Can Women Bat Clean-Up, or Must They Simply Do the Cleaning?
This study focused on the concept of “team player” among women in managerial positions in colleges and universities, and among their immediate supervisors. Female managers defined “team player” in fairly consistent terms. The male superiors tended to agree with the women’s definitions but also extended the definitions with the addition of stronger terms such as “leader” and “decision-maker.” There were also some small differences between the male superiors’ and the women managers’ judgments of “team player” behavior. While individual women are seen as team players by themselves and by those with whom they work, it is possible that women have difficulty putting aside their needs for affiliation and for playing a supportive role. They suffer when top management makes difficult decisions that they must implement within their work areas. They may have difficulty as members of two teams in competition with each other. A short bibliography is included.
