460 Chapter 12same performance is evaluated more favor-
ably if people believe the employee is male
rather than female (Davison & Burke, 2000).
For feminine jobs, performance is evaluated
more favorably when the employee is female
rather than male. The problem is that high-
powered leadership positions are viewed as
masculine domains. In field studies, which
are far fewer and more difficult to conduct,
a bias against women is not as clear (Bowen,
Swim, & Jacobs, 2000). The only time that
males were evaluated more favorably than
females was when all the raters were male.
However, men and women are evaluated
favorably on different dimensions. Women
are judged as more competent than men on
interpersonal domains, and men are judged
as more competent than women on agen-
tic domains. The question is which domain
leads to pay increases and promotions. See
Sidebar 12.2 for a humorous essay that illus-
trates how men’s and women’s behavior at
work may be perceived differently.One reason that women do not advance at
the rate of men is that women are less likely
than men to have mentors (Gutek, 2001).
There are fewer women in high-powered po-
sitions available to mentor, and men are un-
comfortable mentoring young women. The
glass escalatoris another form of treatment
discrimination. It refers to the ability of men
to be promoted quickly when they take po-
sitions in traditionally female fields, such as
nursing, social work, or education (Williams,
1998). Despite the fact that 70% of human re-
source managers are female, male human re-
source managers earn 47% more than women
(Wall Street Journal, 2008).
Another form of treatment discrimi-
nation is holding different standards for
men’s and women’s performance. Labora-
tory studies have shown that women are
held to higher standards than men even
when their performance is the same—
especially when the task is masculine in na-
ture (Foschi, 2000). For masculine jobs, theSIDEBAR 12.2:Perceptions of Men and Women Employees
The family picture is on HIS desk.
Ah, a solid, responsible family man.
The family picture is on HER desk.
Umm, her family will come before her career.
HE is talking with his coworkers.
He must be discussing the latest deal.
SHE is talking with her coworkers.
She must be gossiping.
HE’s not in the office.
He’s meeting customers.
SHE’s not in the office.
She must be out shopping.M12_HELG0185_04_SE_C12.indd 460 6/21/11 9:16 AM