The “good manager” over five decades : towards an androgynous profile?

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.