ORCID Identifier(s)

0000-0003-2398-560X

Graduation Semester and Year

2023

Language

English

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy in Business Administration

Department

Business Administration

First Advisor

J. Wendy Casper

Second Advisor

V. Alison Hall

Abstract

ABSTRACT: Much research suggests that Whites are more likely to emerge as leaders than Blacks. However, this research has primarily focused on male leaders. Alternatively, an intersectional approach evaluating racial differences in evaluations of women leaders suggests that Black (vs. White) women have more behavioral leeway to express dominant leader-like behaviors, which are generally proscribed for women. Theoretically, more behavioral leeway to enact dominance should enhance Black women’s chances of progressing to senior leadership, but this is inconsistent with demographic patterns of leadership representation in America’s workforce. Black women’s representation lags far behind White women’s, suggesting that Black women experience some yet unaccounted-for barriers in their progression to senior leadership roles. This research uses the model of stereotyping through associated and intersectional categories (MOSAIC) to examine perceived social class background as a potential mechanism that adversely affects evaluations of Black women’s fit for senior leadership roles. First, I assess the extent to which social class is a triggered associated category (implicitly linked to race and senior leadership) when evaluating Black (vs. White) women and the implications of this for perceived fit for a leadership role. I also examine whether an intervention can mitigate the adverse effect of perceived social class in evaluations of Black women’s fit for senior leadership roles. Findings are discussed regarding their individual and organizational implications.

Keywords

Implicit associations, Intersectionality, Leader prototypes, Social class, Stereotyping

Disciplines

Business | Business Administration, Management, and Operations

License

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

31762-2.zip (931 kB)

Share

COinS
 
 

To view the content in your browser, please download Adobe Reader or, alternately,
you may Download the file to your hard drive.

NOTE: The latest versions of Adobe Reader do not support viewing PDF files within Firefox on Mac OS and if you are using a modern (Intel) Mac, there is no official plugin for viewing PDF files within the browser window.