This study both replicates and extends research conducted by Schein (1973). 268 managers used a 92-item attribute inventory to rate 1 of 7 target groups: men (in general, managers, or successful managers), women (in general, managers, or successful managers), or successful middle managers. Results closely paralleled those of the earlier study, indicating that men in general still are described as more similar to successful managers than are women in general. Results also indicated that, although the correspondence between descriptions of women and successful managers increased dramatically when women were depicted as managers, they continued to be seen as more different from successful managers than were men. Furthermore, when women were depicted as managers, perceived differences in many attributes central to managerial performance persisted, dissipating only with an explicit indication of managerial success.We would like to thank Harold Scharlott of Training and Development Associates, Lexington, Kentucky, for his invaluable assistance in the conduct of this study.

Two studies investigated whether a stigma of incompetence marks those associated with affirmative action programs. In an experiment, 129 male and female undergraduates reviewed the application materials of someone said to be recently hired for one of two jobs. The hiree was either a man or a woman, and the woman either was or was not associated with an affirmative action program. The affirmative action label was found to negatively affect the perceived competence of women hirees regardless of the degree to which the job was male sex-typed. A field investigation in which 184 White men provided information about their co-workers supported these results. It additionally demonstrated that the relationship between perceived competence and presumed affirmative action status held not only when co-workers were White women but when they were Black men and Black women as well. The affirmative action label also was associated with negative characterizations of activity and potency and, in the field study, interpersonal attributes and prognoses for career progress.

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