SEX STEREOTYPING IN THE EXECUTIVE SUITE - MUCH ADO ABOUT SOMETHING

Studies of how managerial women are perceived in the workplace, as com pared with men, have been concerned mostly with entry and middle level s of management. Surprisingly, little attention has been directed to w hether men and women are perceived differently on the attributes assoc iated with successful executives (vice-president level and above). To address this question, an inventory comprised of attributes deemed cha racteristic of successful executives was first constructed. Principal components analysis identified four key factors underlying the executi ve attribute inventory. Next, the inventory was completed by 132 male managers, each of whom rated one of four target groups: women middle m anagers, men middle managers, successful women middle managers, or suc cessful men middle managers. Results revealed sex differences (always favoring men) on all but the Results-Oriented factor. When depicted as middle managers, women were rated less favorably than men on the Chan ge Agent, Managerial Courage, and Leadership factors. When depicted as successful middle managers, sex differences were eliminated only on t he Leadership factor ratings. These findings support the ''lack of fit '' explanation for the current dearth of women executives and suggest that the ''pipeline'' explanation is overly optimistic.