prof. Janine Bosak

                     Affiliation:

                     Professor of Organizational Psychology at the Dublin City University (DCU) Business School, Ireland.

                     Title: 

                     Subtle Yet Powerful: Gender Stereotypes as Barriers to Women’s Leadership

Abstract:

Women remain vastly underrepresented in leadership roles within business, academia, and in the political realm. One critical explanation for gender inequality and gender imbalance in leadership is the perceived lack of fit between beliefs about communal qualities (e.g., helpful, kind) in women and beliefs about agentic qualities (e.g., assertive, dominant) expected and desired in leaders. I will present my research illustrating the ways in which such a lack of fit can manifest itself in (i) bias against female leaders and women aspiring to become a leader and (ii) in self-directed bias among women leaders themselves. Moreover, I will discuss the question of the malleability of the perceived lack of fit, particularly important for stereotype and bias reduction, and I will close the talk with suggestions for how organizations and individuals can address biases and enhance efforts toward gender equality in leadership.

Biography:

Janine Bosak is Professor of Organizational Psychology at Dublin City University (DCU) Business School and Director of Research of the Leadership & Talent Institute (LTI) at DCU. Janine served as EAWOP executive committee member from 2017-2022 and currently serves as representative-at-large of the Academy of Management (AOM) Careers Division. She is also an elected fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences (FAcSS). Janine conducts research, teaches, and consults in the areas of stereotypes and prejudice in the workplace, gender and leadership; and employee well-being in organizations. Her work has been published across a range of journals (e.g., Journal of Organizational Behavior, Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, Human Resource Management Journal) and she sits on different editorial boards (e.g., Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology). Janine is also a certified and trained coach who advances the systemic and solution-focused approach to coaching.

Professor Janine Bosak from the University of Dublin talks – in the interview conducted by Ingrid Covington – about her research topics: equality and gender stereotypes. Why are so many women studying psychology and why are most psychology professors male? Find out more at this link to the interview.

Email: 

janine.bosak@dcu.ie

Social Media link: 

Faculty page - https://business.dcu.ie/staff/professor-janine-bosak/

Google scholar link - https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=MBPFZ0oAAAAJ&hl=en