Oldal 43 [43]
WOMEN IN TOP LEADERSHIP POSITIONS
organisation, and presents itself when the organisation is unable to ensure any
advancement opportunities due to some structural reason.?”
The reasons for this uneven situation and the segregation at workplaces can
be found in the social codes, the centuries-old presence of the male-female hier¬
archy. It is known that a series of social endeavours, multiple feminist tendencies
and initiatives have appeared to change these, that is to “overcome” prejudices
about women. With similar or differing methods, these are united by their com¬
mon goal of preventing biological gender dictating social roles. In other words,
both genders should be able to partake in professions or roles they prefer or de¬
sire. The key to the required competency is in the individual and is not rooted in
the roles determined by the biological gender. However, habits and traditional
gender prejudices are deeply embedded in the social sphere, and they directly or
indirectly determine the place of women regarding their role in society.
“In the labour market, as in other areas, the psychological explanation of
such gender-based differentiation focuses, therefore, on the perceived incom¬
patibility of myths, that is, what it means to be a good leader and what it means
to be a woman (defined as opposite to each other) and it is known as ‘think
manager-think male””.°® The “think manager-think male” (TMTM) association
is based on gender inequalities in the workplace.°°
“That is, the stereotypical attributes of men overlap much more with the
notions of a leader than stereotypes about women do. It is, therefore, difficult
for women to gain access to these high status areas with political-economic
powers and prestige, because these prejudices make women less likely to be fit
for these occupations.”°°
Gender-related segregation of the labour market is linked to such and sim¬
ilar social value judgement and therefore means a social problem, as “the
principle of meritocracy (if we emphasize gender equality) or the special con¬
tribution and value of women (if we keep in mind the differences between the
two genders) cannot be realized.””!
§7 Koncz, K.: A munkaerőpiac nemek szerinti szegregációjának jellemzői, mechanizmusa és
következményei, Közgazdasági Szemle, Vol. LVIII, January 2011, 74-94; Koncz, K.(2016a):
A nôi karriertipusok és jellemzôik, Opus et Educatio 3(1), 2016, 30-39.
88 E.g. Agars, 2004; Eagly & Karau, 2002; Heilman, Block, Martell & Simon, 1989; Schein, 1973,
1975 quoted by Ryan, M. K. — Haslam, S. A. - Hersby, M. D. - Bongiorno, R.: Think crisis-think
fema le. The glass cliffand contextual variation in the think manager-think male stereotype,
Journal of Applied Psychology, 96(3), 2011, 470.
8° In addition, let’s just remember that care for example, which is regarded as a part of women’s
nature on a biological basis by society, cannot be transformed into social status at all. But the
care of a woman is needed by the dominant group — preferably without remuneration — so it
has become part of the “expectations” of the female role (see Glick-Fiske 2006 quoted by
Vida—Kovacs: A token helyzet, 143).
°° Ibidem, 145.
"1 Nagy-Primecz: Nők és férfiak a szervezetekben, 14.
+4] »