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Research suggests that some women may be reluctant to pursue certain tasks because they lack confidence in their ability to succeed. This study was an exploration of the basis of this type of self limiting behavior. Global self-esteem and task-specific self-efficacy were used as predictors of task choice and task preference. Results suggested that task-specific self-efficacy was a stronger predictor of whether a woman would choose a leadership task rather than a group-member task. In addition, task-specific self-efficacy predicted the strength of the woman's preference for the group-member task. The implications of this finding and recommendations for shifting task-specific self-efficacy for leadership roles are discussed.
Although evidence suggests a slight shift away from traditional sex-role stereotypes (Dambrot, Papp, & Whitmore, 1984; Helmreich, Spence, & Gibson, 1982; Kravetz, 1976), it appears that some negative beliefs about a female's ability to perform certain tasks are deeply rooted and resistant to change (Heilman, Block, Martell, & Simon, 1989; Reskin, 1993; Schein, 1973; White, Kruczek, Brown, & White, 1989). Although women have made gains in the managerial and professional occupations in the 1970s and 1980s, this rise was from a very small base (Kanter, 1993). Research demonstrates that women are still often viewed as less effective leaders, and men are viewed as better suited for decision-making tasks (Rizzo & Mendez, 1990).
Beliefs that women lack leadership abilities may lead to resistance to women in managerial positions. Although certain managerial jobs may incorporate idiosyncratic skills that do not require leadership (YukI & Van Fleet, 1992), the requirements of leadership and management overlap (Lawson & Shen, 1998). When one examines the perceived requirements of the two roles, the overlap is substantial. For example, characteristics of effective managers and effective leadership include assertiveness, strong organizational skills, and emotional stability (Lord, Foti, 8c Phillips, 1982; Schein, 1975). Yet, women are often viewed negatively when adopting these typically masculine styles of behavior (Eagly, Karau, & Makhijani, 1995).
Data suggest that discrimination is more pronounced in managerial positions that require leadership skills. For example, as the power and knowledge associated with managerial positions increase, representation of females decreases (Kemp, 1994). Women who are viewed as incompetent and doubt their own leadership abilities may be passed over for emerging leadership positions.
Although some progress has...