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Introduction
Three phenomena capture the role of women in organisations. First, the attribution of role incongruity creates a glass ceiling which thwarts women from occupying leadership positions (see Eagly, 2004; Ferguson, 2018; Gupta, Han, Mortal, Silveri, & Turban, 2018). Second, despite authentic feminist and zealous political and societal efforts, female leaders still face sex role stereotypes which undermine the ‘mental acceptance’ of women managers (Schein, 1973; Donnelly & Twenge, 2017). Third, candidate selection procedures regularly promote those women into managerial positions who over-satisfy masculine role expectations (Gmür, 2004; Gipson, Pfaff, Mendelsohn, Catenacci, & Burke, 2017). All three factors result in an underrepresentation of femininity in businesses.
Besides these basic information, we can perceive a melange of conflicting ideological attitudes circulating in politics, firms and society. The dilemma is as follows: On the one hand, acknowledging biological differences between man and woman must not lead to societal nor vocational drawbacks for one end. On the other hand, striving to bridge the gender gap does not mean to negate existing (e.g., biological) differences between the sexes. Public and media-hyped debates are not free from polemic controversies between these conflicting lobby-like poles. This article will not unify all factions on the quest for an ultimate solution, but rather attempts to contribute to do justice to the role and value of females in organisations in general and of femininity in managerial positions in specific.
To be more specific, this work seeks empirical support for the advantageousness of ‘femininity enrichment’ within small work groups. Although previous research has largely produced either conceptual work from a normative ‘societal betterment’ perspective or empirical studies from an individual or organisational perspective, an explicit ‘small group stance’ has been plainly overlooked. Hence, the main value of the present research lies in adding previously undiscovered insights to the body of knowledge on gender-related team composition.
Theoretical foundation
When trying to remedy both the lack of appreciation as well as the underrepresentation of females and femininity in higher hierarchical positions, we primarily follow the trajectory of prior management and psychology research which offers some more insights. In this respect, three major routes can be identified.
The first reason for female underrepresentation is the Think Manager – Think Male paradigm, which was first brought into light...