PERCEPTIONS OF FEMALE AND MALE MANAGERS IN THE 1990S - PLUS-CA-CHANGE

Despite an increase in the number of women managers, women frequently have difficulty advancing to upper levels of management. Researchers e tch as V.E. Schein [(1973), ''The Relationship Between Sex Role Stereo types and Requisite Management Characteristics,'' Journal of Applied P sychology, Vol. 57, pp. 95-100; (1975) ''Relationships Between Sex Rol e Stereotypes and Requisite Management Characteristics Among Female Ma nagers, Journal of Applied Psychology, Vol. 60, pp. 340-344] and G. N. Powell and D. A. Butterfield [(1979), ''The 'Good Manager': Masculine or Androgynous?'' Academy of Management Journal Vol. 22, pp. 395-403; (1989) ''The 'Good Manager'. Did Androgyny Fare Better in the 1980s?' ' Group and Organization Studies, Vol. 14, pp. 216-233] have found tha t perceptions of women are often incongruent with perceptions of succe ssful managers, the gap particularly evident in male subjects [O. C. B renner, J. Tomkiewicz, & V.E. Schein (1989); ''The Relationship Betwee n Sex Role Stereotypes and Requisite Management Characteristics Revisi ted, '' Academy of Management Journal Vol. 32, pp. 662-669; P. Dubno ( 1985) ''Attitudes Toward Women Executives: A Longitudinal Approach, '' Academy of Management Journal, Vol. 28, pp. 235-239; M. E. Heilman, C . J. Black, R. F. Martell, & M. C. Simon (1989) ''Has Anything Changed ? Current Characterizations of Men, Women, and Managers, '' Journal of Applied Psychology, Vol 74, pp. 935-942; O. Massengil & N. D. Marco ( 1979) ''Sex-Role Stereotypes and Requisite Management Characteristics: A Current Replication,'' Sex Roles, Vol. 5, pp. 56-576; J. Tomkiewicz & T. Adeyemi-Bellow (1995) ''A Cross-Sectional Analysis of Attitudes of Nigerians and Americans Toward Women as Managers, '' Journal of Soc ial Behavior and Personality, Vol. 10, pp. 189-198]. This study used 7 02 college student subjects (more than 90% white, 58% female) to exami ne the effect of subject sex on perceptions of a target (male manager female manager prototypical manager), and found that subject sex has a greater effect on the perceived characteristics of a successful femal e manager than on the perceived characteristics Of a prototypical succ essful manager or a successful male manager. Male and female subjects generally agree about the characteristics of a prototypical manager or a male manager but differ in how they perceive a female manager.