The Other Side of the Glass Ceiling: For Females, Climbing the Corporate Ladder is only Half the Battle

Agentic women continue to be penalized for success in male-dominated industries, resulting in gender discrimination and differing opportunity structures (Foschi, 2000). The purpose of the proposed study is to see how an employee’s gender and status in male-dominated corporate settings influence participants’ perceptions of competency, liking, and consequences after the employee makes a mistake. These dependent variables will also be examined in relationship to participants’ level of sexism. Approximately 132 participants will be recruited from high technology companies, and will read a vignette about a male or female and entry-level or executive employee who makes a mistake. They will then answer competency, liking, and firing questions, as well as Glick & Fiske’s (1996) Ambivalent Sexism Inventory. Participants are expected to perceive females more negatively than males, and executives more negatively than entry-level employees. Additionally, female executives will be perceived as the least competent, and will be the least well liked. It is also predicted that they will be most likely fired. This study may add important information on gender stereotyping in the workplace, and further explore how an employee’s status in the company influences perceptions of the employee. The implications of the proposed study for future research are also discussed