diversity and “difference”, instead of “sameness”, to demonstrate the relationship between feminine values, team member diversity, and team effectiveness. The paper develops a three‐tier approach to making better use of gender diversity in TMTs: unravel masculine hegemony in the workplace; create awareness of distinct values offered by women as team members and team leaders; and progress team diversity from the customary token representation to gender inclusive team structures and routines.

The paper suggests that TMTs benefit when learning to accommodate and integrate feminine values, along with masculine values, into an inclusive work culture that enhances teams’ performing capacities.

Token representation is only one dimension of gendered disadvantage. Several complex forms of gendered disadvantage reside at macro‐level or extra‐organisational layers of life. Therefore, tackling masculine hegemony should involve a multilevel approach that tackles gendered disadvantage in domains as wide as work, organisation, and society.

Through the three‐tier framework for managing diversity in TMTs, the paper offers a practical way forward, moving beyond the current functional‐structured approach towards TMTs.

The paper argues that conventional diversity management practices remain influenced by a hegemonic masculine approach towards increasing women's participation in employment. Furthermore, a narrow emphasis on “sameness” instead of “diversity” of women and men reinforces male hegemony, contributing to the perpetuation of low numbers of women in TMTs.