Volunteer Experience May Not Bridge Gaps in Employment

This study investigated whether volunteer experience compensates for a gap in employment that occurs either early or late in one's career. Recruiters (n = 82) evaluated resumes of fictitious applicants with either early or late employment gaps, plus one of three types of volunteer experience: career‐related, career‐unrelated, and none. For applicants with an employment gap, resumes with volunteer experience – regardless of its career‐relatedness – were not rated significantly higher than resumes without volunteer experience. Although not statistically significant, resumes with late employment gaps were rated highest when they had career‐related volunteer experience and lowest when they had no volunteer experience. In line with human capital theory, applicants late in their career were rated higher than applicants early in their career.     

The double standard of aging and the social situation: Judgments of attractiveness of the middle-aged woman

Two hundred male and 200 female undergraduates judged pictures of middle-aged women and middle-aged men for their immediate emotional appeal. Pictures had been selected to be of middle attractiveness and to represent individuals who appeared to be between 35 and 55 years old. Subjects made judgments under one of the following social conditions: in private, or in small groups which were all male, all female, or half male and half female. Social condition and subjects' sex affected judgments significantly, and there were some significant complex interactions between these two variables and the sex of the stimulus picture. Male and female subjects privately judged middle-aged women to be more attractive than middle-aged men, but the effect was reversed when judgments were made publicly in groups. As predicted, members of all-male groups judged middle-aged women to be considerably less attractive than middle-aged men. Members of all-female groups, and both the men and the women in mixed-sex groups, judged middle-aged women to be only slightly less attractive than middle-aged men.The authors wish to thank Linda Andrews, Dayna Buskirk, Anne Grealy and Lori Monda for their assistance.     

Sex effects in evaluating applicant qualifications: A reexamination

It has been hypothesized that female applicants for male sex-typed jobs are evaluated using different selection criteria than males for the same jobs (E. A. Cecil, R. J. Paul, and R. A. Olins, Perceived Importance of Selected Variables Used to Evaluate Male and Female Job Applicants, Personnel Psychology, 1973, 26, 397–404). The present study examined this hypothesis in two separate experiments, in an attempt to replicate the findings and conclusions of Cecil et al. Results do not support the hypothesis that applicant sex affects the ratings of importance of applicant qualifications for sex-typed jobs, although raters do appear to stereotype the kinds of jobs for which males and females are likely to apply. Type of job for which applicants apply is a stronger determinant of what qualifications are evaluated as important in an interview situation. Use of selection criteria (e.g., tests) that validly predict later job performance and that are standardized for all job applicants, might prevent sex discrimination more than training raters to be wary of sex stereotyping of required applicant qualifications.The authors express their gratitude to Amanda Patacsil for her assistance in data collection and analysis.     

Gender Bias in Leader Selection? Evidence from a Hiring Simulation Study

The present research investigated factors that might affect gender discrimination in a hiring simulation context from the perspectives of social role theory and the shifting standards model. Specifically, the experimental study investigated whether gender biases are evident in the screening and hiring stage of the personnel selection process depending on the applicants?? social role and evaluators?? gender. A sample of German undergraduate business students (54 women, 53 men) was asked to make a personnel selection decision (short-listing or hiring) about a fictitious applicant (man or woman) in a specific role (leader or non-leader) for a managerial position. Consistent with social role theory??s assumption that social role information is more influential than gender information, participants selected applicants described as leaders over applicants described as non-leaders, regardless of applicant gender. In addition, in the presence of role information, female applicants portrayed as leaders were similarly short-listed and hired as male applicants with the same credentials. In the absence of role information, female applicants were similarly short-listed as male applicants; however, male applicants were hired over female applicants, albeit by male participants only. This is consistent with the shifting standards model??s assumption that group members are held to a higher standard to confirm traits on which they are perceived to be deficient: Male participants hired female applicants portrayed as non-leaders with less certainty than their male counterparts possibly due to higher confirmatory standards for leadership ability in women than men. The research and practice implications of these results are discussed.     

Gender Differences in Perceptions of How Others Are Affected by Self-Disclosure of Achievement

Three experiments were conducted at two east coast Universities with primarily Caucasian students participating. In experiment one, college students disclosed that they scored in the 91st percentile or in the top half on an intelligence-related test to a female student who had scored either in the 42nd percentile (low-achieving) or the 92nd percentile (high-achieving) on the same test. Women who disclosed modestly (top half) judged that the low-achieving other felt better than women who disclosed immodestly (91st percentile). Also, women who disclosed modestly judged that the other liked them more than women who disclosed immodestly. These effects did not occur with men. In experiment two, college students disclosed that they scored in the 91st percentile or in the top half on an intelligence-related test to either a male or a female student who had scored in the 42nd percentile on the same test. Women who disclosed modestly judged that a female peer liked them more and felt more intelligent and confident than did women who disclosed immodestly. In contrast, men who disclosed immodestly judged that a female peer liked them more than did men who disclosed modestly. Regardless of the peer's gender, women judged that peers felt worse about themselves, were less happy and more upset when subjects had disclosed immodestly. In contrast, men judged that the peer felt better about himself or herself, was happier and less upset when the subjects had disclosed immodestly. In Experiment 3, male and female participants rated the intelligence-related test as equally difficult and rated doing well on them as equally important. Participants also indicated that doing well was equally important to males and females. Thus, ego-involvement is ruled out as an alternative explanation. These findings support the interpretation of previous research that women may choose to disclose modestly in an effort to be better liked or to protect the other's feelings.     

The salience of sex role instructions to mental health professionals

This experiment was concerned with the question of how gender might affect clinical judgment. Mental health professionals (MHP) were asked to rate a protocol (varied for gender) describing a depressed pseudopatient who displayed stereotypically masculine behaviors. The major hypothesis was that, when subjects were aware that the experimental purpose was to measure how patient gender affected clinical ratings, they would suppress bias. If awareness were not present, then bias would be apparent in the ratings. The results failed to support this hypothesis. However, serendipitous results had meaningful relevance for the methodology of gender research. Data from subjects, given a credibility check to determine whether they had guessed the intent of the research, showed that aware subjects were more likely to make incorrect guesses about the study when they rated a male pseudopatient, whereas unaware subjects were more likely to make correct guesses when they rated a female pseudopatient. The interpretation of the data indicated that MHPs differed in their vigilance concerning women's issues. As a result, there may exist a woman's role within the context of psychological experimentation.Thanks to Drs. Tom Morgan, Ed Fischer, and John Turner for their help and support in statistical analyses.     

Socialization of sex roles in the counseling setting: Differential counselor behavioral and attitudinal responses to typical and atypical female sex roles

Counseling and therapy have frequently been attacked by feminists for the role they play in socializing women to a limited and ultimately untenable sex role. Male counselors in particular have been singled out as special oppressors of women. This study attempted to determine whether, in fact, counselor behavior and attitudes operated as a means of sex-role socialization, and whether male counselors tended to be more biased than female counselors when interacting with female clients. Subjects were eight male and eight female graduate students in counseling psychology who conducted initial interview sessions with two client-confederates, volunteer graduate students trained in role-playing situations representing a typical and an atypical sex-role condition. Videotapes of the interviews were subsequently analyzed to assess counselor reinforcement patterns of specific client cue sentences. In addition to these behavioral data, paper-and-pencil inventories were used to determine counselors' perception of clients, counselors' degree of attitudinal sex-stereotyping, and client-confederates' subjective evaluation of counselors. Contrary to expectations, results indicated that counselors as a whole exhibited more behavioral bias with typical than with atypical clients. Further, counselors reacted more positively toward the atypical than toward the typical clients, and counselor response to a global sex-role inventory indicated that counselors described the healthy, well-adjusted female as significantly more instrumental than the healthy, well-adjusted male. Female counselors appeared to be both more reinforcing and less punishing than male counselors with female clients in both roles, as well as less behaviorally biased than the male counselors. Female counselors also evaluated the atypical clients more positively than did the male counselors, and were in turn evaluated more positively than were the male counselors by clients in both roles. The study concludes with a discussion of implications for counselor training.     

Male and female teachers: Do they treat boys and girls differently?

Forty experienced and inexperienced teachers, 20 male and 20 female, were observed during free play periods in preschool classes. Male teachers gave more favorable comment than female teachers, and also more physical affection. Male teachers also joined the play of the children more than female teachers. Female teachers interacted less than male teachers. Experienced teachers initiated behaviors, directed, gave information, asked and answered questions, and helped the child more than inexperienced teachers. Experienced teachers interacted more with boys and girls when they engaged in feminine-preferred activities, with no difference between male and female teachers in this regard. Inexperienced teachers of both sexes interacted more with boys engaging in masculine-preferred activities and girls engaging in feminine-preferred activities. It was suggested that the male stereotype and the school environment are less congruent than the female stereotype and school, and that experienced teachers encourage children to engage in school-type activities.This research was supported by a grant from the Office of Scientific and Scholarly Research, Graduate School, University of Oregon. Data analyses were supported by BRSG Grant RR 07080 awarded by the Biomedical Research Support Grant Program, Division of Research Resources, National Institutes of Health.     

Gender Bias Produces Gender Gaps in STEM Engagement

We explored whether the existence of gender bias causes gender gaps in STEM engagement. In Experiment 1 (n?=?322), U.S. women projected less sense of belonging, positivity toward, and aspirations to participate in STEM than did men when exposed to the reality of STEM gender bias. These gender differences disappeared when participants were told that STEM exhibits gender equality, suggesting that gender bias produces STEM gender gaps. Experiment 2 (n?=?429) explored whether results generalized to a specific STEM department, and whether organizational efforts to mitigate gender bias might shrink gender gaps. U.S. women exposed to a biased chemistry department anticipated more discrimination and projected less sense of belonging, positive attitudes and trust and comfort than did men. These gender differences vanished when participants read about an unbiased department, again suggesting that gender bias promotes STEM gender gaps. Further, moderated mediation analyses suggested that in the presence of gender bias (but not gender equality), women projected less positive attitudes and trust and comfort than did men because they experienced less sense of belonging and anticipated more discrimination. Results were largely unaffected by whether departments completed a diversity training, suggesting that knowledge of diversity initiatives alone cannot close STEM gender gaps.     

Work involvement among college-educated women: A methodological extension

This paper has two objectives: (1) to develop a more complex measure of work involvement than that typically used, and (2) to correlate this measure with selected lifestyle/family and work variables. The data were drawn primarily from a 1981 survey of 110 female graduates of a large Midwestern university who completed their undergraduate degrees in 1967. Respondents were categorized as high, moderate, or low on a work involvement index based on four variables: work continuity, work status, current or most recent occupation, and educational achievement. Findings in the area of lifestyle/family suggest that high work-involved women are more likely to be single and to marry later when they do marry, less likely to have children, and less likely to perceive conflicts between marriage/relationships and/or children and a career. Findings in the area of work suggest that high work-involved women are significantly more likely to work in male-dominated occupations and to earn salaries of $20,000 or more. High work-involved women are also significantly more likely to be supervisors, to report that most of the people in their work group or branch are below them in rank/position, to be working with all or predominantly men, to have men above them in rank, and to have experienced sex discrimination on the job. In the area of job satisfaction, the differences by work involvement are not as pronounced. High work-involved women are significantly more likely to be employed and not job hunting — one measure of job satisfaction. However, they are no more or less likely than moderate or low work-involved women to perceive their job as a compromise with what they expected or to report overall job satisfaction. Some directions for future research are discussed.Environmental Strategies, Inc.Preparation of this report was supported, in part, by the Providence College Fund to Aid Faculty Research. Thanks are due to the staff of The Henry A. Murray Research Center of Radcliffe College for access to the 1970 questionnaires, to Sharon R. Jenkins for data processing consultation, and to the anonymous reviewers for their helpful suggestions.     

"Eating lightly" and the self-presentation of femininity

In Experiment 1, male and female subjects were given an opportunity to snack as they participated in a "get-acquainted study" with a same-sex or opposite-sex partner (confederate) whose social desirability was manipulated. Consistent with the hypothesis that women may eat less when motivated to present themselves in a feminine light, female subjects ate significantly less with a desirable male partner than in the remaining three conditions. In contrast, male subjects did not eat more (or less) with a desirable woman, although they did show an overall tendency to eat less with female (vs. male) partners. In Experiment 2, female subjects snacked as they got acquainted with a desirable male partner (confederate). Before this interaction, subjects received feedback indicating that they had either very masculine or very feminine interests. In addition, subjects believed either that their male partner was aware of their gender feedback or that he was unaware. Consistent with predictions derived from Schlenker's (1982) analytic-identity theory of social conduct, subjects in the partner-aware conditions ate less when they had received masculine (vs. feminine) feedback, whereas subjects in the partner-unaware conditions ate less when they had received feminine (vs. masculine) feedback. Implications for understanding eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia are discussed.     

Can Being Gay Provide a Boost in the Hiring Process? Maybe If the Boss is Female

Purpose

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether men and women differentially prefer hiring gay and lesbian job applicants relative to equally qualified heterosexual job applicants.

Design/Methodology/Approach

Data were collected from two samples of non-student participants. Each participant evaluated the perceived hirability of an ostensibly real job applicant by reviewing the applicant’s resume. In reality, all participants were randomly assigned to evaluate the same fictitious resume that differed only in the gender and sexual orientation of the applicant.

Findings

We find that men perceived gay and lesbian job applicants as less hirable, while women perceived gay and lesbian job applicants as more hirable than heterosexual job applicants. Additionally, we show perceptions of hirability are mediated by perceptions of gay and lesbian job applicants’ competence.

Implications

These results show that bias against gays and lesbians is much more nuanced than previous work suggests. One implication is that placing more women in selection roles within organizations could be a catalyst for the inclusion of gay and lesbian employees. Additionally, these results could influence when and how gays and lesbians disclose their gay identities at work.

Originality/Value

These studies are the first to identify a positive bias in favor of gay and lesbian job applicants. As attitudes toward gays and lesbians become more positive, results like these are important to document as they signal a shift in intergroup relations. These results will also help managers and organizations design selection processes to minimize bias toward applicants.

     

Timely Completion of Class Requirements: Effects of Student and Faculty Gender

Male and female students have displayed different reactions to the gender of their faculty. This research was designed to explore whether biases exist early in the school term. Students unfavorable attitudes toward instructors were measured by the extent to which they delayed completing a course requirement: participation in a subject pool. Students scheduled a date upon which to participate in a research study. Discrepancies between their scheduled and their actual participation dates reveal that male students delayed their requirement (a) more when their instructors were female than when they were male, and (b) more than female students when the instructors were female. Supporting data suggest that the delayed completion time reflects lower evaluations of female faculty. Discussion focuses on implications in academic settings.     

Reducing women’s lack of fit with leadership positions? Effects of the wording of job advertisements

Linguistic forms which refer to individuals impact mental representations of these individuals: When masculine generics are used, women tend to be cognitively underrepresented, whereas feminine–masculine word pairs are associated with a higher cognitive inclusion of women. The present research investigates whether linguistic forms affect women’s perceived lack of fit with leadership positions, which is particularly pronounced for high-status leadership positions. In a hiring-simulation experiment (N = 363), we tested the effects of different linguistic forms used in German-language job advertisements: (1) masculine forms (e.g., Geschäftsführer, ‘CEO, masc.’); (2) masculine forms with (m/f) (e.g., Geschäftsführer (m/w), ‘CEO, masc. (m/f)’); and (3) word pairs (e.g., Geschäftsführerin/Geschäftsführer, ‘CEO, fem./CEO, masc.’). The job ads announced either a high- or low-status leadership position. Results showed that female applicants were perceived to fit less well with the high-status position than male applicants when either the masculine or the masculine form with (m/f) was used––even though they were perceived to be equally competent. However, female and male applicants were perceived as fitting the high-status leadership position similarly well when word pairs were used.     

The Impact of Gender on the Review of the Curricula Vitae of Job Applicants and Tenure Candidates: A National Empirical Study

The purpose of this study was to determine someof the factors that influence outside reviewers andsearch committee members when they are reviewingcurricula vitae, particularly with respect to the gender of the name on the vitae. The participants inthis study were 238 male and female academicpsychologists who listed a university address in the1997 Directory of the American PsychologicalAssociation. They were each sent one of four versions of acurriculum vitae (i.e., female job applicant, male jobapplicant, female tenure candidate, and male tenurecandidate), along with a questionnaire and aself-addressed stamped envelope. All the curricula vitaeactually came from a real-life scientist at twodifferent stages in her career, but the names werechanged to traditional male and female names. Althoughan exclusively between-groups design was used to avoidsparking genderconscious responding, the resultsindicate that the participants were clearly able todistinguish between the qualifications of the jobapplicants versus the tenure candidates, as evidenced bysuggesting higher starting salaries, increasedlikelihood of offering the tenure candidates a job,granting them tenure, and greater respect for theirteaching, research, and service records. Both men andwomen were more likely to vote to hire a male jobapplicant than a female job applicant with an identicalrecord. Similarly, both sexes reported that the male job applicant had done adequate teaching,research, and service experience compared to the femalejob applicant with an identical record. In contrast,when men and women examined the highly competitive curriculum vitae of the real-life scientist whohad gotten early tenure, they were equally likely totenure the male and female tenure candidates and therewas no difference in their ratings of their teaching, research, and service experience. There was nosignificant main effect for the quality of theinstitution or professional rank on selectivity inhiring and tenuring decisions. The results of this study indicate a gender bias for both men and womenin preference for male job applicants.     

Evaluation of male and female applicants for sex-congruent and sex-incongruent jobs

The present study was designed to assess whether applicants for a sex-incongruent position would be evaluated less favorably by personnel administrators than applicants for a sex-congruent position. It was predicted that negative evaluations of sex-incongruent applicants would increase as a function of participants' reliance on sex-role stereotypes. Forty-four personnel administrators were asked to review the qualifications and evaluate one of four job applicants. Sex of the applicant and sex-orientation of the position were systematically varied. Participants were presented with credentials of a male or female applicant for a traditionally male- or female-oriented position. While results did not support Cohen and Bunker's contention that sex-incongruent job applicants would be viewed less favorably, the data did suggest that evaluations of the sex-incongruent applicants (especially the female applicant) varied as a function of sex-role stereotyping.The authors wish to gratefully acknowledge the assistance provided by Thom Hurlburt, Joan Van Tassel, and Amy Post.     

Right-Wing Authoritarianism and Social Dominance Orientation in a Canadian Military Sample

The Sexual Experiences Questionnaire (SEQ) was administered to 1,060 male and 305 female soldiers from combat support and combat service support units in the U.S. Army. Eighty-four percent of women and 74% of men experienced at least 1 of the behaviors listed in the SEQ during the previous year. However, only 30% of women and 8% of men acknowledged having been sexually harassed in the same time period. Men who experienced SEQ behaviors were less likely to acknowledge harassment than women who experienced these behaviors. The 3 SEQ subscales—gender harassment, unwanted sexual attention, and coercion—were examined as predictors of organizational commitment, turnover wish, the perception of sexual harassment as a personal and work-unit problem, and as predictors of acknowledged harassment. The more serious behaviors were more likely to be acknowledged as harassment than the milder behaviors when the type of behavior was defined as either present or absent. On the other hand, when milder behaviors occurred frequently, they were the main predictors of the perception of sexual harassment as a personal and work-unit problem. Sexual harassment predicted turnover wish and Army commitment for male soldiers only.     

Effects of victim's and defendant's physical attractiveness on subjects' judgments in a rape case

Physical attractiveness of the victim and defendant in a rape case were varied along with sex of subject in a 2×2×2 factorial design. It was found that both the attractive defendant and the rapist of an unattractive victim were less likely to be seen as guilty and that the attractive defendant received a shorter recommended prison term than the unattractive defendant. Victim attractiveness had no effect on attributions of her degree of responsibility. Females were more likely to see the defendant as guilty and recommended longer prison terms than males. Results are discussed in terms of specificity of victim and defendant and the beauty is good stereotype.     

LATINAS WITHOUT WORK

This study examines stressors in family, occupational, and economic domains among 114 Latinas following job loss. These women had been displaced from their jobs for at least 18 months at the time of the initial survey. Stressors from the occupational stress domain were the greatest source of stress for these women. Despite the passage of over 18 months since job loss, 75% of these women remained unemployed. Women who valued the job they lost and who were older reported the highest level of occupational stress. In the economic stress domain, Latinas with greater involvement in the mainstream U.S. economy and its obligations, who also had less seniority, and less disposable income, reported the greatest levels of stress. An imbalance between demands imposed by financial obligations and inadequate financial resources appeared to be a major factor in the stress levels experienced in the economic stress domain. Although the present study is limited by a small sample size, the findings challenge the myth of "benign stress" associated with female unemployment in general, and with Latina unemployment in particular.     

Exposure to successful women: Antidote to sex discrimination in applicant screening decisions?

This research is designed to examine the proposition that exposure to the successes of women in traditionally male occupations will mitigate against subsequent sex bias in selection decisions. Prior to making initial screening decisions about a male or female applicant for a traditionally male job, i.e., finance manager trainee, 147 college students read an editorial documenting the successful performance of an individual woman or a group of women employed in a nontraditional job that either was or was not related to the job about which the personnel recommendations were to be made. A neutral information group read an editorial unrelated to women or work. As predicted, the discrepant ratings of male and female applicants in the neutral baseline condition were significantly reduced only when the information presented concerned a group of women and there also was a direct connection between the occupation in which they were successful and the occupation for which the screening decision was being made. Additional analyses supported the idea that this effect was due to the lessening of the stereotypie attributes used to characterize the female applicants. These results suggest that although exposure to successful women in heretofore male dominated occupations can reduce sex bias in personnel selection decisions, the conditions under which this is likely to occur are very limited. The implications of these results, both theoretical and practical, are discussed.