Examining the Catch-22 for working women: The role of stereotype threat in evaluations of women who are gender congruent versus gender incongruent

For women in the workplace the path to leadership appears to be a no-win situation. Working women face a Catch-22 as they can encounter discrimination regardless of adherence or non-adherence to traditional gender roles. This thesis aimed to determine if stereotype threat has a differential impact upon female employees’ evaluations of other women who are gender congruent vs. gender incongruent. In the present online study, male and female scientists employed in government departments (N=192) were either stereotype threatened or not stereotype threatened and then asked to read and rate descriptions of two target employees. All participants rated both a gender congruent (characteristically feminine) women and a gender incongruent (characteristically masculine) woman. Contrary to predictions stereotype threat did not have a differential impact upon evaluations. Implications of the current research are discussed and suggestions for future research are suggested