Oldal 91 [91]
WOMEN IN THE SCIENTIFIC ELITE
she is assertive, that means her womanhood suffers from it. (Subject no. 20, human
sciences)
My observations lead me to believe that the different attitude toward lead¬
ership roles is primarily not based on the biologically determined differences
men and women are born with, but on individual character traits stemming
from personality and the persona as well as socialisation.
An example from my own life: I never wanted to become a leader, I have trouble
enough as it is, I don’t need to be responsible for the troubles of others as well [...]
And to appear in meetings, to decide the fate of people, do I hire them or not, are
they sick or not, this is not something for me. (Subject no. 21, natural sciences)
My other motive for not accepting the position of department head was that there
were cutbacks back then and certain peers had to be sent away, and this was
something I couldn’t possibly deal with. (Subject no. 16, social sciences)
The literature links attributes like understanding, intuitiveness, empathy,
sentimentality, conflict avoidance and paying attention to emotions — mainly
associated with women — to failings in leadership. Members of this group have
all unequivocally stated that women are excellent scholars and researchers,
but no leaders. A psychological explanation can be linked to the above, which
interprets differences in social roles with certain conflicts of character attached
to both genders. What does it mean for example to be a good leader, a good
academician, dean, physicist, etc.? Based on this myth, the image of a good
leader, dean, physicist, etc. is almost exclusively linked to traits that are typi¬
cally manly, considered manly or are commonly found in men. And this is
certainly opposing the question “what does it mean to be a woman?”. The
term?" “think manager-think male” (TMTM)?” has been made famous re¬
garding leadership roles. Given, however, that women do not even wish to be
leaders in their opinion, they deny the existence of any real conflict between
the two genders in this area.
Iam a great second. For example, I can give good ideas, etc., but if I were to take a
step further up, I have doubts I would be capable of exerting that type of leadership
attitude. (Subject no. 24, human sciences)
One of the academicians interviewed — who is almost an archetypical ex¬
ample of this category — views the difference theory of Deborah Tanenn
269 As I have mentioned in the second chapter.
270 Ryan et al.: Think crisis—think female.
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