How can gender stereotypes affect an organization?
Companies may suffer by not developing and retaining some of the best talent, which is key in remaining competitive in the global business world. The perceptions by senior executives of women and men are often more informed by gender-based stereotypes than facts. This leads to misrepresentation of the true talents of women and contributes to the startling gap in business leadership. The effects of gender-based stereotyping can be devastating, potentially undermining women’s capacity to lead and posing serious challenges to women’s career advancements. Women are stereotyped as being better at feminine caretaking skills such as supporting and rewarding. Men are perceived as having essentially masculine taking-charge skills such as influencing superiors and delegating responsibility. The stereotype that dominates current corporate thinking is that men are better problem-solvers than women. Since men far outnumber women in top management positions women make up less than 2 percent of the U
