¿Las mujeres son percibidas como más idóneas para la gestión de empresas en crisis? La influencia de los estereotipos de género

Abstract

Different studies show that women have difficulties to reach positions of power and when they achieve them , those companies used to be in a crisis situation . This is due to the fact that women are considered more prepared than men to manage the conflicts that emerge in crisis contexts . The aim of this research was to examine the perceptions of the general population about the characteristics that a person must have in order to access to senior management positions, depending on whether the company is in a crisis situation or not (control situation ) and whether the type of crisis influences in that choice . For this , two studies were carried out . The results of Study 1 (N= 100 participants ) confirmed a preference for the female candidate to occupy the vacant position in a company in crisis, while in the control situation the preference for the male and female candidate was similar . The results of Study 2 (N= 100 participants ), where the type of crisis of the company was deepened (interpersonal relationships vs . results ), evidenced a greater preference for the woman in both conditions , but especially when the crisis was due to bad interpersonal relationships , as expected . In addition , a stereotypically masculine trait (i . e . , being a hard person ) emerged as more approppriate when the company had a crisis of results than when the crisis dealt with interpersonal relationships . In conclusion , these findings reveal that the suitability of a person to perform a managerial role depends on the sociodemographic variables, such as sex, and particularly the different gender prescriptions traditionally related to men and women .