Why Women Are the Oppressed Majority
Journal of Social Issues, Vol. 57, No. 4, 2001, pp. 657–674
Description and Prescription: How Gender Stereotypes Prevent Women’s Ascent Up the Organizational Ladder
Madeline E. Heilman*
New York University
This review article posits that the scarcity of women at the upper levels of organizations is a consequence of gender bias in evaluations. It is proposed that gender stereotypes and the expectations they produce about both what women are like (descriptive) and how they should behave (prescriptive) can result in devaluation of their performance, denial of credit to them for their successes, or their penalization for being competent. The processes giving rise to these outcomes are explored, and the procedures that are likely to encourage them are identified. Because of gender bias and the way in which it influences evaluations in work settings, it is argued that being competent does not ensure that a woman will advance to the same organizational level as an equivalently performing man. Why are women so scarce at the top level of organizations? It is proposed here that gender bias in evaluation is a primary cause. The “glass ceiling,” which presents an impenetrable barrier at some point in a woman’s career (Morrison, White, & Van Velsor, 1987), is viewed as a natural consequence of gender stereotypes and the expectations they produce about what women are like and how they should behave. Because of gender bias and the way in which it influences evaluation in work settings, being competent provides no assurance that a woman will advance to the same organizational levels as an equivalently performing man.
*Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Madeline E. Heilman, Department of Psychology, New York University, 6 Washington Place, Room 576, New York, NY 10003 [e-mail: mh@psych.nyu.edu]. 657
© 2001 The Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues
658
Heilman
The claim that gender stereotypes are responsible for biased
Description and Prescription: How Gender Stereotypes Prevent Women’s Ascent Up the Organizational Ladder
Madeline E. Heilman*
New York University
This review article posits that the scarcity of women at the upper levels of organizations is a consequence of gender bias in evaluations. It is proposed that gender stereotypes and the expectations they produce about both what women are like (descriptive) and how they should behave (prescriptive) can result in devaluation of their performance, denial of credit to them for their successes, or their penalization for being competent. The processes giving rise to these outcomes are explored, and the procedures that are likely to encourage them are identified. Because of gender bias and the way in which it influences evaluations in work settings, it is argued that being competent does not ensure that a woman will advance to the same organizational level as an equivalently performing man. Why are women so scarce at the top level of organizations? It is proposed here that gender bias in evaluation is a primary cause. The “glass ceiling,” which presents an impenetrable barrier at some point in a woman’s career (Morrison, White, & Van Velsor, 1987), is viewed as a natural consequence of gender stereotypes and the expectations they produce about what women are like and how they should behave. Because of gender bias and the way in which it influences evaluation in work settings, being competent provides no assurance that a woman will advance to the same organizational levels as an equivalently performing man.
*Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Madeline E. Heilman, Department of Psychology, New York University, 6 Washington Place, Room 576, New York, NY 10003 [e-mail: mh@psych.nyu.edu]. 657
© 2001 The Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues
658
Heilman
The claim that gender stereotypes are responsible for biased