News

Men, women and the authority deficit

Published: 24 May 2017

Desautels Professor Laura Doering recently appeared on CJAD 800 AM to talk gender and jobs. She is the co-author of a study that looked at a non-stereotypically gendered job (a loan manager) to compare how men and women were perceived in the role.

The findings indicated that men enjoyed more authority, but in cases where a loan manager quit, males who filled in for female managers experienced an authority deficit compared to those who filled in for other men.

According to Prof. Doering, while we tend to see men as enjoying a certain authority, “It depends on the context. If men are filling female-typed roles, unfortunately, they’re subject to the same gender biases as women are.”

Listen to the interview

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