Gendered Ambition: Men’s and Women’s Career Advancement in Public Administration

Abstract

We explore the relationships between gender, career ambition, and the emergence of executive leadership. Growing research in public administration shows that career systems shape bureaucrats’ ambitions, political behavior, and management. Yet career systems are not neutral conduits of talent: Administrators are more likely to pursue advancement when career systems favor them. This study proposes that women and men respond to gendered public career systems. Using national- and state-level data on public school managers in the United States, we find gender disparities in the career paths that lead educators from the classroom to the superintendent’s suite. Specifically, we find that female and elementary school teachers advance more slowly than male and secondary school teachers. We also find gender disparities in certification and experience among principals. Accordingly, female and elementary principals report lower levels of ambition. Such gendered career systems may lead to biases in policy agendas and public management.

One of the Boys? Gender Similarities and Differences in Human Capital among Senior Civil Servants in Denmark

“…Overall, we do not find that the women in our dataset advanced their careers at a different pace than the men, as opposed to the findings by Maranto et al (2018). When we disaggregate, we do find instances of substantial differences between the pace for men and women, especially from the first to second levels of management, where the women are at the lower managerial level longer than their male counterparts.…”

“…Furthermore, managers develop their leadership identity over time (Day & Harrison 2007; DeRue & Ashford 2010; Seidle et al 2016), gradually assuming the role as leader and ensuring followership from subordinates as this identity thickens. Whereas Maranto et al (2018) show that female elementary school teachers advance their careers more slowly than do their male colleagues, we do not know if a similar tendency can be found among the most successful mangers at the apex of the public sector. We therefore set out to explore if it takes women longer to reach the upper managerial ranks of the Danish civil service.…”

“…In a more recent article, Sungjoo Choi (2019) studies the differences between men and women using a survey among US federal employees. Like Choi (2019), Maranto et al (2018) study career advancement for men and women among first‐level managers, however, in US public schools.…”

“…These differences are relevant for two reasons. Numerous studies in the field of representative bureaucracy have revealed that a diverse workforce improves performance in public organizations, which is not least the case for gender differences (Selden 1997; Sowa & Selden 2003; Meier & Nicholson‐Crotty 2006; Andrews & Miller 2013; Riccucci et al 2014; Nielsen 2015; Maranto et al 2018; Yu 2018). As regards the upper organizational echelons, however, our knowledge is more limited (Dolan 2000 being one exception in the representative bureaucracy literature).…”

Gender Representation, Professional Experiences, and Socialization: The Case of City Managers

“…Women also have distinct motivation to pursue public service career options (DeHart-Davis et al, 2006). A recent study found gender disparities in the career path of educators and argues that gendered career systems and gendered ambition may contribute to a bias in policy making and public management (Maranto et al, 2018). Research on elected officials has also illustrated gender differences in leadership styles, policy preferences, feminist identities, more liberal approaches, and impact on policy among others (K.…”