WOMEN LEADING WOMEN: A LOOK AT WOMEN IN MANAGERIAL POSITIONS IN NURSING.
Contributors: Union for Experimenting Colleges and Universities (U.S.)
Published: 1986
Number of pages: 137
Subjects: Psychology, Industrial.; Business Administration, Management.; Women's Studies.; Health Sciences, Nursing.
Description: Twenty nine nurses who achieved managerial status in their profession were asked to complete the Bem Sex Role Inventory and a fifty-nine item questionnaire concerning their developmental histories, attitudes toward same sex companions and role models, and their preferences for managerial styles. The results were examined and analyzed against the literature in feminist theory, sex role and gender identity development, and contrasted with Hennig's (1973) research findings. Hennig's managerial women exhibited unique developmental histories in which male roles and values predominated. They subsequently followed career paths more typical of men than of women, succeeding in male dominated environments.

The group fell almost precisely at the mean in "femininity" but significantly above the mean for the dimension "masculinity" in mean Bem Inventory scores. The respondents exhibited a wide variety and notable balance of traits from both dimensions. These data could be interpreted to support the notion that androgynous women, i.e. women exhibiting a confluence or variety of traits from both rather than one dimension, have an advantage in managerial tasks which tend to emphasize agentic components usually associated with male values. The questionnaire results on the other hand, were more heavily weighted toward feminine role models, female values and preference for empathic styles of management usually associated with females.

The integration of the findings in both areas was accomplished through the examination of the constructs of agency and empathy finally questioning the value of the archaic connection of male = agency and female = empathy. These extremely female "identified" women exhibit a great variety of agentic traits, calling on them in their successful management of family life and demanding careers. They did not exhibit a preference for male values, nor did they label their agentic traits "masculine." The agentic dimension of their personality was integrated into a feminine self image which they carried throughout female dominated, traditional career and life paths.
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 47-09, Section: B, page: 3995.

Thesis (PH.D.)--THE UNION FOR EXPERIMENTING COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES, 1986.

School code: 0557.