H. Kent Baker and Gary H. Powell
Outlines previous research on four explanations for and various factors influencing dividend policy; and reports a survey of senior managers in US listed companies to determine…
Abstract
Outlines previous research on four explanations for and various factors influencing dividend policy; and reports a survey of senior managers in US listed companies to determine their views. Finds strong support for the signalling explanation and some support for the bird‐in‐hand, tax‐preference and agency costs explanations, especially from regulated companies. Ranks the perceived importance of 20 factors influencing policy and discusses the top five (future earnings, past dividends, share price, concern over false signals and cash flow); and the differences between regulated and unregulated companies. Compares the rankings with Farrelly, Baker and Edelman (1986), recognizes the limitations of the study and considers consistency with other research.
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Gary N. Powell, D. Anthony Butterfield and Xueting Jiang
The purpose of this study was to explore issues of gender and diversity raised by the 2020 US presidential election.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study was to explore issues of gender and diversity raised by the 2020 US presidential election.
Design/methodology/approach
Samples from two populations (n = 667) described either an ideal president or one of the major-party candidates for president (Donald Trump and Joe Biden) or vice president (Mike Pence and Kamala Harris) on an instrument that assessed self-ascribed masculinity and femininity. Androgyny was calculated as the difference between masculinity and femininity; the closer the score to zero, the more androgynous the candidate.
Findings
The ideal president was viewed as androgynous (i.e. balanced in masculine and feminine traits) rather than masculine as in previous studies of presidential leadership. Compared to the White male candidates, Harris, a woman of color, displayed the most androgynous profile. The Democratic ticket represented a “balanced” team, with one candidate (Biden) higher on femininity and the other (Harris) higher on masculinity; in essence, an androgynous ticket. In contrast, the Republican ticket (Trump and Pence) represented a decidedly masculine ticket. Ideal president profiles differed according to respondents’ gender and preferred president.
Practical implications
The Democrats winning the election with an androgynous ticket suggests that a more level playing field for female vis-à-vis male candidates for political leader roles may be arriving.
Originality/value
The finding of an ideal president as androgynous rather than masculine is an original contribution to the literature on presidential leadership.
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Gary N. Powell, D. Anthony Butterfield and Xueting Jiang
The purpose of this paper is to examine stability and change in the linkage between gender and managerial stereotypes over a five-decade period.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine stability and change in the linkage between gender and managerial stereotypes over a five-decade period.
Design/methodology/approach
Samples from two populations (n = 2347) described a “good manager” on an instrument that assessed masculinity and femininity during each of the past five decades.
Findings
Good-manager descriptions exhibited a decreasing emphasis on masculinity and increasing emphasis on femininity over time, culminating in an androgynous profile, or a balance of masculine and feminine traits, for each population in the most recently collected data.
Practical implications
Although women face systemic barriers in the managerial ranks of organizations, a change in managerial stereotypes to an androgynous rather than masculine profile would represent one less barrier for them to overcome.
Social implications
If managers come to be held to an androgynous standard in their behavior regardless of their gender, there would be a more level playing field for candidates for open managerial positions, rather than one tilted in favor of men.
Originality/value
The analysis of data from samples of the same population types using the same measures systematically over five decades, and the provocative finding of an androgynous profile of a good manager in the most recently collected data, are original contributions to the literature.
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Gary N. Powell, D. Anthony Butterfield and Xueting Jiang
The purpose of this paper is to examine perceptions of the “Ideal President” (IP) and presidential candidates in the 2016 US presidential election in relation to gender…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine perceptions of the “Ideal President” (IP) and presidential candidates in the 2016 US presidential election in relation to gender stereotypes and leader prototypes.
Design/methodology/approach
In all, 378 business students assessed perceptions of either the IP or a particular candidate on measures of masculinity and femininity. Androgyny (balance of masculinity and femininity) and hypermasculinity (extremely high masculinity) scores were calculated from these measures.
Findings
The IP was perceived as higher in masculinity than femininity, but less similar to the male (Donald Trump) than the female (Hillary Clinton) candidate. IP perceptions were more androgynous than in the 2008 US presidential election. Respondents’ political preferences were related to their IP perceptions on hypermasculinity, which in turn were consistent with perceptions of their preferred candidate.
Social implications
Trump’s high hypermasculinity scores may explain why he won the electoral college vote, whereas Clinton’s being perceived as more similar to the IP, and IP perceptions’ becoming more androgynous over time, may explain why she won the popular vote.
Originality/value
The study extends the literature on the linkages between gender stereotypes and leader prototypes in two respects. Contrary to the general assumption of a shared leader prototype, it demonstrates the existence of different leader prototypes according to political preference. The hypermasculinity construct, which was introduced to interpret leader prototypes in light of Trump’s candidacy and election, represents a valuable addition to the literature with potentially greater explanatory power than masculinity in some situations.
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Gary N. Powell and D. Anthony Butterfield
The purpose of this study is to examine linkages of gender and gender-related variables to aspirations to top management over a period spanning five decades.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to examine linkages of gender and gender-related variables to aspirations to top management over a period spanning five decades.
Design/methodology/approach
During each of the past five decades, samples from two early-career populations (n = 2131), undergraduate business students and part-time (evening) MBAs, completed an aspirations to top management measure and described themselves on an instrument that assessed self-ascribed masculinity and femininity.
Findings
Aspirations to top management were predicted by respondent gender for undergraduates, with women’s aspirations lower than those of men, and by masculinity for both populations. Suggesting a shifting role of gender, undergraduate women’s aspirations to top management declined during the 21st century, whereas undergraduate men’s aspirations did not.
Practical implications
Any decline in early-career women’s aspirations to top management over a sustained period may contribute in the long run to perpetuating the under-representation of women in top management.
Originality/value
The finding of a striking decline in women’s aspirations to top management during the 21st century in an early-career population is an original contribution to the gender in management literature.
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The purpose of this paper is to consider the implications of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic for future research on the intersection of gender, work and family.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to consider the implications of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic for future research on the intersection of gender, work and family.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper offers personal reflections on needed research in a post-pandemic future.
Findings
This paper identifies several promising areas for future research on the intersection of gender, work and family.
Research limitations/implications
The paper offers numerous recommendations for a post-pandemic research agenda, including future research on essential workers, virtual workers, workers with enhanced family demands, single employed parents, social supports and issues of gender associated with these populations and topics.
Social implications
The paper reinforces the value of social supports at the individual, family, organizational, community and societal levels.
Originality/value
The paper discusses implications for future research of an original event, the COVID-19 pandemic, as it is still transpiring.
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Gary N. Powell and D. Anthony Butterfield
This study aims to examine factors that may explain the status of women in management by exploring the linkages between leader anti-prototypes and prototypes to gender stereotypes.
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to examine factors that may explain the status of women in management by exploring the linkages between leader anti-prototypes and prototypes to gender stereotypes.
Design/methodology/approach
Samples from two populations described either a “bad manager” (representing leader anti-prototypes) or a “good manager” (representing leader prototypes) on two instruments that assessed masculinity and femininity.
Findings
On each instrument, masculinity was endorsed more than femininity in both leader prototypes and anti-prototypes. Both masculinity and femininity were endorsed more in leader prototypes than leader anti-prototypes but only when the purpose of the instrument was disguised rather than transparent.
Research limitations/implications
Limitations of a single data collection method, the nature of the samples and a newly designed scale for purposes of the study are acknowledged. Further attention to the linkages of leader anti-prototypes and prototypes to gender stereotypes and the outcomes of these linkages is recommended.
Practical implications
Individuals who make managerial selection and promotion decisions may devote more attention to the presence or absence of masculine traits in candidates than to the presence or absence of feminine traits, thereby leading to female candidates being passed over and male candidates receiving greater scrutiny in determining who gets ahead.
Social implications
The study suggests cognitive mechanisms that may influence the status of women in management.
Originality/value
The study incorporates leader anti-prototypes and leader prototypes to explain the low status of women in management.
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Gary N. Powell and D. Anthony Butterfield
Data gathered by the authors from undergraduate and part‐time graduate business students in 1976‐1977 suggested that men were more likely than women to aspire to top management…
Abstract
Data gathered by the authors from undergraduate and part‐time graduate business students in 1976‐1977 suggested that men were more likely than women to aspire to top management and that, consistent with traditional stereotypes of males and managers, a gender identity consisting of high masculinity and low femininity was associated with aspirations to top management. As a result of gender‐related social changes, we expected the gender difference in aspirations to top management but not the importance of gender identity to have decreased over time. We collected data in 1999 from the same two populations to test these notions. In newly collected data, high masculinity (but not low femininity) was still associated with such aspirations, and men still aspired to top management positions more than women. However, the gender difference in aspirations to top management did not decrease over time.
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Gary N. Powell and D. Anthony Butterfield
The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of psychological androgyny, a construct that represents a combination of masculinity and femininity, in explaining changes in…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of psychological androgyny, a construct that represents a combination of masculinity and femininity, in explaining changes in descriptions of a good manager over time.
Design/methodology/approach
Samples of the same two populations were surveyed at four different points in time spanning four decades (N = 1,818).
Findings
Good-manager descriptions became increasingly similar in masculinity and femininity over time, or increasingly androgynous according to the balance conceptualization of androgyny. However, both good-manager masculinity and good-manager femininity declined over time, with masculinity declining to a greater extent, which accounted for the greater similarity in these scores. As a result, according to the high masculinity/high femininity conceptualization of androgyny, good-manager descriptions actually became decreasingly androgynous and more “undifferentiated”. Overall, the trend in leader prototypes over time was toward less emphasis on traits associated with members of either sex.
Research limitations/implications
Limitations of two alternative methods of analyses and the survey instrument are acknowledged. What constituted a good manager may have depended on the context. Further scholarly attention to the concept of an undifferentiated leadership style is recommended.
Practical implications
People may be moving beyond leader prototypes based on the simple application of gender stereotypes. Changes in leader prototypes over the past four decades may contribute to enhancements in women’s societal status.
Social implications
Leader prototypes may disadvantage women less than in the past.
Originality/value
Results suggest that the role of androgyny in leader prototypes is declining according to the high masculinity/high femininity conceptualization.
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Knowledge of how institutions “work on the ground” is central to understanding how macro-pressures shape organizations and their participants. Four examples of the interplay…
Abstract
Knowledge of how institutions “work on the ground” is central to understanding how macro-pressures shape organizations and their participants. Four examples of the interplay between micro and macro are provided to give a richer account of institutions, both as process and outcome. One, as wider trends diffuse, they are pulled down locally, but the scripts are utilized in divergent ways. Two, as organizations make sense of social forces, these movements are received differentially, with micro-practices and macro-influences becoming entangled. Three, trends can be opaque to those who seek to follow them, resulting in unintended forms of implementation. Four, sociological miniaturism illustrates how the micro captures the macro as lived experience.