The Social Construction Of Gender Stereotypes

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Gender Stereotypes There is an inherent gender stratification and structural sexism that has given the social construction of beliefs, that there are innate differences between men and women and that these differences connote the superiority of one group and the inferiority of the other. Stereotypes are explained as cognitive shortcuts that people use to process information about specific groups (Crites, Dickson, and Lorenz 2015). As such, gender is often perceived as being interchangeable with ones biological sex but there is a distinct difference in the two terms. Ones sex is attributed by biology and physiology where as, gender is referred to “the socially constructed roles, behaviors, activities, and attributes that a given society considers…show more content…
Women are more likely to use a power based on charisma, work record, and contacts as opposed to power based on organizational position, title, and punishments/rewards (Valentine and Godkin 2000). Male counterparts however, take a much more formal transactional approach exchanging rewards or punishment for performance. Power for males is associated through means to satisfy needs for control and derive from their position and formal authority. The transformational repertoire, along with the contingent reward aspect of transactional leadership, may resolve some of the inconsistencies between the demands of leadership roles and the female gender role and therefore allow women to excel as leaders (Eagley and Carli 2003). Leadership qualities and styles greatly impact the day to day lives of the employees following their leaders and can result in the employees desire to achieve success not only for their company but also for themselves via upward mobility. Such leadership qualities and styles can set the foundation for overall morale, productivity and business efficiency. The work environment becomes a social family in itself and the leaders heavily influence the outcome and the results of the employees within the…show more content…
They include warmth, helpfulness, sensitivity and empathy”. Also, agentic traits, which are associated to male traits “related to asserting oneself and controlling others. They include competitiveness, dominance and self-confidence”. Much research further depicts that women have a more nurturing, empathetic, collaborative, and intuitive approach, while men prefer a more top-down, fact-based, linear, and task-oriented

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