“It’s Just a Girl Thing”; The Feminization of Work Groups and the Effect of Numerical Composition On Group Hierarchy

Women have recently shown higher rates of attendance and graduation in college, a reversal of a long-standing educational status quo that could alter gender relations in society. Given recent trends of female achievement in higher education, how will this shift in gender composition shape processes of stratification in academic work settings? To answer this question, this study looked at 78 videos men and women working in three person groups, who had been videotaped for a previous laboratory study. Examination of these videos provided the qualitative data to investigate how group composition and gender shapes stratification within academic groups. Systematic observation of 50 videotapes produced several themes that were then explored further with a formal content analysis that including the coding of 28 more videotapes. Qualitative observations and results from the coding process suggests that individuals in the numerical gender majority often maintained the most influence and status in the group despite the type of task the group was working on at the time. Following a discussion of the results of the study, directions for future research are explored