Breaking the Leadership Mold: How Race Complicates Gender Stereotypes in Think Manager-Think Male Phenomenon
For decades, workplace researchers have documented a persistent bias known as the "think manager-think male" effect. This phenomenon reveals that people typically view men as more naturally suited for leadership roles than women, associating successful management with stereotypically masculine traits like assertiveness and competence rather than communal qualities like empathy and collaboration.
But groundbreaking new research by Dr. Fiona Adjei Boateng at Hamilton College and Dr. Madeline Heilman at NYU suggests this picture is far more complex than previously understood. Their study, published in Sex Roles, demonstrates that race significantly moderates the think manager-think male effect, revealing that leadership stereotypes don't operate in a vacuum—they intersect with racial biases in ways that complicate our understanding of workplace discrimination.
The Original Idea: Manager = Male
The think manager-think male effect, first identified in the 1970s, has been one of the most robust findings in organizational psychology. Studies consistently show that when people think of successful managers, they envision someone with traditionally masculine characteristics: decisive, competitive, and assertive. This mental prototype creates barriers for women seeking leadership roles, as they're often perceived as lacking the "natural" qualities needed for management success.
This bias manifests in tangible ways throughout organizations. Women face steeper climbs to leadership positions, encounter more skepticism about their capabilities, and often must work harder to prove their competence. The research has been instrumental in explaining persistent gender gaps in corporate leadership despite decades of progress in women's education and workforce participation.
Bringing Race into Focus
Adjei Boateng and Heilman's research challenges us to look beyond the black-and-white view of gender bias in leadership. Through two carefully designed studies, they examined how race influences the think manager-think male effect, focusing on key leadership-associated traits: competence, assertiveness, and communality.
Their findings reveal a striking pattern: while the traditional think manager-think male effect held strong for White men and women and for men and women labelled as “in general”, it completely disappeared when participants evaluated Black and Asian targets. For these groups, leadership perceptions were shaped not just by gender stereotypes, but by the complex interaction between gender and racial biases.
This discovery suggests that women and men of color face a fundamentally different set of challenges in leadership contexts than their White counterparts. Rather than dealing with gender stereotypes alone, they navigate a web of intersecting biases that can't be understood by examining race or gender in isolation.
What This Means for Research
This study represents a significant methodological and theoretical advancement in understanding workplace bias, with several key implications for researchers:
Challenging Single-Category Analysis: The findings demonstrate the limitations of studying gender or racial bias in isolation. Researchers can no longer assume that effects observed for one demographic group will generalize to others, even when controlling for individual demographic variables. This calls for more sophisticated analytical approaches that explicitly model interactions between identity categories.
Reconceptualizing Stereotype Content: The research suggests that stereotype content models need refinement to account for racialized gender stereotypes. The competence and warmth dimensions that have dominated stereotype research may not capture the full complexity of how intersecting identities are perceived, particularly in leadership contexts.
Measurement Considerations: Traditional measures of leadership perceptions, often developed and validated on predominantly White samples, may not adequately capture the stereotype content applied to leaders of different racial backgrounds. This raises questions about measurement invariance and the need for more culturally responsive assessment tools.
What This Means for Organizations
These findings have profound implications for how organizations approach diversity and inclusion in leadership development:
Rethink One-Size-Fits-All Approaches: Traditional gender bias training that treats all women as facing identical challenges may miss the mark entirely. Women of color navigate qualitatively different stereotypes that require tailored understanding and intervention strategies.
Question Leadership Prototypes: Organizations should critically examine their implicit models of what effective leadership looks like. Are evaluation criteria inadvertently biased toward traits associated with White masculinity? How might alternative leadership styles—perhaps emphasizing collaboration, emotional intelligence, or inclusive decision-making—be valued and recognized?
Expand Mentorship and Sponsorship: Given the complex stereotype navigation required, women and men of color may need different types of support systems. Mentorship programs should acknowledge these unique challenges rather than assuming all emerging leaders face the same obstacles.
Looking Forward
Adjei Boateng and Heilman's research reminds us that progress on workplace equity requires moving beyond simple narratives about gender or racial bias. The reality is messier, more complex, and ultimately more interesting than those straightforward stories suggest.
For leaders committed to building truly inclusive organizations, this research offers both a challenge and an opportunity. The challenge lies in developing the nuanced understanding needed to support all employees' leadership potential. The opportunity lies in creating workplaces that value diverse leadership styles and recognize talent wherever it emerges.
As we work toward more equitable organizations, research like this provides essential insights into the complex realities of bias and discrimination. By understanding how stereotypes intersect and interact, we can develop more effective strategies for dismantling barriers and creating opportunities for leaders of all backgrounds to thrive.
The study "Think Manager-Think Male Re-Examined: Race as a Moderator" by Fiona Adjei Boateng and Madeline E. Heilman appears in Sex Roles, Volume 90, Issue 12 (2024) https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-024-01542-6