Search results

Attempts to discover whether African Americans who aspire to managerial positions are the victims of racial discrimination. Seeks to provide insight into the perceptions of these candidates against a managerial profile. Provides the results of a survey of 231 African American students at a business school of a historically African‐American University in the southern USA. Concludes that some African‐Americans’ experiences are unique to this minority.

This chapter seeks to theoretically answer the question: under which circumstances do groups succeed under female leadership? Further, is it possible to conceptualize the engineering of groups such that group success under female leadership is a likely outcome?

In this chapter, I draw on identity control theory (Burke & Stets, 2009; Stets & Burke, 2005) and role congruity theory (Eagly, 2003) to discuss the implications for female leaders of the discrepancy between the female gender identity and the leader identity. Next, I draw upon status characteristics theory (Berger et al., 1972) to further illustrate the negative consequences of being a female leader. Then, drawing on group processes research, I make the explicit link between the negative expectations for female leaders on group performance through the endorsement of group members. Finally, I utilize innovative research using institutionalization of female leadership to propose a possible solution for improving group performance.

I present nine testable hypotheses ready for empirical test.

I propose that training materials underscoring the skills that females have as leaders can subvert the development of conflictual expectations facing female leaders, thus removing the deleterious effects on group performance. That is, if group members receive training that emphasizes the competencies and skills women bring to the group’s task and to the leadership role, then group performance will not be threatened.

This study examined the relationship among biological sex, gender role, organizational status, and conflict management behavior of males and females in three similar organizations. Individuals (N = 118) from upper and lower status organizational positions completed the Rahim Organizational Conflict Inventory‐II, in the context of two recalled organizational conflicts (Rahim, 1983a), and the Bern Sex Role Inventory (Bern, 1974). After controlling for biological sex, when compared with other gender roles masculine individuals were highest on the dominating conflict style, whereas feminine individuals were highest on the avoiding style, and androgynous individuals on the integrating style. Further, upper organizational status individuals were higher on the integrating style, while lower status individuals reported greater use of avoiding and obliging styles.

Traditionally, the differences between men and women have been used as excuses to exclude females from certain jobs. Occupational segregation is the term that has been used to describe the heavy concentrations of men and women into different jobs. For example, occupational segregation supposedly explains why men dominate managerial positions while women are often consigned to other occupations with lower pay, status, and responsibility. Specifically, Fierman (1990) reported that only nineteen of more than four thousand people (less than half of one per cent) listed as the highest paid officers and directors of the largest eight hundred public U.S. companies were women.

This research was designed to investigate what differences might exist between graduating African American and White business students regarding achievement motivation as determined by their fear of success and fear of appearing incompetent and whether there exists any moderating influence based upon their attitude toward the role of women in society. The sample consisted of 99 African American students and 102 White students. African Americans scored significantly lower than Whites on the Fear of Appearing Incompetent Scale. Likewise, African American women scored significantly lower than white women on this scale. No differences were found in the scores among African American Males and White males on the Fear of Appearing Incompetent Scale. For the entire sample, those with a progressive view of women scored higher on the Fear of Success Scale than those with traditional views of women. Achievement motivation among the groups of respondents is also evaluated.

Relatively few comparative studies have examined how perceptions across cultures might converge or diverge regarding careers in general and new venture careers in particular. Our research addresses this gap by providing a comparative study of career perceptions among undergraduate business students in three countries with different levels of experience with capitalism: Ukraine, South Korea, and the United States. Results suggest both surprising differences and interesting similarities between undergraduate students in the three countries with regard to how they perceive characteristics associated with entrepreneurial careers. Findings are discussed in the context of distinct differences and commonalities across cultures and implications for future research provided.

Retirement is a complex and important transition in an employee's life. The merits of retirement policies have been discussed from both the individual and the organisational perspectives. Shaw and Grubbs, for example, have emphasised the need for additional research as a guide to managing the retirement process effectively. Clearly, this need is critical in light of the extension of the mandatory retirement age to 70 (Age Discrimination in Employment Act — ADEA) and the rapid increase in the number of age discrimination lawsuits.

Job applicants seek to make a positive impression during the hiring process by emphasising attributes they perceive to be important to the hiring organisation. However, significant differences have been found to exist between different US subcultures in terms of their perceptions of the importance of certain selection criteria. Hence, individuals from different subcultures may emphasise different qualities during the interview process as a result of perceived differences in importance. Thus, those making hiring decisions may be getting different impressions of applicants who may be similarly qualified but whomay come from different subcultures, because of differences in emphasised attributes. This study examines African‐American and White‐American perceptions of the importance of 26 job selection criteria, using data from 1985 and 2002. Of particular interest was to determine if subcultural perceptions had changed over time, or, in other words, if there were significant differences in the importance rankings of the 1985 and 2002 African‐American groups and, similarly, of the two White‐American groups.

Explores the issues of women and leadership style in a non‐commercial and non‐Western context. Attempts to describe and discuss research that was undertaken with 49 women from the Civil Service of Bangladesh in order to determine their perceptions of their own leadership behaviour. Consider whether these perceptions are likely to lead to the adoption of either a predominantly transformational or transactional leadership behaviour style.