"Equal Opportunity? Women, Gender, and Leadership in the 21st Century"

This symposium introduces new perspectives and applications of gender stereotypes in organizations via four presentations. The authors examine perceptions of leaders, leadership behavior, and occupational advancement through a gender lens. The first presentation uses archival and experimental data to highlight the emphasis placed on female politicians’ physical appearance and the detrimental effects appearance discussions have on observers’ perceptions of high-status women. The second presentation reveals that stereotypes associated with two forms of distributive justice (equity vs. equality) mirror the stereotype content model (masculinity/agency vs. femininity/communion). This intersection of justice and gender stereotypes poses significant implications for employees’ attitudes toward male and female managers. The third presentation demonstrates that women leaders are targeted with less hostility, particularly by conservative observers, when they reinforce the traditional gender hierarchy by engaging in...