The Task Bind: Explaining Gender Differences in Managerial Tasks and Performance

Abstract

This multi-method study of managers in a grocery chain identifies a novel mechanism by which threats of gender stereotypes undermine women’s ability to be effective managers. I find that women managers face a task bind, a dilemma that managers experience as they try to disprove a negative group stereotype by doubling down on one set of tasks at the expense of other essential tasks. My analysis of interview, observational, and archival data reveals that, compared to men, women do more tasks in front of subordinates—in this setting, supervisory tasks “on the floor” of the store—in order to showcase their qualifications as managers. In doing so, they forgo attention to other tasks that are less public but no less important to being effective managers—in this setting, planning tasks in the office of the store. Neglecting office tasks ultimately undermines the profitability of women managers’ departments. This study’s identification of the task bind has implications for theory and practice related to stereotype threat and women leaders, showing how the threat of negative gender stereotypes, prompted here by concern about subordinates’ perceptions, can affect managers’ behaviors in ways that detract from the performance of managers themselves and that of their organizations.

The Equality Policy Paradox: Gender Differences in How Managers Implement Gender Equality–Related Policies

“…Relatedly, this study adds to a recent line of scholarship highlighting the varied ways in which women managers creatively respond to negative gendered expectations that threaten to harm women’s careers. For instance, Cardador, Hill, and Salles (2022: 250) showed that women managers might experience “constrained use of authority to gain cooperation” from subordinates and, in response, engage in extra task helping; see Feldberg (2022) for another example. By elucidating and modeling how another set of constraints (technical and authority related) may support a particular set of actions (interdependent, people-focused management), this study helps to lay the foundation for a broader model or typology connecting varied gendered managerial constraints to differential role performances.…”

“…Contemporary theory in the interactionist role tradition has acknowledged that individual characteristics such as gender might be important in explaining variance in actors’ role experiences (Cohen, 2016; Cohen and Mahabadi, 2021), although gender has not been a direct focus for much of this work. 2 Similarly, studies of women in management have often found that women experience what the interactionist tradition would label as “role constraints.” For instance, Feldberg (2022) can be interpreted as highlighting variation in role enactment based on women managers’ expectations of others’ stereotyped expectations of their managerial performance (see also Chan and Anteby, 2016; Cardador, 2017; Doering and Thébaud, 2017). This finding suggests that a more integrative theorization of the connection between interactional role theory and gender in management might advance our understanding of the mechanisms underlying how managers experience and respond to gender equality–related initiatives.…”

“…Scholars note that the challenges women face influence their managerial actions, suggesting that documented gender differences in management-related behaviors (Eagly and Johnson, 1990; Ranganathan and Shivaram, 2021) arise because of biases, stereotypes, and other challenges that women face in the workplace and society at large (Hogue and Lord, 2007; Hoyt and Murphy, 2016; Vial, Napier, and Brescoll, 2016; Trzebiatowski, McCluney, and Hernandez, 2022). For instance, Feldberg (2022) identified that women supervisors in grocery stores, more often than men supervisors, might engage in public work to overcome stereotyped expectations that they are less competent managers. Cardador, Hill, and Salles (2022) similarly found that because women managers’ authority is often not respected, they may engage in “status-leveling behaviors” with subordinate women, such as helping with tasks and making themselves more accessible than men managers.…”

“…However, we know from literature on gender, management, and leadership that there is gendered variation in how managers enact their roles (Eagly, Johannesen-Schmidt, and van Engen, 2003; Alvesson and Billing, 2009). Scholars have theorized that these differences reflect, at least in part, challenges that women face in the workplace (Ely, Ibarra, and Kolb, 2011; Brands and Fernandez-Mateo, 2017; Cardador, Hill, and Salles, 2022; Feldberg, 2022), including backlash for displaying male-typed behaviors or traits (Rudman and Glick, 2001; Brescoll, 2011) and going against the gender hierarchy by occupying managerial roles (Ridgeway, 2001). Yet, it is unclear how gender differences in managers’ role performances ultimately impact their implementation of gender equality–related practices and policies.…”

A Hidden Barrier to Diversification? Performance Recognition Penalties for Incumbent Workers in Male-Dominated Occupations

“…Women managers in male-dominated occupations may also face impression-management concerns due to their own lower status in the occupation (Bowler and Brass 2006; Feldberg 2022), which dissuade them from public support of workers who do not resemble the “ideal worker” prototype (Seron et al 2018) or encourage them to recognize men subordinates more frequently than similarly performing women (Nelson et al 2023). Although these studies do not provide direct insight into how changes in the gender composition of a work unit over time may affect women managers’ assessments and recognition of their subordinates, the extant literature appears consistent with an expectation of larger penalties from women managers toward women subordinates.…”