Combatting gender discrimination: A lack of fit framework

By M. Heilman, Suzette Caleo. Group Processes & Intergroup Relations, 2018

161 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Gender inequalities in the workplace persist, and scholars point to gender discrimination as a significant contributor. As organizations attempt to address this problem, we argue that theory can help shed light on potential solutions. This paper discusses how the lack of fit model can be used by organizations as a framework to understand the process that facilitates gender discrimination in employment decisions and to identify intervention strategies to combat it. We describe two sets of strategies. The first is aimed at reducing the perception that women are not suited for male-typed positions. The second is aimed at preventing the negative performance expectations that derive from this perception of unsuitability from influencing evaluative judgments. Also included is a discussion of several unintentional consequences that may follow from enacting these strategies. We conclude by arguing for the importance of the interplay between theory and practice in targeting gender discrimination in the workplace.

Subfields: Gender Studies, Public Administration

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/7361b5150b6b80225b3315c9d8620193e0135035

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In Gender Studies

1. H. Lawford-Smith
2. Victor Sojo
3. C. Fine

Citations in the corpus

• Why Does Workplace Gender Diversity Matter? Justice, Organizational Benefits, and Policy (2019, background): “Turning first to direct discrimination, as Heilman and Caleo (2018) note, one intervention that can be expected to attenuate gender stereotypes, and the mismatch between feminine stereotypes and traditionally masculine roles, is having greater numbers of women in those roles.”