Does diversity-valuing behavior result in diminished performance ratings for nonwhite and female leaders?

  1. Wei Yang
  1. D Hekman, Leeds School of Business, University of Colorado, Boulder, Boulder, 80309, United States
  2. S Johnson, Leeds School of Business, University of Colorado, Boulder, United States
  3. M Foo, Engineering, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore
  4. W Yang, McCombs School of Management, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, United States
  1. Correspondence: David R. Hekman, Email: dhekman{at}gmail.com

Abstract

We seek to help solve the puzzle of why top-level leaders are disproportionately white men. We suggest that this race- and sex-based status and power gap persists, in part, because ethnic minority and women leaders are discouraged from engaging in diversity-valuing behavior. We hypothesize and test in both field and laboratory samples that ethnic minority or female leaders who engage in diversity-valuing behavior are penalized with worse performance ratings; whereas white or male leaders who engage in diversity-valuing behavior are not penalized for doing so. We find that this divergent effect results from traditional negative race and sex stereotypes (i.e. lower competence judgments) placed upon diversity-valuing ethnic minority and women leaders. We discuss how our findings extend and enrich the vast literatures on the glass ceiling, tokenism, and workplace discrimination.

  • Received June 7, 2014.
  • Revision received January 31, 2016.
  • Accepted March 1, 2016.

This Article

  1. ACAD MANAGE J amj.2014.0538

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