Cancelled!: Heymans Colloquium: Belle Derks, The Queen Bee Phenomenon

LECTURER Dr. Belle Derks (Associate Professor at Leiden University)

TITLE The Queen Bee Phenomenon: Why do senior women sometimes work against the progress of their female subordinates

DATE & TIME Thursday, 17 April 2013, 16.00 - 17.30 hrs

LOCATION Room M.0055, Munting Building, Grote Kruisstraat 2/1, Groningen

ABSTRACT To improve career opportunities of women in the workplace, it is often suggested that increasing the number of women in powerful positions will automatically improve opportunities for other women. However, work on the Queen Bee phenomenon suggests that this is not necessarily the case. ‘Queen Bees’ are senior women who achieved success in male-dominated organizations by emphasizing their masculinity. In this talk I will discuss research revealing that, rather than being a typical feminine response (as is suggested in the popular media), QB-behavior is a response to the gender bias women experience at work. Results from two field studies among female managers in masculine organizations revealed that experienced gender bias increased QB-responses among women with low (but not high) gender identification. Importantly, similar responses were found among another negatively stereotyped group, i.e. Hindustani employees. Finally, in a line of experiments we find that men! prefer female candidates who present themselves as QBs, revealing that QB-responses actually work. ________________________________________ For more information you may contact dr. T. (Toon) Kuppens, email address: t.kuppens rug.nl