1. DESCRIPTION AND PRESCRIPTION : HOW
GENDER STEREOTYPES PREVENT
WOMEN’S ASCENT UP THE
ORGANIZATIONAL LADDER
Heilman E. M (2001) journal of social issues, vol.57, no.4,657-674.

2. WHY ARE WOMEN SCARCE AT THE TOP LEVEL OF
ORGANIZATION?
Gender Stereotype
• Glass ceiling – This presents an impenetrable barrier at some point in some
women’s career (Morrison et al. 1987), is viewed as a natural consequence of
gender stereotypes and the expectations they produce about what women are
like and how they should behave.

3. GENDER STEREOTYPIC ATTRIBUTES
Men and women are thought to differ in
Achievement-oriented & Service oriented traits
• Men are labeled as “agentic’’
• Women are labeled as “communal”
(Bakan 1996).
Heilman et al. (1995) in their research reported
that even when women are depicted as managers,
they are still seen as less agentic than men.
Source: African Gender Institute (2013)

4. ELEMENTS OF GENDER STEREOTYPE
• Descriptive Stereotype - This denotes the differences in how women and men
actually are.
• Prescriptive Stereotype - This denotes norms about behaviors that are suitable
for each i.e. about how men and women should be.

5. HOW GENDER-STEREOTYPIC DESCRIPTIONS AND
PRESCRIPTIONS PRODUCE BIASED EVALUATIONS
• Description-Based Bias : “lack of fit” (Heilman 1995).
The Other Problem
• Prescription-Based Bias: “Bad fit” (Cialdini and Trost 1998).

6. CONSEQUENCE OF GENDER-STEREOTYPIC
DESCRIPTIONS IN WORK SETTINGS
Devaluation of Performance
• If women are to advance to the upper levels of organizations, then they must be
seen as producing excellent work. But stereotypes about women suggest that
they will not be successful when they engage in activities traditionally reserved for
men. These expectations have a tendency to perpetuate themselves and therefore
are likely to affect how performance information is attended to and interpreted.
• Tendency to interpret the same behavior differently depending upon who the
actor is (Taylor et al 1978).

7. ORGANIZATIONAL CONDITIONS THAT FACILITATES THE
DEVALUATION OF WOMEN’S PERFORMANCE/DENIAL OF CREDIT
FOR SUCCESS
A. Ambiguity in evaluation criteria
B. Lack of structure in evaluation processes
C. Ambiguity about the source of successful performance
D. Ambiguity about the reason for successful upward mobility

8. CONSEQUENCES OF GENDER-STEREOTYPIC
PRESCRIPTIONS IN WORK SETTINGS
• Penalizing women for being competent
They face disapproval, are socially unacceptable, and
not always promoted.
• Personal derogation- ”cold”, ”ice-queen”
• Dislike – likeability rating
• Source: Universal Pictures

9. CONCLUSION
• This article states that gender stereotypes are the foundation of gender bias in
work settings.
• Heilman identified two different aspects of gender stereotypes – the descriptive
and the prescriptive.
• These stereotypes are the root cause of the discriminatory treatment of women in
organizations which limits their upward mobility.

10. HOWEVER?????
• This Article only evaluates and highlight the reasons why women do not ascend
up the organizational ladder, it does not provide solution or suggestion to
change it.
• The article relied only on qualitative research and empirical evidence, an
objective/quantitative research methodology should have been used as well.
• The article is also a continuous confirmation of her previous work study on
gender bias and its effect.
• Further research is thus required.

11. FURTHER READINGS
• Bakan, D. (1966). The duality of human existence: An essay on psychology and
religion. Chicago: Rand McNally.
• Cialdini, R. B., & Trost, M. R. (1998). Social influence: Social norms, Conformity, and
Compliance. In D. T. Gilbert, S. T. Fiske, and G. Lindzey (Eds.), The handbook of social
psychology (4th ed.,Vol. 2, pp. 151–192). Boston: McGraw-Hill
• Heilman, M.E (1995) Sex stereotypes: Do they influence perceptions of managers?
Journal of Social Behaviour and Personality, 10960 237-252
• Morrison, A. M., White, R. P., & Van Velsor, E. (1987). Breaking the glass ceiling.
Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.