Gender differences in students’ leader self-efficacy beliefs and managerial aspirations: A quantitative study among students of Aalto University School of Business
Loading...
URL
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
School of Business |
Master's thesis
Unless otherwise stated, all rights belong to the author. You may download, display and print this publication for Your own personal use. Commercial use is prohibited.
Authors
Date
2023
Department
Major/Subject
Mcode
Degree programme
Management and International Business (MIB)
Language
en
Pages
75+5
Series
Abstract
The prevailing low representation of female employees in management has traditionally been explained by gender discrimination in recruitment and promotion practices in organizations. These unequal practices have been proven to influence not only women but all people different from the masculine stereotype of managers. In this study, the focus is shifted from recruitment to potential candidates by examining whether growing up in a society where this gender discrimination happens influences the candidate pool and could lead less women and non-binary people to apply for leadership positions in the first place. The aim is to examine potential future leaders, students of Aalto University School of Business, to understand the phenomenon better. Specifically, potential gender differences in students’ self-beliefs in their capabilities to lead, i.e., leader self-efficacy beliefs, and managerial aspirations are examined. The data of this quantitative study is collected through an online survey among a sample of bachelor’s and master’s degree students at Aalto University School of Business. The analysis is done based on a final sample of 139 students. Only the experiences of male and female students are compared due to an overly small sample size of non-binary students. Independent means t-test and a simple linear regression analysis are performed to test the hypotheses derived from already existing literature about masculine stereotypes of managers and leader self-efficacy. The results of this study are two-fold. First, gender differences in leader self-efficacy are not detected among the students. Instead, the level of identification with traditional masculine traits are found to be a relevant factor determining the leader self-efficacy in students, despite their gender. Second, career aspirations to become a lower-level leader are not different among students but aspirations to become a top executive leader are found to be significantly different among male and female students. Additionally, female students’ beliefs in their chances to become a leader in any organizational level are found to be significantly lower compared to male students. These results indicate that even though there seem to be no gender differences in the leader self-efficacy beliefs among students, some other reasons are leading the students to have gender differences in their career aspirations to become a leader in their future careers, especially in terms of the top management levels. This provides support to earlier research in which women’s lower managerial aspirations and beliefs in their chances to become a leader have been identified to be one factor contributing to the formation of the glass ceiling effect, i.e., the invisible barrier to women’s careers in top management. Since there are no such differences in female students’ aspirations to become a leader in the lower levels of organizations, the reasons behind this change in attitudes towards top executive leadership could be investigated in future research to gain a better understanding of the phenomenon.Description
Thesis advisor
Koskinen Sandberg, PaulaKeywords
leader self-efficacy, gender stereotypes, managerial aspirations, glass ceiling effect