the glass slipper effect -...
TRANSCRIPT
THE GLASS SLIPPER EFFECT: The Influence of Occupational Identity by Association on
the Motivation to Pursue a Top Managing Position among
Women in Denmark
Sabrina Spangsdorf Liverpool University
School of Psychology
Research paper May 2016
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CONTENTS
Resumé på dansk ........................................................................................................................................ 4
1 Abstract .............................................................................................................................................. 7
2 Introduction ........................................................................................................................................ 9
3 Literature review .............................................................................................................................. 13
3.1 Occupational identity ............................................................................................................... 13
3.2 Leadership identity ................................................................................................................... 15
3.3 Identity-based motivation ........................................................................................................ 18
3.4 Research question .................................................................................................................... 20
3.5 Aim and objectives ................................................................................................................... 20
4 Methods ........................................................................................................................................... 22
4.1 Participants ............................................................................................................................... 22
4.2 Design ....................................................................................................................................... 22
4.3 Measuring identity ................................................................................................................... 23
4.4 The Bem Sex-Role Inventory .................................................................................................... 23
4.5 Career Aspiration Scale Revised ............................................................................................... 24
4.6 The questionnaire .................................................................................................................... 25
4.7 Data analysis guide ................................................................................................................... 25
5 Analysis ............................................................................................................................................. 28
5.1 Hypotheses testing ................................................................................................................... 28
5.2 Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) ....................................................................................... 30
5.3 Structural model ....................................................................................................................... 33
5.4 Mediated moderation .............................................................................................................. 35
5.6 Thematic analysis ..................................................................................................................... 36
6 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................................ 39
6.1 Perceived identity of a top managing position ........................................................................ 39
6.2 Job level of parents and partner .............................................................................................. 40
6.3 Occupational identity by association as a factor ...................................................................... 41
6.4 Limitations and future studies ................................................................................................. 42
6.5 Conclusion and practical implications ...................................................................................... 44
References ................................................................................................................................................ 45
Appendix A ............................................................................................................................................... 54
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Appendix B ............................................................................................................................................... 57
LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES
Table 1 - 25 BSRI-SE items for the perceived identity of a top managing position and for own identity ............... 28 Table 2 - Standardized regression weights – factor loadings of items and error variances ...................................... 31 Table 3 - Model fit ................................................................................................................................................... 32 Table 4 - Measurement properties for study constructs ........................................................................................... 33 Table 5 - Means, standard deviations and correlations between variables ............................................................... 33 Table 6 - Model fit for the hypothesized structural model and alternative models .................................................. 34 Table 7 - Moderated mediation with bootstrapping – Type of industry ................................................................... 36 Table 8 - Thematic analysis ..................................................................................................................................... 37
Figure 1- Hypothesized structural model ................................................................................................................. 27 Figure 2 - Hypothesized model ................................................................................................................................ 34 Figure 3 - Final structural model with OWNID (MAS and FEM) as mediating factor ........................................... 35
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Resumé på dansk
På verdensplan er der generelt få kvinder i topledelse (Grant Thornton International Business
Rapport, 2015; Hausmann, Tyson & Zahidi, 2011). I Danmark udgør kvinderne kun 16% af
bestyrelsesmedlemmerne og 14% af topleder stillingerne (Hausmann, Tyson & Zahidi, 2011).
Både forskning og erfaring viser, at flere kvinder i den øverste ledelse har en positiv effekt på
bundlinjen i forhold til indtjening, fastholdelse af kunder og produktudvikling (Armstrong et al,
2010; Credit Suisse, 2014). Danmark har derfor ikke råd til at forsømme eller overse halvdelen
af sin talentmasse. Så hvorfor er kvinderne underrepræsenteret i de øverste ledelseslag i danske
virksomheder?
Sociale, kulturelle og uddannelsesmæssige barrierer er velkendte faktorer. Men vi ved kun lidt
om, hvilken rolle identitet spiller og muligheden for at kunne identificere sig med en bestemt
jobfunktion eller rolle. Ashcraft (2013) hævder, at alle former for jobs og stillinger har sin egen
identitet bestående af en række centrale kendetegn og egenskaber som associeres med det
enkelte job eller rolle. Kendetegnene og egenskaberne er tæt forbundet med de sociale
identiteter, som jobbets/stillingens eksisterende udøvere besidder. Det skaber jobs og erhverv,
der synes at være "velegnet til visse mennesker og ikke-egnet for andre" (Ashcraft, 2013, s. 7-
8); noget Ashcraft kalder ’occupational identity by association’. Denne rapport har undersøgt,
om occupational identity by association er en faktor blandt danske kvinder, og som indirekte
bidrager til en underrepræsentation af kvinder i den øverste ledelse. Dette er den første
undersøgelse om occupational identity by association i Danmark, og det er også det første
forsøg nogensinde på at studere occupational identity by association kvantitativt.
Ashcraft bruger udtrykket ’Glass Slipper Effect’ i tråd med lignende udtryk, som bruges om
kvinders udfordringer i ledelse, nemlig glass ceiling, glass cliff og glass eskalator. Glass
Slipper Effekten er den situation, når kvinder ikke kan identificere sig med en toplederrolle
eller som oplever et manglende match mellem sin egen identitet og den identitet som en
toplederrolle har fået. Denne identitetskonflikt påvirker kvindernes motivation til at forfølge en
toplederkarriere og skaber en opfattelse af, at det ikke er muligt at forene toplederidentiteten
med ens egen identitet eller at en toplederposition slet ikke anses for at være en realistisk
mulighed; altså at ”glasskoen” ikke passer.
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Analysen i denne rapport er baseret på spørgeskemabesvarelser fra 1054 danske kvinder
mellem 18 og 60 år. Analysen viser, at danske kvinder har en stærk maskulin
identitetsopfattelse af en toplederrolle, men at deres egen identitet er langt mere forskelligartet
og har et mere lige forhold mellem maskuline og feminine egenskaber. Resultatet af structurel
equation modelling analyse viser et stor gab mellem kvindernes egen identitet og deres
identitetsopfattelse af en toplederrolle, hvilket påvirker deres motivation til at forfølge en
toplederkarriere; jo større gabet er, jo mindre motiverede er kvinderne. Analysen viser også, at
kvinder i mandsdominerede brancher oplever en stor overensstemmelse mellem deres egen
identitet og den identitet som tillægges en toplederrolle, hvorimod kvinder i kvindedominerede
brancher oplever en lav overensstemmelse mellem deres egen identitet og en toplederrolle.
Forældrenes jobniveau påvirker ikke motivationen hos kvinderne; til gengæld viser analysen, at
hvis en kvinde har en partner, der bestrider en toplederfunktion, så har det en positiv
indflydelse på kvindens motivation. Resultaterne viser samlet, at der er behov for langt mere
forskelligartede rollemodeller med fokus på både maskuline og feminine træk og egenskaber og
mindre fokus på køn som en faktor i sig selv. Resultaterne viser også, at der er behov for at
reducere og nedbryde det meget kønsopdelte arbejdsmarked i Danmark, da det virker som en
stærk barriere mod at få flere kvinder ind i topledelse.
Vigtigste resultater:
Der er behov for at synliggøre flere forskelligartede rollemodeller indenfor topledelse
med fokus på både maskuline og feminine træk og egenskaber og mindre fokus på køn
som en selvstændig faktor. Især er det vigtigt at vise, at en toplederrolle består af flere
facetter, herunder både maskuline og feminine egenskaber, da disse findes hos både
mænd og kvinder og ikke er relateret til det biologiske køn.
Skoler, uddannelsesinstitutioner, store virksomheder, fagforeninger og ikke mindst de
danske medier har en meget vigtig rolle i at fremme flere forskelligartede rollemodeller
og ikke bare benytte en kvinde som rollemodel og tro at hun automatisk appellerer til
andre kvinder. De fleste identificerer sig ikke nødvendigvis med kønnet hos en
rollemodel, men i langt højere grad med de maskuline og feminine egenskaber, som
personen udviser.
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Det meget kønsopdelte arbejdsmarked i Danmark fungerer som en stærk barriere. Ved
aktivt at arbejde for at reducere og udligne kønsopdelte brancher, kan man påvirke
motivationen positivt hos kvinder til at forfølge en toplederkarriere.
Danske virksomheder bør give flere faktuelle oplysninger om det at være topleder ved
at fortælle om de konkrete opgaver, der ligger i rollen, om antallet af arbejdstimer, om
den fleksibilitet der ofte følger med en toplederrolle og den frihed som tillader, at man
helt kan administrere sin egen tid. Det kan tilsammen være med til at afmystificere
rollen og gøre den mere tilgængelig for kvinder, herunder at flere kvinder bedre vil
kunne identificere sig med en toplederrolle.
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1 Abstract
Top managing positions worldwide are occupied by relatively few women (Grant Thornton
International Business Report, 2015; Hausmann, Tyson & Zahidi, 2011). In Denmark only
16% of board members and 14% of top managing positions are held by women (Hausmann,
Tyson & Zahidi, 2011). Evidence shows that management diversity in general can have a
positive effect on firm performance (Armstrong et al., 2010; Credit Suisse, 2014). Denmark
simply cannot afford to neglect half of its talent pool. So why are women underrepresented in
the highest corporate levels?
Social, cultural and educational barriers are well-known. But little is known about the role of
identity and being able to identify with a top managing position and how it might be a piece of
the puzzle. Ashcraft (2013) argues that occupational identities and central characteristics of an
occupation are associated with the social identities of their practitioners. Such association
creates occupations that appear to be “suited for certain people and implausible to others”
(Ashcraft, 2013, p. 7-8) what Ashcraft terms ‘occupational identity by association’. This study
examined whether occupational identity by association is a factor among Danish women
contributing to the underrepresentation of women in senior management. This is the first study
of occupational identity by association in Denmark and it is also the first attempt to study
occupational identity by association quantitatively.
The ‘Glass Slipper Effect’ is when women are not able to match their own identity with their
perceived identity of a top managing position. This conflict of identity affects their motivation to
pursue top managing positions and creates a perception that the occupational identity is
impossible to incorporate or the occupation is simply not even considered to be an option.
This study is based on survey responses from 1054 Danish women between 18 and 60 years.
The analysis shows that Danish women have a strong masculine identity perception of a top
managing position, but that their own identity is much more diverse and equal between
masculine and feminine identity measures. Results of structural equation modelling suggested a
gap between women’s own identity and their perceived identity of a top managing position
which affects their motivation to pursue senior management; the greater the gap, the less
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motivated. The analyses indicated that women in male-dominated industries experience lower
incongruence between own identity and perceived identity of a senior role than women in
female-dominated industries. The analyses also suggested that job level of parents do not affect
motivation, but having a partner in senior management has a positive influence on women’s
motivation. The findings indicate that there is a need for more diverse role models with focus on
both masculine and feminine traits of a top managing position and less focus on gender. The
findings also suggest that there is a need to reduce the highly gender-segregated labour market
in Denmark as it acts as a strong barrier.
Practitioner points
There is a need for more diverse role models with focus on both masculine and
feminine traits of a top managing position and less focus on gender.
Schools, educational institutions, large organisations, trade unions and the media have a
very important role in promoting more diverse role models and not just use a woman as
role model thinking she automatically appeals to other women.
The highly gender-segregated labour market in Denmark acts as a barrier and by
actively reducing the high level of gendered industries, more women are likely to
pursue and be selected to senior positions.
Organisations should provide more factual information about a top managing role,
about the tasks, the number of working hours, the flexibility and freedom to administer
your own work schedule as it can make the role more obtainable for women.
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2 Introduction
Top managing positions worldwide are occupied by relatively few women (Grant Thornton
International Business Report, 2015; Hausmann, Tyson & Zahidi, 2011). In Denmark only
16% of board members and 14% of top managing positions are held by women (Hausmann,
Tyson & Zahidi, 2011). Evidence shows that management diversity in general can have a
positive effect on firm performance (Armstrong et al., 2010; Credit Suisse, 2014). Denmark
simply cannot afford to neglect half of its talent pool. So why are women underrepresented in
the highest corporate levels?
Social, cultural and educational barriers are well-known (Boatwright & Egidio, 2003;
Haveman & Beresford, 2012; Smith, Smith & Verner, 2010). For example, although more
women than men have secondary and tertiary education, especially university degrees (EU
Commission Report, 2012; Hausmann, Tyson & Zahidi, 2011), the educational field is still
highly gender-segregated with fewer women in the fields of Science, Technology, Engineering
and Mathematics (STEM) (Bloksgaard, 2011; Holt et al, 2006). Previously, many top
managers were recruited from finance and law, but today they are increasingly recruited from
STEM fields (Haveman & Beresford, 2012), Holt et al, 2006), therefore the explanation for
this gender-segregation may be located in occupational societal identities (Bloksgaard, 2011).
In Denmark women have one of the most equal employment rates in the world. Labour force
participation for women sits at a rate of 75% whereas it is at 81% for men (OECD.Stats, 2015).
However, Denmark has a very gender-segregated job market (European Commission’s Expert
Group on Gender and Employment, 2009) with more women working in traditional female
industries such as nursing and education, and men dominating the top managing positions in
those occupations (Smith, Smith & Verner, 2010). Suggesting a perception of ‘masculine’ and
‘feminine’ professions exist, and that this perception influences men and women’s choices in
the job market (Bloksgaard, 2011).
Women are often not part of the informal networks from which candidates to board and top
managing positions are recruited (Linehan, 2001; Schwarts, Luycks & Vignoles, 2011;
Timberlake, 2005) and women are often subconsciously discriminated against because they are
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not perceived as having the requisite masculine characteristics that top management desire
(Djøf, 2008). Two Danish studies (Ellersgaard & Larsen, 2010; Larsen, Ellersgaard, &
Bernsen, 2015) have examined the elite in Denmark and found that they primarily came from a
small number of families, that top positions are often ‘inherited’ from father to son more than
from father to daughter and that the men in top positions are married to women from the same
circles. Even though networks and being male increases the chances of landing a top managing
position, it does not explain why it is primarily men and not women who end up in senior
positions. Being male or being part of certain networks cannot independently explain why
women are less represented.
The responsibilities related to family life and society in general have been naturally divided
between men and women based on physiology. Childbearing abilities make women the
primary caretaker and therefore they are traditionally more closely linked to domestic
responsibilities (Eagly, Wood & Diekman, 2000; Myers & Twenge, 2013). This division of
roles has spilled into the field of management where female behaviours are often categorized
as mainly communal in characteristic (Eagly, Wood & Diekman, 2000). Male roles on the
other hand are characterized through traits such as confidence and self-assertion as well as
having a desire for achievement (Eagly, 1987; Madsen, Jensen, Madsen, Neergaard & Ulhøi,
2007). According to social role theory stereotypic gender roles control behaviour in two ways
(Eagly, 1987). Stereotypic gender roles influence the actual behaviour as they drive the
expectations that constitute the behaviour and they describe the social beliefs about how men
and women should ideally behave. This influences the perception of women in management: if
women express agentic characteristics they step out of their expected social role behaviour
which is viewed negatively in society, but if they express communal characteristics expected
of their gender role, they are viewed as less competent for the role of a top position in
management (Ingols & Shapiro, 2015; Karelaia & Guillen, 2011). Thornton (2013) ranked the
percentage of women in senior management in all countries, with Denmark only receiving a
place as number 28. Countries such as China, Poland, Russia, Georgia and Botswana all have
more women in senior management than Denmark. Many of the countries with more than 29%
women in senior management score high on collectivism (Hofstede, 2015). Costa, Terracciano
and McCrae (2001) report that gender differences are more strongly related to personality traits
and are more marked in individualistic cultures. Collectivist behaviour is more determined by
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social norms and social roles and social roles are related to functions rather than personality
(Triandis, 1989). Social roles including gender roles in collectivistic cultures are related to
tasks, but in individualistic cultures social roles and gender roles are related to identity.
The aforementioned barriers only address the opportunity for women to enter top managing
positions and cannot explain entirely the underrepresentation of women in top management
(Boatwright & Egidio, 2003; Savery, 1990). An important factor for wanting a certain position
or job type requires a degree of desire and motivation (DeRue, Ashford & Cotton, 2009;
Oyserman, 2009). Motivation for a job position or career path is established through identity;
that a person is able to identify herself with that job role (Oyserman, 2009; Oyserman &
Destin, 2010) and there are limited studies exploring theses processes among women in top
managing positions (Schwarts, Luycks & Vignoles, 2011).
Occupational identity and identity-based motivation plays an important role when it comes to
desiring top managing positions (Adamson, 2015; Ashcraft, 2013; Oyserman, 2009;
Oyserman, 2013; Oyserman & Destin, 2010). Traditionally, occupational identity has been
dominated by a unilateral view that people derive identity from their occupation (Phelan &
Kinsella, 2009), but Ashcraft (2005, 2013) proposes that occupational identity has a reciprocal
relation; that an occupation has an identity of its own derived from associated people, i.e. we
associate a certain identity with an occupation based on values, traits, roles, gender, race etc.
Such association creates occupations that appear to be “suited for certain people and
implausible to others” (Ashcraft, 2013, p. 7-8), what Ashcraft terms ‘occupational identity by
association’. Ashcraft (2013) suggests that if women cannot identify with the role of a top
managing position, they lose interest in pursuing such careers or view them as impossible to
achieve. Based on the phrase ‘if the shoe fits’, Ashcraft developed the term ‘the glass slipper
effect’ in line with the glass analogy in women’s studies (glass ceiling, glass cliff and glass
escalator). A specified library and online search for occupational identity by association
revealed only two studies: one in the US among airline pilots (Ashcraft, 2013) and one in
Russia among psychological counsellors (Adamson, 2015). Both studies found that people that
enter a specific occupation are those that identify with the collective identity of that
occupation. If a top managing position is viewed as an occupation and women are not able to
identity with this occupation, it may explain why there is a lack of women in top management
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and why organisations report that women sometimes decline promotions or simply do not
apply for these types of positions in the first place (Desvaux, DevillardHoellinger & Meaney,
2008; Gino, Wilmuth & Brooks, 2015). The aim of this study is to examine the influence of
occupational identity by association on the level of motivation to pursue a top managing
position among women in Denmark.
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3 Literature review
3.1 Occupational identity
The study of identity development can be traced from Freud’s early writings through Erikson’s
eight stages of development, to Marcia’s empirical findings and operationalization (Schwartz,
2001). Identity, or one’s sense of self, is neither simple nor stable and individuals can hold
several identities all related in one way or another (Schwarts, Luycks & Vignoles, 2011). There
is no unified definition of what constitutes identity, but professional occupation appears to be a
central element of identity and identity formation (Schwartz, 2001). Skorikov and Vondracek
(1998) concluded that occupational identity played the leading role in the identity formation
among adolescents, well ahead of identities within lifestyle, religion, politics and ideology. In
Norway Danielsen et al. (2000) found that work was the primary influence on overall identity
regardless of whether the participants had a job, were unemployed or attended college. Although
Skorikov and Vondracek’s (1998) was a cross-sectional, instead of a longitudinal, and Danielsen
et al’s (2000) participant numbers were small, both studies were conducted in a Western context
and reflected earlier findings that occupation in an individualistic culture is related to identity
(Triandis, 1989).
Christiansen (1999, 2000) was the first to link theories within occupation and identity focusing
on how occupation influences and determines an individual’s personal and social identity.
Unruh, Versnel and Kerr (2002) supported the approach of Christiansen by defining
occupational identity as “the expression of the physical, affective, cognitive, and spiritual
aspects of human nature, in an interaction with the institutional, social, cultural and political
dimensions of the environment…” (Unruh, Versnel & Kerr, 2002, p. 12). Despite the fact that
Christiansen includes the social context and interaction in the development of occupational
identity and that Unruh also includes cultural and political aspects, they all view occupational
identity as something that the individual controls. Their dominant discourse is centred round
self-efficacy, self-confidence, self-esteem, personal motivators, and personal goals, all of which
are viewed as something which the individual is aware of, makes cognitive reflections about,
and actively seek to improve, change, adapt, or follow. In most studies occupational identity is
defined as a mixture of one’s perception of occupational interests, abilities, goals and values
based on one’s competencies and skills (Schwarts, Luycks & Vignoles, 2011). Occupational
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identity has traditionally been viewed as a personal construct devoid of gender, age, physical
appearance, ethnicity, nationality, religion and other characteristics. There is no question that the
individual self and thoughts about identity are essential to the development of identity and
occupational identity, however, occupational identity cannot be seen as separate from the
environment or as arising from within individuals; “occupation is rarely, if ever individual in
nature” (Dickie, Cutchin & Humphry, 2006, p. 83). Instead Dickie, et al. (2006) propose a
social constructivist approach. Occupational identity is a reciprocal relationship between
‘person’, ‘occupation’ and ‘context’. This social constructivist approach sees occupational
identity as a social product based on a reciprocal interplay between culture, language, social
relationships, context, time and personality (Berger & Luckman, 1966). According to Burr
(2003) each context has a limited number of discourses from which we can develop our own
identity. For example, being a nurse at a hospital contains a certain number of discourses such as
gender (‘most nurses are female’), the tasks (‘nursing is about caring’), the organization or
institution (‘nurses are health care professionals’), or competences (‘nurses know about
medicine’). Andsager (2015) showed that such discourses can be projected through the media
reporting for example that the Danish media primarily presents women in leadership as
unfeminine or as a ‘superwomen’.
Research on occupational segregation (Bolton & Muzio, 2008; Le Feuvre, 2009; Muzio &
Tomlinson, 2012; Riska, 2008; Williams, 2013) demonstrates that gender plays a subtle yet
strong role in occupations and how we relate to different types of occupations. Ashcraft (2013)
argues that collective occupational identities and central characteristics of an occupation are
associated with the social identities of their practitioners (whether they are actual or figurative)
and are created on a societal level. Such association creates occupations that appear to be “suited
for certain people and implausible to others” (Ashcraft, 2013, p. 7-8) what Ashcraft terms
‘occupational identity by association’. Ashcraft (2005) conducted a narrative study among US
airline pilots based on 18 interviews and historical data and found that the pilots had chosen
their occupation because they identified with several of the collective characteristics of the
occupation, and once they were pilots they actively maintained those characteristics confirming
their identity. Adamson (2015) found similar results in semi-structured interviews with 26
Russian psychology counsellors. Skinner (2014) used a grounded theory approach to examine
whether executive coaching was useful to 11 women in senior roles and found that a core
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element was that the women used the coaching to form a leadership identity. Ashcraft (2013)
proposes the metaphor ‘glass slipper’ to express that occupations are associated with inherent
characteristics that seem ‘natural’ to people but that at the same time is only fit for some but not
for others. This ‘glass slipper’ approach explains why some occupations are viewed as
predominately male and others female creating advantages for those who fit the ‘glass slipper’
and disadvantages for those who do not. The ‘glass slipper’ makes a person evaluate whether he
or she fits the identity of an occupation and if the disparity between the occupation and the
person’s existing identity is too large, the identity and thus the occupation is considered to be
either unnatural, impossible to incorporate or is simply not even considered to be an option.
The evidence for the existence and relevance of occupational identity is rich and substantial, but
there is a lack of studies that address occupational identity as more than work, abilities and skills
as well as studies that address individual identity, perceived identity of a specific occupation and
its effect on motivation. The studies from Ashcraft (2005), Adamson (2015) and Skinner (2014)
are explorative and present a good foundation for the study of identity, gender and motivation in
relation to specific occupations. Although, their sample numbers are rather small and there is a
lack of quantitative representativeness. Compared with Scandinavian countries, which score
very high on the femininity dimension, all three studies were conducted in cultures that score
high on the cultural dimension of masculinity (Hofstede, 2015). Most research within
occupational identity and specific occupations is based in an Anglo-American cultural context.
There are a few exceptions such as Russia (Adamson, 2015), Spain (Killeen, Lopez-Zafra &
Eagly, 2006) and India (Naqvi, 2011). Again however, this research is based in cultures that
score high on masculinity (Hofstede, 2015) something that may well influence the social
identities associated with different occupations.
3.2 Leadership identity
Among researchers there is debate whether leadership can be viewed as an occupation of its
own. Barker (2010) states that as leadership is related to personal competencies and behaviour
and as leadership transcends trades, it is not possible to view leadership as an independent
occupation. Khurana (2007) argues that management and thus a leadership role requires skills,
knowledge and training similar to other professions and it therefore must be considered to be an
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occupation of its own. Considering the extensive number of studies on leadership roles, gender-
typing of occupations and leadership identity, Khurana’s argument seems to be the strongest.
In line with Ashcraft (2013) and Dickie et al.’s (2006) view on occupational identity, DeRue
and Ashford (2010) believes that identity construction is a product of reciprocal influences
between individual self, attributions, social environments and culture. DeRue and Ashford
(2010) criticize the literature of not sufficiently explaining why some individuals internalize a
specific occupational identity and others do not. By using leadership as example of an identity,
they propose a model of identity construction consisting of three aspects aligning individual
internalization, relational recognition and collective endorsement. A leadership identity is
constructed through a claiming-granting process in which ‘claiming’ “refers to the actions
people take to assert their identity as a leader” and granting refers to “the actions that a person
takes to bestow a leader identity onto another person” (DeRue & Ashford, 2010, p. 631).
DeRue and Ashford (2010) have primarily been concerned with organizational settings and
identity construction among adults in the workplace. However, identities develop throughout
lifespan and some change with different ages or life events such as being a teenager or being a
parent (Arnett, 2012). Komives et al (2005, 2006) and Lord, Hall and Halpin (2012) have found
that leadership identity not only develops in early adulthood or when having a formal leader
position, but that early construction of a leadership identity is often formed as early as in
childhood. Experience then either boosts or diminishes early leadership construction through
the ‘claiming-granting process’(DeRue & Ashford, 2010). Both Komives et al (2005, 2006)
and Lord, Hall and Halpin (2012) state that parents, adults and later on peers, play an important
role in the development of a leadership identity, from mentoring and role models to support and
encouragement. The more a girl gains social acceptance from parents for taking a leader role
(granting), the more likely she will be to feel comfortable with a leadership identity and
actively pursuing that path as an adult (claiming) (Karelaia & Guillen, 2011).
Several studies support the development and construction of a leadership identity from a young
age. Naqvi (2011) interviewed Indian women managers of which 60% stressed that their
parents’ support, encouragement or job level influenced their decision to pursue a management
position. Aycan (2004) studied the lack of women in top managing positions in Turkey finding
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that cultural norms influence gender stereotypes but more importantly they influence women’s
self-confidence and identity of self. Aycan’s (2004) suggestion is that support by family can
increase self-confidence and the desire to seek management positions. A survey from the
Danish union Djøf (2008) supports the findings of Aycan reporting that Danish women lack
self-confidence and often lack support from their family, which ultimately stops them from
pursuing top managing positions. Yewchuk, Äystö and Schlosser (2001) studied similarities
and barriers experienced by women in Canada and Finland, finding that support and
encouragement from parents and spouse was the most significant factor for women pursuing
top positions. A study of 25,000 Harvard Business School graduates showed that even though
women spend more time on household work and childcare compared to their partner, it is not
the children who are holding women back from pursuing top managing positions (Ely, Stone &
Ammerman, 2014), rather it is their male partner who expects that the couple will prioritize his
career over hers. Ely et al (2014) call this second-generation gender bias that subtly and often
invisibly influences the behavior of women through cultural assumptions which women
internalize. The best way to avoid this is for women to find partners below their employment or
educational level and who are less likely to prioritize their own career (Ely et al, 2014).
Although the samples of Aycan (2004) and Naqvi (2011) are very small, and the sampling of
Djøf (2008) and Yewchuk, Äystö and Schlosser (2001) cannot be easily generalized as they
draw on a very selective group of women, these findings present some interesting aspects of the
claiming process of leadership identity. Whilst the study by Ely et al (2014) obtained large
numbers of US respondents, it is unclear to what extent those findings could be generalized into
a Scandinavian context.
In DeRue and Ashford’s (DeRue, Ashford & Cotton, 2009) construction model, claiming a
leadership identity is not enough. In order to achieve a leadership identity, and a leadership
position, other people must also grant you the role either formally, informally or both. Research
shows that a leader role, and especially that of a top managing position, is primarily considered
male and that agentic traits are required if you want to be a successful leader (Eagly, 2005;
Madsen et al, 2007; Schein, 2001). In line with Ashcraft’s (2013) ‘glass slipper’ women are not
considered to the same extend as men to be potential candidates to top managing positions and
therefore not automatically granted a leadership identity. As social roles are linked to identity
in individualistic cultures (Costa, Terracciano & McCrae, 2001; Triandis, 1989), the leadership
18
identity becomes even more about who leaders are – than what they do (Ely & Rhode, 2008;
Ibarra, 1999). In a related line of study Cuadrado, Garcia-Ael and Molero (2015) examined
gender-typing for managerial roles among 195 Spanish adults and found that masculine traits
are valued much more than feminine traits in a successful leader role. A surprising finding was
that male-typing of leader roles was stronger for female participants highlighting that women
viewed a stronger incongruity between a female role and a leadership role. Similarly, this
male-typing and leader roles are reported to exist in Denmark, indicating that it may be a cross-
cultural phenomenon (Madsen, Jensen, Madsen, Neergaard & Ulhøi, 2007). Both studies
support the link between occupational identity and leadership in relation to gender-typing;
although, the issue of motivation is only sparsely addressed and in the Danish study only
managers participated limiting the generalizability of the study.
Most Danish analyses of women in management and sex-roles are conducted as surveys by
trade unions or interest groups and not as part of scientific research (Bonke, 2015; Djøf, 2008;
Institut for Konjunktur-Analyse, 2006; Rennison, 2012). Most studies on leadership identity
focus on participants that are already managers but fail to include participants that are not
managers, thus limiting the generalizability of the results and many studies did not use
psychometrically standardized measures. Finally, occupational identity by association has not
previously been addressed in Danish studies and we therefore do not know whether
occupational identity by association might be a factor contributing to the fact that few women
seek top managing positions.
3.3 Identity-based motivation
The identity-based motivation model (IBM theory) assumes that people interpret present and
future situations in ways that are congruent with their current identities (Oyserman & Destin,
2010). Most people are able to imagine their future selves, but that does not mean they start
acting in ways that will lead them to their future selves (Oyserman, 2015). According to the
IBM model the reason for this is located in three aspects: 1) Psychological Relevance which
means that the future identity must seem relevant for the current situation, 2) Readiness to Act
which means that the strategies that can lead to the future identity must feel identity-congruent
with the current identity, and 3) Interpretation of Experienced Difficulty which means that if
actions, behaviours and goals feels identity-congruent, they are seen as obtainable and any
19
difficulties only highlights that the behaviour is important and meaningful. If the behaviour
feels identity-incongruent it is seen as pointless and ‘not for people like me’ (Oyserman &
Destin, 2010). IBM theory is not only concerned with existing identities but also encapsulates
future and imagined identities as well as goals and attainment (Elmore & Oyserman, 2012).
Elmore and Oyserman (2012) conducted an experiment on 146 sixth graders testing the
relationship between gender-congruent identities and motivation and its influence on school
identities and school effort. They found a significant effect that supports the model and that
subtle cues linking gender and future success not only influences future goals and career
aspirations but also current effort on academic tasks. However, the study only tested children
and the results can therefore not be generalized to an adult population.
IBM theory can explain studies of stereotype threat, for example, where women are found to
perform poorly in math and science tests if their gender is subtly brought to mind (Spencer,
Steele & Quinn, 1999; Steele, Spencer & Aronson, 2002). Karelaia and Guillen (2011)
examined psychological and motivational consequences of identity conflict between gender
identity and leadership identity among 638 women in executive roles. The greater the identity
conflict, the greater stress and the lower life satisfaction the women experienced. Conversely,
the more leadership experience the women had, the more they identified with the leadership
role and the more their perceived identity conflict was reduced.
Based on 311 senior-level students, Kreuzer (1992) concluded that women who rated
themselves high on masculinity and low on femininity showed stronger leadership aspirations
compared with male students. The results also indicated that mother’s level of education was
related to leadership aspirations in women, however, Kreuzer notes that she did not use
psychometrically standardized measures for her data collection. In a similar study Karami,
Ismail and Sail (2007) used psychometrically valid scales in their examination of 100 Iranian
postgraduates in a Malaysian university, and found that both female and male students desired
a top management position, but the more masculine (for both genders) students rated
themselves to be, the more they desired to be in top management. At the same time the female
participants expected that society would not accept them in top management positions and had
only an expectation of a middle or lower managerial role. These results once again
demonstrate again the role that Hofstede’s (2015) masculinity cultural plays.
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3.4 Research question
Studies on occupational identity have primarily been focused on women that already belong to
a specific occupation and not the general population, and there are only two studies on
occupational identity by association both of which are qualitative and studies on identity-based
motivation have been conducted among children, but not adults. All studies on occupational
identity and motivation have been conducted in cultures that score high on masculinity, but
studies in cultures high on femininity may provide a different result. Many studies either have a
small number of participants or they have chosen not to use standardized tests or measures
making it more difficult to compare the findings. Based on the literature review the following
research question will direct this study:
Is occupational identity by association a factor in Danish women when considering a top
managing position?
3.5 Aim and objectives
The aim of this study is to examine the influence of occupational identity by association on the
level of motivation to pursue a top managing position among women in Denmark. As
occupational identity by association can refer to many aspects such as gender, race, age, traits,
status etc., this study will focus on the masculine and feminine traits associated with own
identity and the perceived identity of a top managing position. The objectives are:
1. To determine women’s occupational identity perception of a top managing leadership
role.
2. To examine differences and similarities between women’s occupational identity and
that of a top managing position and how these differences and similarities affect the
level of motivation to pursue a top managing position.
The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between motivation, personal identity
and perceived identity of a top management position. According to the literature review, own
identity and the perceived identity of a top managing position are closely related and can
equally affect the level of motivation, leading to the alternative directional hypothesis:
21
H1: Own identity and the perceived identity of a top managing position both have an
interrelated mediating effect on the level of motivation to seek a top managing position.
The studies from Aycan (2004), Naqvi (2011) and Yewchuk, Äystö and Schlosser (2001)
demonstrated that job level and support from parents play a significant role in the motivation
and formation of a leadership identity for women. Two Danish studies showed that among the
elite sons often follow in the footsteps of their fathers into top managing positions more than
the daughters (Ellersgaard & Larsen, 2010; Larsen, Ellersgaard, & Bernsen, 2015). It is
therefore relevant to examine the influence of parent’s job level:
H2: Respondents with a mother or father who are in a managing position will be more
motivated to seek a top managing position.
The Djøf (2008) analysis suggests that when receiving support from their partner, Danish
women are more likely to pursue managing positions. Ely et al (2014) demonstrated strong
support for the influence of the partner’s job level on women’s career choices. Therefore, a
third alternative directional hypothesis focuses on the influence of the partner:
H3: Respondents with a partner who are in a managing position will be less motivated to seek a
top managing position.
Finally, this study aims to investigate Danish women’s perception of a top managing position
based on the Bem Sex-Role Inventory items. Several studies have shown that both men and
women attach agentic traits to that of a top managing position (Ashcraft, 2013; Brenner,
Tomkiewicz & Schein, 1989; Madsen, Jensen, Madsen, Neergaard, & Ulhøi, 2007). Similar
results are expected here leading to the fourth hypothesis:
H4: The respondents will score masculine BSRI items higher than feminine BSRI items for the
perceived identity of a top managing position.
22
4 Methods
4.1 Participants
This study targeted adult Danish women between 18 and 60. The age limit was set at 60 as the
retirement age in Denmark is 65-70 leaving a span of 5-10 years for career aspirations. 1308
people answered the questionnaire. Men, women over 60, those who did not agree to the
consent form and incomplete questionnaires were removed leaving a total of n=1054.
According to the Statistics Denmark (2015) there are about 1,600,000 women in Denmark
between 18 and 60. In order to get a representative selection sample size was calculated. The
minimum sample size for this study was 384 respondents. The total sample size for this study
was n=1054 which gives a margin of error of only 3%. Compared with the data from Statistics
Denmark the sample is representative of the Danish female population between 18 to 60 years
(Statistics Denmark, 2015a). The demographic data of the participants can be viewed in
Appendix A.
The estimated mean age is 39. There is a slight underrepresentation of participants between 18
to 25 (n=75) and 56 to 60 (n=66) compared with national data, but this is not considered to
have any effect for the conclusions of this study as the majority of participants represent the
working female population. There is a disproportionately large number of participants with a
master’s degree compared to the general population (Statistics Denmark, 2015a). This may be
due to the spread of the survey via the internet which may not be as widely used among women
with vocational or short-cycle educational levels. The type of industry clearly reflects the very
gender-segregated job market in Denmark with most women in the educational (n=132) and
social/health care sectors (n=132) and public administration (n=313) (Statistics Denmark,
2015a).
4.2 Design
The research design was correlational utilizing cross-sectional survey methodology to assess
the relationship between own identity and perceived identity of a top managing position and its
influence on the level of motivation. For this study the sampling design was a mixture of
convenience sampling and snowballing. The online survey was distributed via email,
newsletter, intranet and social media to more than 6,000 potential female participants, and it
23
was estimated that a response rate of 8-10% would provide the required minimum of 387
participants. The advantages of using an online survey and using Internet based channels to
reach the participants are that snowballing and convenience sampling can be more effective, it
is easier to reach a larger area geographically and a broader scope of women. A typical
disadvantage is whether the participants have access to the Internet. This was not viewed as an
obstacle in Denmark as almost 100% of the population has access to the Internet from home or
from their smart phone (Danmarks Statistik, 2014).
4.3 Measuring identity
For the purposes of this study, identity is defined according to social identity theory (Abdelal,
Herrera, Johnston & McDermott, 2009) where traits are ascribed to in-groups and out-groups
and a person will be conditioned to behave and internalize selected traits only because these
traits describe his in-group. And to role theory (Eagly, Wood & Diekman, 2000) where people
adopt the role into their own identity in order to feel role-congruent and thereby intensifies the
role (Eagly, Wood & Diekman, 2000). Adopting this view, identity can be expressed in a set of
traits or characteristics that are associated with people, situations and roles (Abdelal et al,
2009).
4.4 The Bem Sex-Role Inventory
BSRI applies a trait model to the measurement of identity. Bem (1974) developed the BSRI as
a tool to measure gender role perceptions based on masculine and feminine traits. The strength
of the BSRI is that masculinity and femininity are regarded as two independent dimensions
rather than a continuum; this allows an individual to be high on both dimensions, low on both
dimensions or high on one and low on the other (Bem, 1974). This also makes the BSRI useful
for measuring the perception of a top managing role as it allows for a broader assessment than
just being either masculine or feminine. The BSRI does not measure the actual sex of an
occupation or a person, but the self-reported perception of whether an occupation or person is
viewed as having traits that are more masculine or more feminine or both.
The validity of the inventory has been debated several times; Hoffman and Borders (2001)
delivered strong criticism of the BSRI for lack of validity and reliability, particularly when it
comes to measuring femininity and masculinity of different traits. Other researchers have
24
argued that the inventory is valid as long as it is used to test gender-typing (Cuadrado, Garcia-
Ael & Molero, 2015; Gurman & Long, 1992; Holt & Ellis, 1998; Ingols & Shapiro, 2015).
Most researchers have found that the BSRI is valid across cultures when a few test items are
removed for cultural fit (Carver et al, 2013; Vafaei et al, 2014). Bem (1974) herself measured
Cronbach’s α to be .86 for the masculinity scale for men and women combined and .80 for the
femininity scale. Holt and Ellis (1998) found α to be .95 for the masculinity scale and .92 for
the femininity scale. Persson’s (1999) adapted BSRI-SE showed a Cronbach’s α to be .82 for
the masculinity scale and .81 for the femininity scale. In recent years the BSRI have been used
to study which traits people associate with leadership roles and leader identities (Cuadrado,
Garcia-Ael & Molero, 2015; Grinnell, 2002; Ingols & Shapiro, 2015).
The full version of the BSRI test consists of 60 items (Bem, 1974). The test was developed in
an American context and is mostly used in its original language, English. Persson (1999)
translated the 60 items into Swedish and conducted t-tests and a factor analysis based on 118
participants. He found that 25 items could be translated and used in a Swedish cultural context.
The remaining 35 items were not similarly understood in a Swedish context. The study showed
high reliability and psychometric properties in the revised and adapted BSRI-SE version,
however, as Persson (1999) points out the BSRI-SE only accounts for 41.4% of total variance
so further studies and greater samples are needed. Nevertheless, Persson’s study provides a
useful tool for this study as not only has the BSRI items been translated into a language that is
very close to Danish, the items have been tested in a culture that shares many similarities with
the Danish culture. According to Hofstede (Daun, 1996; Hofstede, 1984) Denmark and Sweden
have very equal scores on the dimensions of femininity, individualism and power distance
making it possible to transfer the BSRI-SE to a Danish context. Participants responded to the
BSRI-SE items using a 7-point Likert scale with endpoints ranging from 1 (never or almost
never true) to 7 (always or almost always true). The BSRI-SE Likert scale was measured as
intervals.
4.5 Career Aspiration Scale Revised
CAS-R has proven to be a valid and reliable tool when dealing with occupational aspirations
and career desires (Gray & O’Brian, 2007; Gregor & O’Brian, 2015; Kim, 2014). Factor
analyses have shown that the Achievement and Leadership aspiration subscales create reliable
25
results with Cronbach’s α between .72 to .82 (Gray & O’Brian, 2007) and a Cronbach’s α of
.86 when using 5 statements instead of the original 8 statements (Kim, 2014).
The CAS was originally developed to assess women’s career aspirations (O’Brian, 1996) and it
has since been revised in order to improve its psychometric properties. The CAS-R covers three
subscales: Achievement aspirations, Leadership aspirations and Educational aspiration (Gray &
O’Brian, 2007; Kim, 2014). The CAS-R Leadership aspirations subscale consists of 8 items
measured on a 5-point Likert scale. Gray and O’Brian (2007) and Kim (2014) found that 5
statements in particular account for high test-retest reliability. For statistical reasons the scale is
treated as an interval similar to the BSRI-SE, which makes correlation between the scales
possible. The CAS-R measures career aspirations to leadership positions in general. As this
study focuses on top management levels, the 5 statements were adapted to reflect aspirations to
top managing positions. Participants responded to the CAS-R statements using a 5-point Likert
scale with endpoints ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree).
4.6 The questionnaire
The questionnaire consisted of six sections (see Appendix B). Section one included information
about age, level of education, employment status, type of industry, marital status and number of
children. Section two included the 25 BSRI-SE items measuring the identity of the respondent.
Section three included the 5 statements from the CAS-R as well as two questions measuring the
respondent’s interest in management positions in general. Section four included information
about the level of education and employment status of parents and partner. Section five
included the 25 BSRI-SE items measuring the perceived identity of a top managing position.
Section six included an open question about the respondent’s opinion on the
underrepresentation of women in senior management in Denmark. The respondents were asked
to consider a top managing position and score the BSRI-SE items based on their perception. To
make sure that the respondents understood what was meant by the expression ‘top managing
position’, a definition was provided in the questionnaire.
4.7 Data analysis guide
Given the complexity of the analyses to follow, this section is provided to signpost the reader.
26
As the research question and H1 concern motivation and identity, these are variables than
cannot be directly measured or observed, so-called latent variables. Instead they are measured
by a number of indicators such as the CAS-R and BSRI-SE. In Structural Equation Modelling
(SEM) it is possible to work with latent variables (Byrne, 2001). SEM also allows examination
of the relationship between several dependent and independent variables, including moderating
variables that may influence the dependent variables. SEM is therefore suited as statistical
method for this study. The SEM analysis was based on the theoretical foundation of the
literature review as to which factors may affect the variables identity and motivation. The SEM
model consists of a measurement model and a structural model. The measurement model tests
the measurement items of the latent variables and the structural model maps the relationships
between the latent variables. Maximum Likelihood estimation was used to test the hypothesised
model. The dependent variable for the hypothesised model was Motivation (MOT) (see Figure
1). Construct validity and construct reliability was measured using Average Variance
Extracted, Construct Reliability (CR) and Cronbach’s α.
To examine H2 a two-way between-groups ANOVA was performed to examine the influence
of parent’s job on the level of motivation to pursue a top managing position. For H3
independent t-test was used to determine if there was a statistically significant difference
between the means in two unrelated groups: participants with a partner in a top managing
position versus participants with a partner not in top management. Any differences between the
two groups would show up as a difference between the mean levels of motivation. To examine
H4 the participants were asked to rate the 25 BSRI-SE items according to their perception of a
top managing position. Descriptive analysis would show how the participants have scored the
masculine or feminine items.
Finally, a short thematic analysis was conducted to examine the open question in section six of
the questionnaire. The results of the thematic analysis would show if identity is an expressed
issue among the respondents.
27
OWNID: Own identity
TOPID: Perceived identity of a top managing position
MOT: Level of motivation
OWN1: Statement / item 1 (see Appendix B for full list of statements / items)
TOP1: Statement / item 1 (see Appendix B for full list of statements / items)
Q1: Question 1 (see Appendix B for complete list of the five questions)
E: Measurement error of measurable items
D: Measurement error of latent variables
Figure 1- Hypothesized structural model
28
5 Analysis
5.1 Hypotheses testing
As predicted in H4 the mean score for the masculine items combined (M=5.98, SD=.64) is
much higher than the mean score for the feminine items combined (M=4.23, SD=.98) when it
comes to the perceived identity of a top managing position. The standard deviations are
generally small among the masculine items compared to the feminine items indicating that the
perception of a top managing position among Danish women is more or less uniform when it
comes to the masculine traits (see Table 1). When it comes to scoring their own identity, the
mean for the feminine traits are generally higher than for the perception of a top managing
perception. The mean and standard deviation for the feminine (M=5.19, SD=.81) and masculine
(M=5.13, SD=.86) traits is much more equal when scoring own identity than when scoring the
perceived identity of a top managing position. This indicates that Danish women view
themselves as having both masculine and feminine traits in equal measures which is in strong
contrast to their very one-sided perception of a top managing position.
Table 1 - 25 BSRI-SE items for the perceived identity of a top managing position and for own identity
N=1054 Perceived identity of top
managing position Own identity
M SD M SD
Masculine items
Self-reliant 6.17 1.02 5.19 1.23
Defends own beliefs 6.12 1.06 5.67 1.12
Assertive 6.34 .89 5.22 1.23
Strong personality 6.25 .99 5.65 1.67
Forceful 6.04 1.08 5.56 1.22
Has leadership abilities 6.51 .91 5.21 1.52
Willing to take risks 6.19 1.00 5.03 1.34
Makes decisions easily 5.85 1.12 5.07 1.42
Self-sufficient 5.61 1.35 5.25 1.35
Dominant 5.10 1.48 4.53 1.49
Masculine 4.33 1.59 3.26 1.54
Willing to take a stand 6.55 .82 5.85 1.10
Act as a leader 6.63 .80 5.17 1.57
Feminine items
Affectionate 3.79 1.34 5.58 1.22
Loyal 5.59 1.41 6.01 1.02
29
Feminine 3.61 1.33 5.06 1.32
Sympathetic 5.22 1.43 5.72 1.03
Sensitive to the needs of others 4.85 1.47 5.67 1.12
Understanding 3.80 1.43 4.56 1.27
Compassionate 4.39 1.41 5.64 1.15
Eager to sooth hurt feelings 3.19 1.44 4.54 1.43
Soft spoken 4.79 1.43 4.50 1.57
Warm 4.28 1.45 5.73 1.17
Tender 4.39 1.38 5.42 1.16
Gentle 2.89 1.34 3.84 1.50
To test the influence of having a mother or father in a top managing position on the level of
motivation to pursue a top managing position, a two-way between-groups ANOVA was
conducted. None of the variables had skewness or kutosis levels above one, which suggests
normality. A 2x2 ANOVA with father’s job level (top job, no top job) and mother’s job level
(top job, no top job) as between-groups factors revealed no main effect for father’s job level,
F(1, 1050) = .26, p=.61, or mother’s job level, F(1,1050) = .30, p=.59. There was also no
interaction effect, F(1, 1050) = .05, p=.83. This suggests that there is no statistically significant
influence of either mother’s or father’s job level of the level of motivation to pursue a top
managing position among Danish women. H2 can therefore be rejected.
An independent t-test was performed for H3. Normality test showed that assumptions were met.
The analysis showed that there was a statistically significant difference between participants
with a partner in a top managing positions (M=3.30, SD=1.13) and participants with no partner
or a partner not in a top managing position (M=2.89, SD=1.20), t(1052) 2.31, p=.01. Scatter and
box plots show that the relationship between the two variables (partner’s job level and
motivation score) is positive. This suggest that, contrary to the expected outcome in H3, having
a partner who has a top managing position has a positive influence on Danish women’s
motivation to pursue a top managing position. The null hypothesis can therefore be rejected.
The effect size was found to be small with Cohen’s d=0.35 and Hedges’ g=0.34.
30
5.2 Structural Equation Modelling (SEM)
As the labour market in Denmark is highly gender-segregated (Bloksgaard, 2011; Statistics
Denmark, 2015), type of industry may act as a moderating factor in the SEM analysis. A one-
way ANOVA was conducted to test whether type of industry was significant. Type of industry
consisted of 27 categories. These categories were coded into three groups: High masculine
(industries with a majority of male employees), Medium masculine (industries with no gender
majority) and Low masculine (industries with a majority of female employees). There was a
statistically significant difference between the three groups in terms of the level of motivation
scores, F(2,1051) = 33.28, p=000. A Tukey post-hoc test revealed that motivation scores were
significantly lower among women in female dominated industries (M=2.65, SD=1.15)
compared to women in male dominated industries (M=3.27, SD=1.16) or women in non-
gendered industries (M=3.23, SD=1.20). There was no statistically significant difference
between High and Medium industry groups (p=.952). Effect size showed medium effect
(ή2=.06).
Prior to estimating the structural model, Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) was conducted to
test the model fit of the measurement model. Five latent variables were included in the
measurement model. Motivation (MOT) was represented by 5 items, Own identity was divided
into masculine and feminine items with OWNID_MAS represented by 13 items,
OWNID_FEM represented by 12 items. The perceived identity of a top managing position was
equally divided into two latent variables of feminine and masculine variables with
TOPID_MAS represented by 13 items and TOPID_FEM represented by 12 items. Assessment
of normality showed that 3 items (Leadership abilities, Willing to take a stand, Act as a leader)
had severe skewness. Due to the skewness of the data, Bollen-Stine bootstrapping was used in
the CFA with 2000 bootstraps.
Convergent validity was examined to ensure that the items only loaded to their specific latent
variable. Standardized regression weights showed that 3 items on the latent variable
TOPID_MAS, 3 items on the variable TOPID_FEM, 1 item on the variable OWNID_MAS and
4 items on the variable OWNID_FEM were below cut-off point (see Table 2). These items
were therefore deleted from the model. The Modification Indices suggested a number of error
covariance paths to improve model fit. According to Harrington (2009) measurement error may
31
be caused by method effect such as self-reported methods using Likert scales and be the result
of highly similar meaning or close to the meanings of words and phrases which is both the case
for this study. Fontayne, Sarrazin and Famose (2000) found that there was high correlation
between certain items when adapting the BSRI for use among French teenagers. Bianchard-
Fields, Suhrer-Roussel and Hetzog (1994) also found several items to be correlated, especially
when perceived as personality traits rather than specific traits for masculinity and femininity,
which is the case for this study. The suggested error covariance paths were therefore included
in the model. The result was a good fit for the measurement model (see Table 3).
Table 2 - Standardized regression weights – factor loadings of items and error variances
TOPID_MASCULINE Item Factor loading Error variance
TOPID_1 0,65 0,43
TOPID_3 0,54 0,29
TOPID_4 0,70 0,49
TOPID_6 0,62 0,39
TOPID_9 0,58 0,34
TOPID_10 0,64 0,41
TOPID_13 0,58 0,34
TOPID_16 0,54 0,29
TOPID_17 0,45 0,20
TOPID_19 0,33 0,11
TOPID_20 0,20 0,04
TOPID_23 0,70 0,49
TOPID_24 0,67 0,45
TOPID_FEMININE
TOPID_2 0,73 0,53
TOPID_5 0,48 0,23
TOPID_7 0,72 0,51
TOPID_8 0,87 0,76
TOPID_11 0,87 0,75
TOPID_12 0,80 0,65
TOPID_14 0,73 0,53
TOPID_15 0,64 0,41
TOPID_18 0,50 0,24
TOPID_21 0,78 0,61
TOPID_22 0,64 0,41
TOPID_25 0,21 0,04
OWNID_MASCULINE
OWNID_24 0,79 0,62
OWNID_23 0,69 0,47
32
OWNID_20 0,24 0,06
OWNID_19 0,58 0,34
OWNID_17 0,51 0,26
OWNID_16 0,59 0,35
OWNID_13 0,56 0,32
OWNID_10 0,77 0,59
OWNID_9 0,54 0,29
OWNID_6 0,69 0,47
OWNID_4 0,73 0,53
OWNID_3 0,56 0,32
OWNID_1 0,69 0,48
OWNID_FEMININE
OWNID_25 0,33 0,11
OWNID_22 0,59 0,34
OWNID_21 0,72 0,52
OWNID_18 0,44 0,19
OWNID_15 0,48 0,23
OWNID_14 0,59 0,34
OWNID_12 0,81 0,65
OWNID_11 0,82 0,67
OWNID_8 0,83 0,69
OWNID_7 0,69 0,47
OWNID_5 0,35 0,13
OWNID_2 0,71 0,51
MOTIVATION
CAS_1 0,90 0,72
CAS_2 0,87 0,82
CAS_3 0,91 0,76
CAS_4 0,92 0,85
CAS_5 0,59 0,35
Table 3 - Model fit
Model fit
X2 df p X
2 / df CFI RMSEA SRMR
Initial model fit
7804
1420
.000
5.49
.79
.06
.07
Model fit after Modification Indices
4997
892
.000
5.60
.84
.06
.06
Final model fit
3248
874
.000
3.71
.91
.05
.06
33
To further test the robustness of the measurement model, we conducted internal reliability
(Cronbach’s alpha), construct reliability (CR) and average variance extracted (AVE) analyses
following Hair et al (2010). Overall, the results indicate sufficient construct reliability and
discriminant validity of the five latent constructs (Table 4).
Table 4 - Measurement properties for study constructs
Constructs
Cronbach’s alpha
CR
AVE
TOPID_MASCULINE .87 .91 .39 TOPID_FEMININE .92 .90 .57 OWNID_MASCULINE .92 .92 .42 OWNID_FEMININE .89 .89 .52 MOTIVATION .92 .83 .70
5.3 Structural model
The means, standard deviations and correlations for all study variables are reported in Table 5.
The correlations indicate significant and positive relationships between all variables in the
model (Figure 2), as expected.
Table 5 - Means, standard deviations and correlations between variables
M
SD TOPID_MAS TOPID_FEM OWNID_MAS OWNID_FEM MOT
TOPID_MAS 5.98 .64 1 .04 .14 .06 .04 TOPID_FEM 4.23 .98 .19 1 .05 .08 .02 OWNID_MAS 5.13 .86 .37 .22 1 .01 .21 OWNID_FEM 5.19 .81 .25 .28 .10 1 .01 MOTIVATION 2.92 1.20 .02 .13 .46 -.07 1
N = 1054 Correlation significant p=<.01 NB: Values under the diagonal shows the correlations between the variables. Values above the diagonal shows the squared correlations
34
Figure 2 - Hypothesized model
Own identity and perceived identity of a top managing position can both act as a mediating
factor on the motivation score. First, the model fit was examined with TOPID as mediating
factor which resulted in good model fit indicating that the theoretical model is able to explain
the correlations in a satisfactory way (Table 6). Then, the model was examined with OWNID
as mediating factor providing an identical model fit. Since the number of degrees of freedom is
equal in both models, Kelloway (1998) and Byrne (1998) recommend choosing the model with
the lowest X2 value. As identity may also have a direct influence on the level of motivation, a
third alternative model was tested: the direct effects model with no meditating factors. This
model showed poor model fit. H1 can therefore not be rejected, and the hypothesized model
with OWNID as mediating factor is the best-fitting structural model (see Figure 3).
Table 6 - Model fit for the hypothesized structural model and alternative models
Model
X2
df
X2/df
RMSEA
CFI
SRMR
TOPID as mediating factor
3251 875 3.71 .05 .91 .06
OWNID as mediating factor
3249 875 3.71 .05 .91 .06
Direct effects model – no mediation
3483 878 3.96 .05 .90 .10
35
Figure 3 - Final structural model with OWNID (MAS and FEM) as mediating factor
Since the structural model shows good fit, it has been used as basis of evaluation of H1. The
result showed that TOPID_FEM and OWNID_MAS have a significant positive impact on
MOT whereas TOPID_MAS and OWNID_FEM have a significant negative impact on MOT.
The result also indicated that TOPID_MAS and TOPID_FEM have a significant positive
impact on OWNID_MAS and OWNID_FEM. Bootstrapping was used to assess the mediation
effect of OWNID_MAS and OWNID_FEM on the relationship between TOPID_MAS,
TOPID_FEM and MOT. A total of 2,000 bootstrap samples were generated for test with
mediation. Bias-corrected 95% confidence intervals were examined for evidence of mediation.
Result indicated that there were significant indirect effects from both TOPID_MAS and
TOPID_FEM to MOT. Result indicated that OWNID_MAS and OWNID_FEM fully mediated
the relationship between TOPID_MAS and MOT, and that OWNID_MAS and OWNID_FEM
partially mediated the relationship between TOPID_FEM and MOT. H1 can therefore be
accepted.
5.4 Mediated moderation
As the one-way ANOVA test showed significant effect of type of industry, it was used as
moderator. Bootstrap analysis revealed differences between all three groups in type of industry
(see Table 7) and that moderation occurs in all paths between TOPID and MOT. Identity as a
36
factor influencing the level of motivation to pursue a top managing position is therefore
affected by the type of industry that the participant is working in. Low masculine industries are
mediated by own identity in all paths.
Table 7 - Moderated mediation with bootstrapping – Type of industry
Relationship One mediator
Direct beta without mediator
Direct beta with mediator
Indirect beta Mediation
TOPID_MAS - OWNID_MAS – MOT
High masculine -.201 (.026) -.306 (.000) .105 No mediation
Medium masculine .058 (.366) -.131 (.034) .001 Full mediation
Low masculine .021 (.666) -.134 (.007) .001 Full mediation
TOPID_MAS - OWNID_FEM - MOT
High masculine -.201 (.026) -.301 (.000) .048 Full mediation
Medium masculine .058 (.366) -.102 (.068) .890 No mediation
Low masculine .021 (.666) -.102 (.026) .014 Full mediation
TOPID_FEM - OWNID_MAS - MOT
High masculine .343 (.000) .171 (.049) .001 Partial mediation
Medium masculine .145 (.014) .152 (.003) .391 No mediation
Low masculine .097 (.034) .032 (.456) .001 Partial mediation
TOPID_FEM - OWNID_FEM – MOT
High masculine .343 (.000) .192 (.023) .069 No mediation
Medium masculine .145 (.014) .165 (.003) .016 Full mediation
Low masculine .097 (.034) .047 (.276) .015 Partial mediation
Relationship
Two mediators Direct beta without
mediators Direct beta with
mediators Indirect beta Mediation
TOPID_MAS
High masculine -.201 (.026) -.317 (.000) .037 Full mediation
Medium masculine .058 (.366) -.131 (.034) .001 Full mediation
Low masculine .021 (.666) -.133 (.011) .001 Full mediation
TOPID_FEM
High masculine .343 (.000) .163 (.062) .001 Partial mediation
Medium masculine .145 (.014) .159 (.004) .723 No mediation
Low masculine .097 (.034) .033 (.453) .025 Partial mediation
5.6 Thematic analysis
In section six of the questionnaire respondents had the option of providing their own
suggestions as to why they think Danish women are underrepresented in top managing
positions. 818 respondents provided answers to the question. The answers are partly based on
the respondent’s reflections, partly their on own experiences. Most of the respondents provided
37
several reasons in their answer. The open question was included to examine whether identity
would show up as a conscious issue.
Thematic networks method (Attride-Stirling, 2001) was chosen as the most appropriate
technique to structure the data. Based on the qualitative answers, 150 Basic Themes were
derived and formulated into sentences. The basic themes were then grouped according to
content into 27 Organising Themes, and finally, 9 Global Themes were derived based on the
basic and organising themes (see Table 8). The analysis showed that identity and occupational
identity was expressed specifically as an issue. Directly in line with Ashcraft’s theory of
occupational identity by association, two respondents describe the issue of identity:
Respondent 1: Storytelling about top managing positions is always about masculine values,
male gender and grey suits. But women cannot identify with this story. We need
to include women in that storytelling if we want more women in top managing
positions.
Respondent 2: Women are very ambitious when it comes to roles that they can identify with
such as being a specialist in their field, being a mother, having a certain hobby,
and so on. But a top managing position is so very masculine and women cannot
identify with that so they choose to do something else.
Table 8 - Thematic analysis
Global Themes Organising Themes
Gender roles Upbringing
View of men and women
Society and law
Discrimination
Regulations of maternity leave
Welfare system
Pay gap between men and women
Gender segregated job market
Skills and requirements Education
Work load
Identity Perceived identity of a top managing
position
Role models
Role models generally
Educational system
The media
Family and social expectations
Priority of family
Mother role
Support from family
Career aspirations
Price of management
Power
Career choices
38
Corporate structures
Corporate culture
Recruitment processes
Networking
Masculine values
Psychological traits and behavior
Self-esteem and self-confidence
Desire
Encouragement
Own expectations
39
6 Conclusion
6.1 Perceived identity of a top managing position
Hypothesis 4 stated that masculine traits would be scored higher than feminine traits for the
perceived identity of a top managing position, which was supported by the descriptive
statistics. Mirroring previous studies from other countries (e.g. Davidson & Burke, 2000;
Eagly, 2005; Garcia-Ael & Molero, 2015; Schein, 2001), the descriptive univariate analysis
shows that Danish women primarily attach masculine traits to their perceived identity of a top
managing position whereas the women’s own identity perception is much more diverse and
includes masculine and feminine traits equally. This indicates that there is a strong collective
identity perception of a top managing position that differ from the own identity of the
respondents supporting Ashcraft’s theory of the glass slipper effect. The reason for this may be
found in the cultural moderation hypothesis (Cuddy et al, 2015) suggesting that core cultural
values are more often ascribed to men in that culture than to women. As Denmark scores high
on Hofstede’s (2015) individualism dimension, individualistic traits such as assertive,
leadership abilities, being self-reliant and forceful are ascribed to positions of power, influence
and high status such as a top managing position and thus becomes viewed as suitable for men
rather than women (Cuddy et al, 2015). Costa, Terracciano and McCrae (2001) found that
gender stereotypes are more pronounced in individualistic cultures and that gender is more
often seen as a trait of its own rather than just a biological factor. Another explanation can be
found in a study by examining how Danish female business leaders are presented in the media.
We know that the Danish media primarily projects women in leadership roles as unfeminine
and as ‘special’ presenting them as either ‘superwomen’ being both a full-time mother and a
full-time top manager or as ‘business men’ expressing only masculine traits (Andsager, 2015).
The media therefore sustains a perceived identity of a top managing position that is either in
conflict with the identity of most women or a role that seems impossible to achieve and identify
with for the majority of women. This explanation is supported by the thematic analysis reported
here where many respondents point to the issue that in Denmark there are clear expectations to
a mother role and to a leader role and that Danish culture does not allow both to coexist; as a
woman you have to choose and if you choose the leader role and are also a mother, you are
forced to defend, explain and excuse your choice. The respondents point to the lack of
obtainable role models that does not portray women in top management as either ‘men’ or
40
‘superwomen’. The respondents also criticize the Danish media for being very conservative in
their outlook on women in top managing positions:
Respondent 3: The Danish media still asks female top managers about their laundry, shopping,
and household chores, and how they find the time to take care of their family.
But the media never ask the men the same questions. Foreign media no longer
ask those stupid questions; the Danish media are old-fashioned and stock in
conservative gender views.
6.2 Job level of parents and partner
Contrary to the findings of Kreuzer (1992), the ANOVA analysis reported here shows that the
job level of mother and father has no influence on the motivation to pursue top managing
positions among Danish women. Other studies (e.g. Aycan, 2004; Djøf, 2008; Komives et al,
2005, 2006; Naqvi, 2011; Yewchuk, Äystö & Schlosser, 2001) have showed that
encouragement and support is the overall important factor to induce motivation for leadership
positions. In Denmark the job level of parents may still influence the identity of women, but
may not affect their level of motivation directly. Instead encouragement and support from
parents may influence self-esteem and self-confidence, which can lead to increased motivation.
Women expressed that they believe that women in general lack self-esteem to go for a top
managing position which may deter them from pursuing such career paths. It is outside the
scope of these results to examine how self-esteem and self-confidence influence motivation but
future research should address the relationship between masculine and feminine traits, self-
esteem, parent support and motivation as part of occupational identity by association.
Hypothesis 3 stated that women would be less motivated if their partner had a top managing
position. Contrary to the study by Ely et al (2014), this hypothesis was not supported by the t-
test as Danish women with a partner in top management are actually more motivated to pursue
a top managing position than those women without a partner or a partner in a lower position.
The different findings of the two studies may not be contradicting as it may simply be due to
cultural differences between the US and Denmark. As identity formation continues throughout
life (Schwarts, Luycks & Vignoles, 2011) having a partner in a top managing position may act
41
as a role model. Both men and women hold and express masculine and feminine traits (Bem,
1974; Cuddy et al, 2015; Ingols & Shapiro, 2015; Persson, 1999), but when a top managing
position is portrayed culturally and in the media as consisting of only masculine traits it creates
a very one-sided identity. However, women who have a partner in top management are able to
view first-hand a person in a very masculine role but that very likely expresses both masculine
and feminine traits and thus these women are able to identify with a more obtainable role
model. The Boston Consulting Group (Poulsen, Brackert, Skov & Nielsen, 2016) examined
gender diversity in Danish top management and found that women lack relatable and
obtainable role models. Most importantly the role models have nothing to do with gender but
are more concerned with masculine and feminine traits; that is, women seek a greater diversity
of the top managing role, as well as role models that paves the way for combining family and
work regardless of gender. This request for role models that focus on traits and qualifications
instead of gender is also put forward by many of the respondents in this survey, primarily in the
form of public, peer-related or organisational role models, and that these role models need to be
visible in the media and throughout the educational system in order to influence the choices of
girls and women. To increase the number of women in top management the field could benefit
from studies that examine differences in results when using mentors versus role models and
also how different types of role models may affect women in different types of industries.
6.3 Occupational identity by association as a factor
SEM supports H1 that own identity and the perceived identity of a top managing position are
interrelated as both can act as mediating factors on the level of motivation. The analysis shows
that own identity is the strongest mediator for motivation. Although SEM does not measure
causality as such the model does indicate possible causal relationships based on a number of
regression analyses. For this study the model indicates that there is a causal relationship
between identity as a factor and the level of motivation which is in line with the theory on
occupational identity by association (Ashcraft, 2013); the greater congruence between own
identity and perceived top manager identity the more motivated a person is to pursue a top
managing position.
Mediated moderation showed that the mediated effect of own identity differ depending on the
type of industry in which the women work. There is more often no mediating effect among
42
women who are working in industries that are male-dominated or gender-equal, whereas the
mediation effect exists in all paths for women in female-dominated industries. The explanation
for this may be two-fold. Women who choose to work in male-dominated industries or
industries with equal number of men and women may view themselves as more masculine and
thus actively choose to work in these industries because they identify more with the masculine
traits associated with these industries. These women may therefore also be more able to identity
with a perceived identity of a senior position as they score high on the same masculine traits.
Their own identity therefore no longer acts as a mediating factor. In a study by Long (1989)
women who saw themselves as more masculine experienced less strain and were coping more
effectively in masculine occupations.
Women who work in male-dominated or gender-equal industries may be more exposed to
relatable and obtainable role models because they work closely with male colleagues or are
able to experience both masculine and feminine traits among male and female colleagues and
middle managers thus creating an environment where the women are better able to identity with
a masculine role such as a top managing position (Sealy & Singh, 2009). Both explanations
point to the highly gender-segregated labour market in Denmark as a possible barrier that
increases the incongruence between own identity and the perceived identity of a top managing
position in women. This is supported by findings from Germany (Arntz & Bonin, 2010) where
women from former East-Germany migrated into male-dominated industries when Germany
was united inspiring West-German women to pursue careers in male-dominated industries.
According to the Grant Thornton report (2013) current and former Communist countries fare
much better in getting women into top managing positions which might be due to their
Communist past where women were promoted into all industries as all citizens were considered
equal workers first and men and women second (Saab, 2014).
6.4 Limitations and future studies
The strength of this study is that this is the first attempt to measure occupational identity by
association which up till now only has been studied in qualitative interviews (Adamson, 2015;
Ashcraft, 2013). Occupational identity by association in the study reported here focused on
measuring masculine and feminine traits. Another strength is the large number of respondents
which provides a solid foundation to make conclusions about the research question and
43
hypotheses. A third strength is the use of the BSRI-SE as instrument as it measures feminine
and masculine traits regardless of gender (Persson, 1999). Bem (1974) explains that the
feminine and masculine traits can be expressed by both men and women and therefore are not
concerned with the biological gender of the person but rather perception and behaviour. As a
top managing position can be occupied by both men and women, using the BSRI-SE does not
direct the answers towards a specific biological gender. Instead it allows for the occupation to
be directed by masculine and feminine traits alike.
This study is an attempt to examine differences and similarities between own identity and the
perceived identity of a top managing position and how they affect motivation to pursue a top
managing position. To the best of my knowledge, this is the first of its kind study examining
occupational identity by association in Denmark as well as using a quantitative research design.
It is therefore limited by a number of factors. More quantitative studies on occupational identity
by association are needed to explore the broad scope of identity including aspects such as social
status, media images and socio-economic factors and could benefit from a combination with an
Implicit Attitudes Test to examine stereotypes. This study only examined the perceptions of
women. Conducting a similar study on men would provide the option of comparison across
gender.
As Ashcraft (2013) points out, the role of the media can be important in the creation of
occupational identity by association. There is a need for further examination of the influence
and role of the media in creating the perception of a top managing position. Likewise, future
studies could benefit from looking at how the media images influence women’s self-esteem and
self-confidence and their motivation to pursue top managing career paths. For the study
reported here a t-test was used to examine the influence of partner’s job level. However, t-tests
only show a relationship, not causality. Having a partner in top management may lead to
increased motivation, but it can also be that women who are already motivated for top
managing positions are choosing a partner who is in top management.
The SEM analysis only examined two mediating factors, own identity and the perceived
identity of a top managing position. But often there are more coexisting mediating factors
influencing the dependent variable. As this study has shown that identity is a factor among
44
Danish women and that it influences their motivation to pursue a top managing position, future
studies could benefit from including other mediating and moderating factors such as
networking behaviour, indirect and direct discrimination in recruitment and family factors
combined to better understand why there is a lack of women in top management in Denmark.
6.5 Conclusion and practical implications
The purpose of this study was to examine whether ‘the glass slipper effect’ is a factor among
Danish women when considering a top managing position and the answer is, yes. Occupational
identity by association should therefore be included as a factor in future studies to get a better
understanding of the motivation and choices of women and top management. The knowledge of
‘the glass slipper effect’ can be used to attract more women into male-dominated industries and
men into female-dominated industries by considering how candidates are recruited, the
language in job adverts and promotion of role models of both genders with more focus on both
masculine and feminine traits.
There is a need for having less focus on gender as a trait as it may become a barrier on its own.
At present there seems to be a ‘fix the woman’ perspective in which the woman is somehow
faulty is she does not measure up to the identity of a top managing role and thus needs to be
‘fixed’. By changing the focus from gender as a trait to masculine and feminine traits and an
awareness of whether certain qualifications are actually indirect masculine traits rather than
what is required for the position, the ‘fix the woman’ perspective can be diminished (Chesler,
2009).
Schools, educational institutions, large organisations, trade unions and the media have a very
important role in promoting more diverse role models and not just use a woman as role model
thinking she automatically appeals to other women. In addition to more diverse role models
there is a need to provide more factual information about a top managing role, about the tasks,
the number of working hours, the flexibility and freedom to administer your own work
schedule. By providing more factual information and having more diverse role models can
reduce the very one-sided perception of a top managing position and thus make the role seem
more obtainable for women.
45
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Appendix A
Demographic data of participants in the study
0
5
10
15
20
18-20 21-25 26-30 31-35 36-40 41-45 46-50 51-55 56-60
Age (percentage)
48%
25%
23%
1% 3%
Marital status
Marrired
Cohabiting
Single
Widowed
Other
55
33%
17%
35%
15%
Number of children living at home
0 children
1 child
2 children
3 or more children
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
Highest level of education completed (percentage)
56
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45
Unemployed
Disability pensioner
Homemaker
Apprentice / trainee
Student
Self employed /entrepreneur
Employee without staff liability
Manager without staff liability
Manager
Senior manager
Top management
Job level (percentage)
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14
Banking, finance, pension and insurance
Construction and crafts
Design, graphic work and architecture
Retail and wholesale
Film, music, radio, TV
Fishing, farming and forestry
Research and development
Energy and water supply, waste management
Hotel, restaurant and hospitality service
Human resource
Industry and production
Engineering
IT and tele communication
Legal assistance, accounting and business advice
Administration and secretary work
Cultural activities, art, sport and tourism
Pharmaceutical industry
Public administration
Press, publishing and communication
Advertising and market analysis
Sales
Social and health care services
Transportation
Rent and leasing
Teaching and educational work
Security and surveillance
Other
Type of industry (percentage)
57
Appendix B
Questionnaire
PART 1 – DEMOGRAPHIC INFORMATION What is your gender?
Male Female What is your age?
18-20 21-25 26-30 31-35 36-40 41-45 46-50 51-55 56-60 What is the highest degree or level of education that you have completed?
Primary or lower secondary school Upper secondary education Vocational education Short-cycle higher education Medium-cycle higher education or bachelor’s degree Long-cycle higher education or master’s degree PhD, MBA, post doc Other (please specify) What is your current job level?
(if you are currently on maternity leave or on sick leave, please chose the job level you had before your leave) Unemployed Disability pensioner Homemaker Apprentice / trainee Student Self employed /entrepreneur Employee without staff liability Manager without staff liability (e.g. team manager, group manager, project manager) Manager Senior manager Top management (e.g. director, vice president, C-level executive, CEO) What type of industry do you work in?
(if you are currently unemployed, chose the type of industry you worked in most recently) Banking, finance, pension and insurance Construction and crafts Design, graphic work and architecture Retail and wholesale Film, music, radio, TV Fishing, farming and forestry Research and development Energy and water supply, waste management Hotel, restaurant and hospitality service Human resource Industry and production Engineering IT and tele communication Legal assistance, accounting and business advice Administration and secretary work
58
Cultural activities, art, sport and tourism Pharmaceutical industry Public administration Press, publishing and communication Advertising and market analysis Sales Social and health care services Transportation Rent and leasing Teaching and educational work Security and surveillance Other (please specify) What is your marital status?
Married Cohabiting with partner Single Widowed Other How many children do you have that still live at home?
0 children 1 child 2 children 3 or more children PART 2 – YOUR PERCEPTION OF WHO YOU ARE
Here you are presented with 25 personality characteristics in the form of statements. You are to use those statements in order to describe yourself. That is, you are to indicate, on a scale from 1 to 7, how true these
statements are for you. Please do not leave any statements unmarked. Please be as honest as possible. There are no incorrect answers. (Likert scale: 1=Never or Almost never true – 7=Always or almost always true)
1. I am self-reliant
2. I am affectionate
3. I defend my own beliefs
4. I am assertive
5. I am soft spoken
6. I have a strong personality
7. I am sympathetic
8. I am warm
9. I am forceful
10. I have leadership abilities
11. I am compassionate
12. I am sensitive to the needs of others
13. I am willing to take risks
14. I am eager to soothe hurt feelings
15. I am understanding
16. I make decisions easily
17. I am self-sufficient
18. I am loyal
19. I am dominant
20. I am masculine
21. I am tender
22. I am gentle
23. I am willing to take a stand
24. I act as a leader
25. I am feminine
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PART 3 – CAREER ASPIRATIONS How interested are you in pursuing one of the following management positions?
(Likert scale: Not at all interested – Not very interested – Neutral - Somewhat interested – Very interested) Top manager position Senior manager position Manager position Do you see yourself in a managing position within the next 5 years?
(Likert scale: Not at all – Not really – Undecided – Somewhat - Very much) Top manager position Senior manager position Manager position How much do you agree to the following statements?
(Likert scale: Strongly Disagree – Disagree – Neither agree nor disagree – Agree – Strongly Agree) - I hope to become a top manager in my career field
- I would like to be the top manager of other high placed managers
- I hope to move up to a top leadership position in my organisation or business
- I plan to rise to the top leadership position of my organisation or business
- I want to have responsibility for the future direction of my organisation or business
PART 4 – EDUCATION AND JOB LEVEL OF PARENTS AND PARTNER What is/was your mother’s highest level of education?
Primary or lower secondary school Upper secondary education Vocational education Short-cycle higher education Medium-cycle higher education or bachelor’s degree Long-cycle higher education or master’s degree PhD, MBA, post doc I do not know What was your mother’s primary job level when you were a child (age 0-14)?
Unemployed Disability pensioner Homemaker Apprentice / trainee Student Self employed /entrepreneur Employee without staff liability Manager without staff liability (e.g. team manager, group manager, project manager) Manager Senior manager Top management (e.g. director, vice president, C-level executive, CEO) I do not know What is/was your father’s highest level of education?
Primary or lower secondary school Upper secondary education Vocational education Short-cycle higher education Medium-cycle higher education or bachelor’s degree Long-cycle higher education or master’s degree PhD, MBA, post doc I do not know What was your father’s primary job level when you were a child (age 0-14)?
Unemployed Disability pensioner
60
Homemaker Apprentice / trainee Student Self employed /entrepreneur Employee without staff liability Manager without staff liability (e.g. team manager, group manager, project manager) Manager Senior manager Top management (e.g. director, vice president, C-level executive, CEO) I do not know What is your partner’s highest level of education?
Primary or lower secondary school Upper secondary education Vocational education Short-cycle higher education Medium-cycle higher education or bachelor’s degree Long-cycle higher education or master’s degree PhD, MBA, post doc I do not know I do not have a partner / my partner is dead What is your partner’s primary job level?
Unemployed Disability pensioner Pensioner or retiree Homemaker Apprentice / trainee Student Self employed /entrepreneur Employee without staff liability Manager without staff liability (e.g. team manager, group manager, project manager) Manager Senior manager Top management (e.g. director, vice president, C-level executive, CEO) I do not know I do not have a partner / my partner is dead PART 5 – YOUR PERCEPTION OF A TOP MANAGING POSITION
Here you will be presented with 25 personality characteristics in the form of statements. You are to use those statements in order to describe your perception of a top manager. That is, you are to indicate, on a scale from 1 to
7, how true these statements are for a top manager in your opinion. Please do not leave any statements unmarked. (Likert scale: 1=Never or Almost never true – 7=Always or almost always true)
Definition of a top manager:
Top managers are the highest ranking executives responsible for the entire enterprise. Top management translates the policy (formulated by the board-of-directors) into goals, objectives, and strategies, and projects a shared-vision of the future. Examples of job titles: Private sector: C-level management (CEO, CIO, CFO etc.), executive vice president, chairman/chairwomen, president, member of the board of directors. Public sector: Mayor, president, director, Chief Executive, Deputy Chief Executive, rector, Permanent Secretary. A top manager:
- Is self-reliant
- Is affectionate
- Defends own beliefs
- Is assertive
- Is soft spoken
- Has a strong personality
- Is sympathetic
- Is warm
61
- Is forceful
- Has leadership abilities
- Is compassionate
- Is sensitive to the needs of others
- Is willing to take risks
- Is eager to soothe hurt feelings
- Is understanding
- Makes decisions easily
- Is self-sufficient
- Is loyal
- Is dominant
- Is masculine
- Is tender
- Is gentle
- Is willing to take a stand
- Acts as a leader
- Is feminine
PART 6 – LACK OF WOMEN IN TOP MANAGEMENT IN DENMARK
In Denmark women make up 23% of senior management and board room positions. In China women make up 51% of senior management and in Poland the percentage of women is 48%. Why do you think there are so few women in top management positions in Denmark, in both the public and private sector?