Click here to download

Women and career between gender stereotypes and work family roles. A psychosocial analysis
Journal Title: SOCIOLOGIA DEL LAVORO  
Author/s: Angela Fedi, Lara Colombo, Lara Bertola, Chiara Rollero 
Year:  2017 Issue: 148 Language: Italian 
Pages:  21 Pg. 113-133 FullText PDF:  138 KB
DOI:  10.3280/SL2017-148007
(DOI is like a bar code for intellectual property: to have more infomation:  clicca qui   and here 


In the Western world, the differences between men and women career’s pattern still remain: women are clearly underrepresented in leadership roles and their career is blocked in intermediary positions. Women’s careers tend to be nonlinear, disjointed, interrupted and fulfil of obstacles, tied up in the struggle to juggle between work and life. Using the Role Congruity Theory (Eagly and Karau, 2002) and the work-life-balance, as a conceptual framework, the purpose of this study was to understand the difficulties that women may encounter in the course of their occupational career linked to gender stereotypes, organizational aspects and the factors that influence their work-life-balance. In depth-interviews were undertaken with 15 middle managers and senior managers women. The study aims to investigate: gender stereotypes within the workplace and how this may have affected professional and personal choices. The interviews analysis was carried out using software Atlasti 6.0.
Keywords: Women, career, gender stereotypes, work-life balance

  1. Allen T.D., Herst D., Bruck C., Sutton M. (2000). Consequences Associated with work-to-family conflict: A review and agenda for future research. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 5: 278-308., DOI: 10.1037//1076-8998.5.2.278
  2. Allen T.D. (2001). Family-supportive work environments: The role of organizational perceptions. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 58(3): 414-435.
  3. Allen T.D. (2003). Beyond mentoring: alternative sources and functions of developmental support. Career Development Quarterly, 51, 346-355.
  4. Bakker A.B., Demerouti A. (2007). The Job Demands-Resources model: state of the art. Journal of Managerial Psychology, 22(3): 309-328., DOI: 10.1108/02683940710733115
  5. Balbo L., Bianchi M., Zanuso L., Wilson E. (1978). Doppia presenza e mercato del lavoro femminile: una ricerca sulla condizione della donna nelle società a capitalismo avanzato. Inchiesta, 32: 3-30.
  6. Behson S.J. (2002). Coping with family-to-work conflict: The role of informal work accommodations to family. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 7(4): 324-341., DOI: 10.1080/026783799296147
  7. Bem S.L. (1974). The measurement of psychological androgyny. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 42: 155-162.
  8. Booth A., Frank J., Blackaby D. (2005). Outside offers and the gender pay gap. The Economic Journal, 115: 81-107.
  9. Bosak J., Sczesny S., Eagly A.H. (2008). Communion and agency judgments of women and men as function of role information and response format. European Journal of Social Psychology, 38: 1148-1155.
  10. Carlson D.S., Grzywacz J.G., Zivnuska S. (2009). Is work family balance more than conflict and enrichment? Human Relations, 62: 1459-1486., DOI: 10.1037/0021-0910.92.6.1524
  11. Carr D. (2002). The psychological consequences of work-family trade-offs for three cohorts of men and women. Social Psychology Quarterly, 65(2): 103-124.
  12. Cheung F.M., Halpern D.F. (2010). Women at the top: powerful leaders define success as work family in a culture of gender. American Psychologist, 65(3): 182-193.
  13. Del Boca D., Mencarini L., Pasqua S. (2012). Valorizzare le donne conviene. Ruoli di genere nell’economia italiana. Bologna: il Mulino.
  14. Diekman A.B., Eagly A.H. (2000). Stereotypes as dynamic constructs: Women and men of the past, present, and future. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 26: 1171-1188.
  15. Eagly A.H. (1987). Sex differences in social behavior: A social-role interpretation. Hillsdale, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum.
  16. Eagly A.H., Karau S.J. (2002). Role congruity theory of prejudicetoward female leaders. Psychological Review, 109: 573-598., DOI: 10.1037//0033-295X.109.3.573
  17. Eagly A.H., Carli L.L. (2004). Women and men as leaders. In: Antonakis J., Cianciolo A.T., Sternberg R.J., ed., The nature of leadership. Thousand Oaks, California: Sage Publications: 279-301.
  18. Eagly H.A. (2007). Female leadership advantages and disadvantages: Resolving the contradictions. Psychology of women quarterly, 31, 1: 46. doi : 10.1111/j.1471-6402.2007.00326.
  19. Eagly A.H., Carli L.L. (2007). Through the labyrinth. The truth about how women become leaders. Boston: Harvard Business School Press., DOI: 10.1037/0033-295X.109.3.573
  20. Epstein C.F., Seron C., Oglensky B., Sauté R. (1999). The Part-time Paradox: Time Norms, Professional Life, Family, and Gender. New York: Routledge.
  21. Frone M.R., Russell M., Cooper M.L. (1995). Job stressors, job involvement and employee health: a test of identity theory. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 68: 1-11.
  22. Garcia-Retamero R., López-Zafra E. (2006b). Prejudice against women in malecongenial environments: Perceptions of gender role congruity in leadership. Sex Roles, 55: 51-61., DOI: 10.1177/0022022108330991
  23. Gelli B.R. (2009). Psicologia della differenza di genere. Soggettività femminili tra vecchi pregiudizi e nuova cultura. Milano: FrancoAngeli.
  24. Gherardi S., Poggio B. (2003). Donna per fortuna, uomo per destino. Il lavoro raccontato da lei e da lui. Milano: Etas.
  25. Ghislieri C., Martini M., Gatti P., Colombo L. (2011). The “bright side” of the work‐family interface: A brief work-family enrichment scale in a sample of health professionals. TPM Testing, Psychometrics, Methodology in Applied Psychology, 18(4): 211‐230., DOI: 10.4473/TPM.18.4.1
  26. Ghislieri C., Colombo L. (2006). L’equilibrio tra lavoro e famiglia: una ricerca in organizzazione. Economia e lavoro, 1: 117-128.
  27. Ghislieri C., Colombo L. (2014). Psicologia della conciliazione tra lavoro e famiglia. Teorie e ricerche in organizzazione. Milano: Raffaello Cortina.
  28. Gibbons F.X., McCoy S.B. (1991). Self-esteem, similarity, and reactions to active versus passive downward comparison. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 60(3): 414-424., DOI: 10.1037/0022-3514.76.1.129
  29. Glick P., Fiske S.T. (1996). The Ambivalent Sexism Inventory: Differentiating hostile and benevolent sexism. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 70: 491-512., DOI: 10.1037/0022-3514.70.3.491
  30. Grzywacz J.G., Bass B.L. (2003). Work, family, and mental health: Testing different models of work-family fit. Journal of Marriage and Family, 65: 248-62.
  31. Hoobler J.M., Lemmon G., Wayne S.J. (2014). Women’s managerial aspirations from a human capital perspective. Journal of Management, 40: 703-730.
  32. Hoyt C.L., Chemers M.M. (2008). Social stigma and leadership: A long climb up a slippery ladder. In: Hoyt C.L., Goethals G.R., Forsyth D.R., eds., Leadership at the Crossroads: Leadership and Psychology, vol. 1. Westport, CT: Praeger: 165-180.
  33. Hoyt C.L. (2010). Women and leadership. In: Northouse’s P., ed., Leadership: Theory and Practice, 5th edn. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage: 301-333.
  34. Hymowitz C., Schellhardt T.D. (1986). The glass ceiling. Why women can’t seem to break their invisible barrier that blocks them from top jobs. The Wall Street Journal, 9(3): 5-6., DOI: 10.1108/EDI-02-2016-0019
  35. Karasek R.A., Theorell T. (1990). Healthy and work stress, productivity and the reconstruction of working life. New York: Basic Books.
  36. Killen L.A., Lopez-Zafra, Eagly A. (2006). Envisioning oneself as a leader: Comparisons of women and men in Spain and the United States. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 30: 312-322.
  37. Maslach C., Leiter P. (2000). Burnout e organizzazione. Modificare i fattori strutturali della demotivazione al lavoro. Milano: Feltrinelli.
  38. Mesmer-Magnus J., Viswesvaran C. (2005). Convergence between measures of work-to-family and family-to-work conflict: A meta-analytic examination. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 67: 215-232.
  39. Pratto F., Walker A. (2004). The Bases of Gendered Power. In: Eagly A., Beall E., Sternberg R.J., a cura di, The Psychology of Gender. London: Guilford Press: 242-268.
  40. Rollero C., De Piccoli N. (2013). The gendered image of power: How male and female leaders are perceived. In: Vanvactor J.D., ed., The Psychology of Leadership. Hauppage, NY: Nova Science Publishers: 131-146.
  41. Rollero C., Fedi A., De Piccoli N. (2016). Gender or Occupational Status: What Counts More for Well-Being at Work? Social Indicators Research, 128(2): 467-480., DOI: 10.1080/1359432X.2016.1225040
  42. Rothausen T.J., Gonzalez J.A., Clarke N.E., O’Dell L.L. (1998). Work-family backlash fact or fiction? The case of organizations’ onsite child care centres. Personnel Psychology, 51: 685-706.
  43. Rothbard N.P. (2001). Enriching or depleting? The dynamics of engagement in work and family. Administrative Science Quarterly, 46(4): 655-684., DOI: 10.2307/3094827
  44. Saraceno C. (2002). I paradossi della flessibilità: una prospettiva di genere e generazionale. In: Magatti M., Fullin G., a cura di, Percorsi di lavoro flessibile. Roma: Carocci: 183-199.
  45. Schein E.H. (1985). Cultura d’azienda e leadership. Milano: tr. it. Guerini e Associati, 1990.
  46. Spence J., Buckner C. (2000). Instrumental and expressive traits, trait stereotypes, and sexist attitudes: What do they signify? Psychology of Women Quarterly, 24: 44-63.
  47. Sullivan C., Lewis S. (2001). Home-based telework, gender, and the synchronisation of work and family: perspectives of teleworkers and their coresidents. Gender, Work and Organization, 8(2): 123-145., DOI: 10.1111/1468-0432.00125
  48. Thomas L.T., Ganster D.C. (1995). Impact of family-supportive work variables on work-family conflict and strain: A control perspective. Journal of Applied Psychology, 80(1): 6-15. doi.org/10.1037/h0034845.
  49. Thompson C.A., Beauvais L.L., Lyness K.S. (1999). When work-family benefits are not enough: The influence of work-family culture on benefit utilization, organizational attachment, and work-family conflict. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 54: 392-415, DOI: 10.1177/0192513X05277542
  50. Wasserman B.D., Weseley A.J. (2009). Qué? Quoi? Do languages with grammatical gender promote sexist attitudes? Sex Roles, 61: 634-643., DOI: 10.1177/0261927X15625442

Angela Fedi, Lara Colombo, Lara Bertola, Chiara Rollero, Women and career between gender stereotypes and work family roles. A psychosocial analysis in "SOCIOLOGIA DEL LAVORO " 148/2017, pp. 113-133, DOI:10.3280/SL2017-148007

   

FrancoAngeli is a member of Publishers International Linking Association a not for profit orgasnization wich runs the CrossRef service, enabing links to and from online scholarly content