Bound by Stereotypes
Elisabeth Kelan shows that many organizations make sweeping assumptions
about working women – and men. Do you?
By: Elisabeth Kelan, Adapted from: From: Business Strategy Review, Spring 2008
http://communications.london.edu/aem/clients/LBS001/docs/lehmans/Business_Strategy_Review_Bound_by_Stereotypes.pdf
1. In an ideal world gender would not matter. We would be judged based on our own
merit instead of on our gender. In actuality, the world is far from ideal, and conscious
and unconscious assumptions about men and women influence our judgement. For
example, although many women today are well-educated and earn their own income,
there is still a tendency for women to marry men who are financially better off. The
same is true in relation to the height of a potential partner, with women choosing men
who are taller. These behaviours clearly reflect our unconscious ideals of masculinity
and femininity.
Less committed?
2. There are many assumptions and stereotypes about men and women in business.
One common stereotype about women is that they have children and are responsible
for them, which means they are less committed workers. However, research has
shown that women in leadership positions often do not have children. In a recent
study undertaken by the Lehman Brothers Centre for Women in Business at London
Business School, 52 percent of female team leaders reported that they do not have
children. This means that, for 52 percent of women, childcare is not an issue. Of the
48 percent who have children, this does not mean that these women are less
committed to their work than men, of whom 96 percent are fathers. The research
showed, in fact, that for men, the negative effect of their home lives on work is much
stronger than for women. This is counterintuitive to our assumptions and contradicts
the stereotypes we have about both men and women.
3. Earlier research on corporate best practice in relation to women in the workforce
also revealed underlying assumptions. Studies found that organizations usually
follow four waves of initiatives in relation to women at work: measuring and counting
women, creating flexible working practices, creating networks and developing women
as leaders. What was interesting is that, while organizations try to create policies,
such as flexible working practices, to allow women to combine their roles as workers
and mothers, they are less adept at developing women as leaders.
__________________________________________________________________________
Bound by Stereotypes / 1
4. Unfortunately, flexible working is seen as the "mommy track". Organizations are
doing little to remove the stigma attached to flexible working and to make it a viable
option for all workers, not just working mothers. That women are not developed as
leaders possibly relates to unfair assumptions about the desire of women for
leadership ("they would really rather stay at home") and their dedication to the
organization ("they don't care as much about this business as male workers do").
5. There are also other career-related costs to stereotypes. In my research, I have
found that women tell their career biographies differently from men, even when they
are factually similar. The main difference I found in the narratives is that women tend
to attribute their careers to coincidence, serendipity and luck. Women construct their
stories in such a way that it appears they just "ended up" in a certain position.
6. Men, in contrast, tell different stories. According to them, their careers are the
result of rationally planned action, of their goal to achieve. These stories fit in with
stereotypes about men and women in society: men are active and self- determined,
while women are passive; things "just happen" to them. In organizations, however,
narratives with clear direction and a sense of purpose are preferred when it comes to
hiring and promotion. Women not conforming to this ideal of masculinity lose out
simply because they don't appear as loyal, committed and self-determined as men do.
7. Research has shown that women in the workplace are often in a Catch-22, or
double bind. If they fulfill managerial ideals that are traditionally masculine, they may
be seen as not feminine enough; but, if they are too feminine, they are not seen as
managers. The same is true in regard to negotiation, pay and promotion. It is
commonly assumed that women do not ask for a promotion or for more money but
wait to be noticed and nominated. If women violate this rule, they are penalized by
both men and women for doing so. While it makes economic and personal sense to
ask for more, women doing so regularly get evaluated negatively for it.
Stereotypical?
8. Gender stereotypes are clearly powerful, but what are they exactly? They are
commonly held beliefs about men and women as mutually exclusive groups. We can
distinguish between descriptive gender stereotypes, how women and men behave,
and prescriptive gender stereotypes, how men and women ought to behave.
Stereotypes are used consciously or unconsciously to judge people and to put them
into categories. These categorizations are useful in organizing a great deal of
__________________________________________________________________________
Bound by Stereotypes / 2
information into a manageable size but are limiting if one applies the stereotype
indiscriminately without looking to the individual.
9. People have a strong belief that women and men behave differently due to either
biology or socialization. This is, however, a false dichotomy. There is a constant
interaction between biology and environment; and gender differences are
changeable, for instance, through training. Overall, there seem to be very few gender
differences that hold up under analysis. In meta-analysis (a statistical method in
which the results from many studies on gender are analyzed together), measures of
sexuality (such as attitudes towards sex in casual and committed relationships) and
physical aggression were significant. In all other areas, no consistent gender
difference was found.
10. Why do we then believe that men and women are fundamentally different?
Reasons for this are varied. There is, for instance, a tendency for people to see what
they are looking for. If they see what they think is gender difference, this supports
their belief in men and women being different. In addition, in academic research, it is
known that studies that show no gender difference are not publishable, leading to
those that show small-scale gender difference getting disproportionately blown up.
The same is true for the media at large, in which gender difference seems to be
easier to sell than gender similarity.
11. One can illustrate how gender stereotypes work in the following example of
women and mathematics. It is generally assumed that women are not as good at
mathematics as men. Therefore, if a woman has to take an exam in mathematics,
she may unconsciously reflect on this and say to herself, "I am a woman and women
are not good in mathematics, so I am probably not going to do well." She may put
less effort in the exam and, consequently, do less well. This is, in effect, a selffulfilling prophecy. Stereotypes influence our behaviour, and people may fear that the
stereotype is correct. This fear in turn has detrimental effects on performance, a
phenomenon called stereotype threat.
12. Management literature also illustrates the power of stereotypes. Earlier
management literature simply excluded and ignored women. It was written about
men, for men and by men. My research has shown that this has changed somewhat.
Women now appear in management literature but usually in rather stereotypical roles.
An example is the construction "mompreneur" used in one book. A mompreneur
__________________________________________________________________________
Bound by Stereotypes / 3
results from the combination of mother and entrepreneur, a mother who decided to
set up her own business to spend more time with her children, as the stereotype has
it. The fact that many women choose to set up their own businesses - because of
barriers in traditional organizations that do not allow them to use their full potential or
for other reasons - is ignored. What would be innovative is to stop viewing women as
potential mothers and thereby as potential problems. One could, in fact, see men as
potential fathers, who might want to become "dadpreneurs".
Change for the better?
13. If gender stereotypes are pervasive, how can they be changed? Following are a
few of the ways to challenge and change gender stereotypes.
14. Make gender stereotypes visible
Often stereotypes lurk in the dark and we are not aware of them. However, on a
conscious level, we find them irrelevant. If we spell out gender stereotypes, this
brings stereotypes to the conscious level. Research has shown that women are given
higher prices when negotiating for cars, even when they use the same bargaining
strategies as men. Here the stereotype that women are less effective in negotiations
is served. If the stereotype is voiced, it becomes obvious and women react to it. This
may happen because women want to do extra well to counteract the stereotype.
15. Reprogramme stereotypes
Stereotypes are social constructions and, therefore, are flexible; they can be
changed by giving them a different meaning. An obvious example is role models.
One could, for instance, point out a highly successful business-woman who is an
excellent negotiator to dispel the stereotype that women are weaker negotiators than
men. One can also link successful performance with stereotypical feminine skills. For
instance, it is possible to construct a good negotiator as someone who is a good
listener and sensitive to the feelings of others, skills usually associated with women.
However, we have to be careful not to repeat and reverse stereotypes; the goal is to
make them irrelevant in the long run.
16. Question assumptions
Many of the assumptions we make do not hold up under scrutiny. For example, there
is an assumption of gender difference regarding spatial thinking; some assume that
women are less capable of managing three-dimensional challenges. However, a
recent study showed that playing an action video game for only 10 hours eliminates
__________________________________________________________________________
Bound by Stereotypes / 4
the gender difference in spatial attention and decreases the gender difference in
mental rotation ability. These effects were the same when people were tested again
after five months. Rather than focusing on elements in relation to gender we cannot
change, it makes more sense to focus on assumptions we can actually change.
17. Stereotypes are deeply rooted in our belief system, whether consciously or not.
Attempts to change something so central to us will be met by resistance; therefore,
incremental change is better than drastic change. Those who challenge stereotypes
need to be patient with others since they rely on stereotypes to make sense of the
world. But, it is vitally important that we continually question our own assumptions
and stereotypes and become aware of them. It might then be possible to see
someone not as a man or a woman but rather as a person, a human being, a
colleague.
Resources
J.S. Hyde, "The gender similarities hypothesis", American Psychologist 60, no. 6,
2005.
Elisabeth K. Kelan, "The discursive construction of gender in contemporary
management literature", Journal of Business Ethics, www.springerlink.com/
content/u137u4t00521503j.
L. Roberson and C. Kulik, "Stereotype threat at work", Academy of Management
Perspectives 21, no. 2, 2007.
http://www.london.edu/assets/documents/PDF/May_2007_Corporate_Best_Practice_
Report.pdf
http://www.london.edu/assets/documents/Word/Innovative_Potential_NOV_2007.pdf
__________________________________________________________________________
Bound by Stereotypes / 5
Exercises adapted from Minna Lipner
Bound by Stereotypes – Exercises
I. Pre-Reading
1. What stereotype about women is illustrated by the picture below?
2. With a partner, make a list of some other common stereotypes about men and
women.
Stereotypes about men
Stereotypes about women
3. Choose two stereotypes from your list above. For each one, how might these
stereotypes affect people’s behavior?
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
Bound by Stereotypes / 6
II. Global Reading
1. Survey the article by reading the introduction and the subtitles. Do the subtitles
help you understand what each section is about? YES / NO
2. Now, skim the article by reading the first sentence of paragraphs 2-17. Then write
a new subtitle for each section that better reflects its contents.
I. Par. 1: Introduction
II. Par. 2-7: _______________________________________________________
III. Par. 8-12: _____________________________________________________
IV. Par. 13-16: ____________________________________________________
V. Par. 17: Conclusion
III. Close Reading Questions
1. What is the difference between the ideal world and the real world?
Fill in the blanks to answer the question.
Whereas in the real world, ______________________________ affects how
people are judged, in the ideal world _____________________________
determines how people are judged.
2. (par. 1) What point is illustrated by the example of a potential partner’s height?
_________________________________________________________________
3. Why does the author discuss the research done by the Lehman Brothers Centre
for Women in Business?
a. To demonstrate why women in business usually don’t have children.
b. To show that our ideas about working men and women are sometimes wrong.
c. To prove that men in leadership positions are less committed to their jobs.
d. To illustrate the differences between working men and women.
4. In paragraphs 3 and 4, the writer discussed the action taken by companies
regarding female workers.
a. What do the organizations do to help women?
_________________________________________________________________
b. What criticism does the writer have about these company policies?
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
Bound by Stereotypes / 7
5. a. What is the difference between the way women and men discuss their careers?
Women usually say that their careers resulted from _______________________,
while men usually attribute their careers to ______________________________.
b. What may be the result of this for women?
_________________________________________________________________
6. (Par. 7) Which behaviors at work may be damaging for women because they are
typical of males?
a. _______________________________________________________________
b. _______________________________________________________________
7. Underline the definitions of the following terms in paragraphs 8-9:
a. gender stereotypes
b. descriptive gender stereotypes
c. prescriptive gender stereotypes
d. meta-analysis
8. What is the advantage and disadvantage of gender stereotypes?
Advantage: _______________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
Disadvantage: _____________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
9. a. According to the author, what causes gender differences?
_________________________________________________________________
b. Are these differences stable throughout life? YES / NO
Explain why or why not.
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
c. On the whole, according to the writer, are men and women more different or
more similar? DIFFERENT / SIMILAR
10. In which two areas are men and women truly different?
_________________________________________________________________
11. Why do people tend to believe that men and women are different?
__________________________________________________________________________
Bound by Stereotypes / 8
a. _______________________________________________________________
b. If research proves that men and women are similar, _____________________
_________________________________________________________________
c. The media presents ______________________________________________
12. Fill in the following cause-effect chart to show how the gender stereotype about
women and mathematics works.
Stereotype: People assume that women are not good at math.
A woman has to
The woman doesn’t
take a math test.
do as well as she


 should on the test.
13. What is “stereotype threat”?
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
14. a. What is a “mompreneur”? __________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
b. What idea is illustrated by the example of “mompreneurs”?
_________________________________________________________________
15. At the end of the article, the writer lists three methods of changing gender
stereotypes. Which method is illustrated by each example below?
a. Talk about your sister who won the math prize in her school.
_________________________________
b. Check to see if men can become better listeners after a training workshop.
_________________________________
c. Emphasize the fact that good managers are those who understand other
people’s feelings. _________________________________
d. Discuss (especially in front of women) how people think women are bad drivers.
_________________________________
16. (par. 17) According to the writer, what is the most important thing to do to deal
with stereotypes?
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
IV. Post-Reading Activity
Discuss the following questions in a group.
1. The writer states that men and women are similar in most areas (par. 9). Do you
agree with this? Why or why not?
__________________________________________________________________________
Bound by Stereotypes / 9
2. How do you think people should deal with unfair gender stereotypes?
V. Reduced Adjective Clauses
In each of the sentences below (taken from the text), mark the main subject and verb
and underline the reduced adjective clause. Then answer the comprehension
questions after each sentence.
1. (Par. 2) In a recent study undertaken by the Lehman Brothers Centre for women in
Business at London Business School, 52 percent of female team leaders reported
that they do not have children.
Which study provided the statistics on female team leaders?
___________________________________________________________________
2. (Par. 4) Organizations are doing little to remove the stigma attached to flexible
working and to make it a viable option for all workers, not just working mothers.
What kind of stigma is not dealt with by organizations?
___________________________________________________________________
What should organizations provide as an option for both working mothers and other
workers?
___________________________________________________________________
3. (Par. 5) The main difference I found in the narratives is that women tend to
attribute their careers to coincidence, serendipity and luck.
What is the difference that the writer discovered in the narratives?
___________________________________________________________________
4. (Par. 6) Women not conforming to this ideal of masculinity lose out simply
because they don’t appear as loyal, committed and self-determined as men do.
Which women are less successful?
Women who _________________________________________________________
5. (Par. 7) While it makes economic and personal sense to ask for more, women
doing so regularly get evaluated negatively for it.
Which women are assessed in a negative light?
___________________________________________________________________
6. (Par. 12) An example is the construction “mompreneur” used in one book.
How did the term “mompreneur” become known?
___________________________________________________________________
7. (Par. 16) Many of the assumptions we make do not hold under scrutiny.
Which assumptions are not supported?
__________________________________________________________________________
Bound by Stereotypes / 10
___________________________________________________________________
Bound by Stereotypes – Vocabulary
Find and underline the following words in the text.
Word
Also in
par. #
Word
Also in
par. #
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 6
1. (to be) better off (adj.)
11. conform
2. feminine (adj.)/ femininity (n.)
Paragraph 7
3. masculine (adj.)/ masculinity (n.)
12. negotiation
4. conscious / unconscious (adj.)
13. penalize (v) / penalty (n.)
5. tendency / tend to (v.)
14. violate (v) / violation (n)
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 11
6. committed (adj.) / commit (v.)
15. illustrate (v)
7. initiative (n.)
16. (self-fulfilling) prophecy
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 12
8. reveal (v.)
17. exclude (v.) / exclusive (adj.) 8
18. ignore (v.)
Paragraph 4
9. rather (all different meanings)
12, 16,17
Paragraph 17
Paragraph 5
19. question (v.)
10. coincidence (n.)
20. resistance (n.) / resist (v.)
Exercise 1: Sentence Completion
The words in bold print are from the text. Use your knowledge of their meanings to
complete the sentences below with your own words.
1. When Ran sleeps less than four hours a night, he has a tendency to _________
________________________________________________________________
2. On the first day of class, the teacher announced that the penalty for cheating on
a test would be ____________________________________________________
3. My parents want me to conform to society’s expectations, but I resist this. For
example, ________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
4. Some people waste a lot of money buying designer clothing. However, I think
they’d be better off ________________________________________________.
5. Some couples show their commitment to each other by ___________________
__________________________________________________________________________
Bound by Stereotypes / 11
________________________________________________________________.
6. Whenever Erez lies, he unconsciously ________________________________.
If he were conscious of this, he would probably __________________________.
7. People who violate the “no cellphone” rule at a movie should _______________
_________________________________________________________________
8. People with a lot of initiative often _____________________________________
________________________________________________________________
9. The best way to negotiate a better price at the store ______________________
________________________________________________________________.
10. A typical feminine response to seeing a spider is to _______________________
________________________________________________________________
A typical masculine response is to ____________________________________.
11. An example of a self-fulfilling prophecy: if someone always tells a child that she
is smart, she will probably ___________________________________________
Exercise II: Finding Synonyms
For each of the following words, find a synonym in the text.
1. expose, show (par. 3) _______________________________________________
2. chance or luck (par. 5) ______________________________________________
3. to keep out/leave out (par. 12) ________________________________________
4. pay no attention to (par. 12) _________________________________________
Exercise III: Words With Multiple Meanings
The words below have more than one meaning. Write the meaning of each word on
the lines according to the context in the sentence (you may write in Hebrew). Which
meaning of the word is used in the text?
1. rather
a. At the end of the school year, rather than celebrating, most students get ready
for exams.
OR The end of the school year is not a reason for students to celebrate. Rather,
it’s a time to get ready for exams.
_________________________________________________________________
b. What would you rather eat: ice cream or steak?
_________________________________________________________________
c. This article is rather hard, though not as hard as last week’s. Do you have an
easier one for me?
_________________________________________________________________
Meaning in the text (par. 4, 12, 16, 17):
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
Bound by Stereotypes / 12
_________________________________________________________________
2. commit
a. Sometimes, young people commit crimes because they are bored; we must
help them find more productive things to do!
_________________________________________________________________
b. Bob is so committed to his family that he always puts them before his work.
_________________________________________________________________
Meaning in the text (par. 2): _________________________________________
3. illustrate
a. Bill has illustrated many children’s books; his pictures are well-known around
the world.
_________________________________________________________________
b. This example illustrates my point exactly.
_________________________________________________________________
Meaning in the text (par. 11): _______________________________________
4. question
a. This article presents answers to three questions.
_________________________________________________________________
b. The results of this study question whether the new drug really works.
_________________________________________________________________
c. The police questioned the suspects for several hours.
_________________________________________________________________
Meaning in the text (par. 17): _______________________________________
Exercise IV: Affixes
The words in the chart below all have affixes (prefixes and suffixes). Fill in the chart
to show the different parts of each word and its definition.
Word
Parts (prefix, root, suffix)
Definition
1. counterintuitive (par. 2)
2. publishable (par. 10)
3. disproportionately (par. 10)
4. counteract (par. 14)
5. reprogramme (par. 15)
__________________________________________________________________________
Bound by Stereotypes / 13