Note: This article is meant as an extension of the existing "Gender role" article and their effect on things such as workplace discrimination and the implications for political office. (The part on "Gender stereotypes" in the original article is generally very short.)

Gender role

Gender stereotypes

Consequences in the workplace

Gender stereotypes are frequently brought up as one disadvantage to women during the hiring process, ^[1] and as one explanation of the lack of women in key organizational positions. ^[2] Management and similar leader positions are often preceived to be "masculine" in type, meaning they are assumed to require aggressiveness, competitiveness, strength and independence. These traits do not line up with the perceived traditional female gender role stereotype. ^[3] (This is often referred to as the "lack of fit" model which describes the dynamics of the gender bias. ^[4]) Therefore, the perception that women do not possess these "masculine" qualities, limits their ability to be hired or promoted into managerial posititons.

One's performance at work is also evaluated differently, based on one's gender. If a female and a male worker show the same performance, the implications of that performance vary depending on the person's gender and on who observes the performance; if a man performs exceedingly well he is perceived as driven or goal-oriented and generally seen in a positive light while a woman showing a similar performance is often described using adjectives with negative connotations. ^[5] Female performance is therefore not evaluated neutrally or unbiased and stereotyped in ways to deem their equivalent levels and quality of work as instead of lesser value.

Consequently, that gender stereotype filter leads to a lack of fair evaluation and, in turn, to fewer women occupying higher paying positions. Gender stereotypes contain women at certain, lower levels; getting trapped within the glass ceiling. While the number of women in the workforce occupying management positions is slowly increasing, ^[6] women currently fill only 2.5% of the higher managerial positions in the United States. ^[7] The fact that most women are being allocated to occupations that pay less, is often cited as a contributor to the existing gender pay gap. ^{[8] [9]}

In relation to white women, women of color are disproportionally affected by the negative influence their gender has on their chances in the labor market. ^[10] In 2005, women held only 14.7% of Fortune 500 board seats with 79% of them being white and 21% being women of color. ^[11] This difference is understood through intersectionality, a term describing the multiple and intersecting oppressions and individual might experience. Activists during second-wave feminism have also used the term "horizontal oppressions" to describe this phenomenon. ^[12] It has also been suggested that women of color in addition to the glass ceiling, face a "concrete wall" or a "sticky floor" to better visualize the barriers. ^[13]

Liberal feminist theory states that due to these systemic factors of oppression and discrimination, women are often deprived of equal work experiences because they are not provided equal opportunities on the basis of legal rights. Liberal feminists further propose that an end needs to be put to discrimination based on gender through legal means, leading to equality and major economic redistributions. ^{[14] [15]}

While activists have tried calling on Title VII to provide an equal hiring and promotional process, that practice has had limited success. ^[16] A proposed step towards solving the problem of the gender pay gap and the unequal work opportunities is the ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment which would constitutionally guarantee equal rights for women. ^{[17] [18] [19] [20]} This is hoped to end gender-based discrimination and provide equal opportunities for women.

Consequences for political office

Even though the number of women running for elected office has increased over the last decades, they still only make up 20% of U.S. senators, 19.4% of U.S. congressional representatives and 24% of U.S. state governors. ^[21] It is also apparent that many of these political campaigns stress the aggressiveness of the female candidate which is often still perceived to be a male attribute. ^[22] Therefore, female candidates are running based on gender-opposing stereotypes because that predicts higher likelihood of success than appearing to be a stereotypical women.

Elections of increasing numbers of women into office serves as a basis for many scholars to claim that voters are not biased towards a candidate's gender. However, it has been shown that female politicians are perceived as only being superior when it comes to handling women's rights and poverty while male politicans are perceived to be better at dealing with crime and foreign affairs. ^[23] That view lines up with the most common gender stereotypes.

It has also been predicted that gender does only highly matter for female candidates that have not been politically established. These predictions apply further to established candidates, stading that gender would not be a defining factor for their campaign or the the focal point of media coverage. This has been disproven by multiple scholars, often based on Hillary Clinton's multiple campaigns for the office of President of the United States. ^{[24] [25] [26]}

Additionally, when voters don't have a lot of information about a female candidate, they are likely to view her as being a stereotypical woman which they often take as a basis for not electing her because they consider typical male qualities as being crucial for someone holding a political office. ^[27]

Consequences of defying gender stereotypes:

If a women does act according to female stereotypes, she is likely to receive backlash for not being competent enough; if she does not act according to the stereotypes connected to her gender and behaves more androgynous, it is likely to cause backlash through third-party punishment or further job discrimination. ^[28]. Therefore, women are expected to behave in a way that aligns with female gender stereotypes while these stereotypes are simultaneously used to justify their lack of success in an economic context which puts women in the workforce in a precarious situation. ^[29]

A proposed step to relieve women from that double bind is the above-mentioned ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment as it would further legal gender equality and prohibit gender-based discrimination ^[30] regardless if a women is acting according to female gender stereotypes or in defiance of them.