Kim Ng will be Major League Baseball's first female general manager (Photo by Rob Leiter/MLB Photos ... [+]
2020 has brought a lot of firsts for women. In addition to Kamala Harris breaking ground as the first female vice president-elect, Biden appointees Avril Haines and Janet Yellen will likely be the first women to lead national intelligence and treasury. And when Kim Ng was named the next general manager of the Miami Marlins baseball team, she became the first female general manager of a Major League Baseball team and the highest-ranking woman in baseball history.
There’s an assumption that the mere presence of trailblazers like these in leadership positions long held by men will automatically break the glass ceiling, making it easier for future women to obtain those positions. But, Francesca Manzi, a postdoctoral fellow at Utrecht University and lead author of new research on the subject, says, “It’s not that simple. The story is a little more complicated.”
Her research, conducted with NYU professor Madeline Heilman, examined if women who take on leadership positions make it easier for future women to follow in their footsteps. The short answer was no. Having a woman at the helm doesn’t typically help subsequent female leaders. And sometimes, having a female predecessor can even hinder the prospects for up-and-coming female leaders.
If a female leader performs poorly, it may make it even harder for women to be hired in her place in the future. “Exposure to women in leadership roles typically held by men does not necessarily benefit other women. The negative effect of leadership failure is greater than the positive effect of leadership success,” the researchers write.
Oddly, even having a successful female predecessor in leadership didn’t seem to help the chances of future women—although it didn’t hurt them either. Manzi suspects that when a female leader performs well, “people say, ‘oh she is just an exceptional woman, she’s unique, she’s special, but it says nothing about other women.’” When a woman fails, people are more likely to think that the failure is representative of all women and penalize future female job candidates.
Others have suggested that moral licensing may come into play when women are hired in roles typically held by men. The argument basically says that once someone feels a good deed has been done (hiring one woman), they may be less likely to feel the need to be virtuous in the future making them less likely to hire more women.
The research results on the impact of female leadership come from a series of five studies. In one study, participants were either told about a male or female CEO of a steel company and were provided newspaper clippings highlighting either the successes or failures of the CEO. All participants were told the CEO was departing, and their job was to evaluate candidates for his or her replacement. Those who read about a female CEO who performed poorly were less likely to recommend a female candidate to replace her.
Male job candidates did not face the same bias, according to the studies. Men were equally likely to be deemed qualified regardless of the performance of the preceding male or female CEO. The generalization of the predecessor’s performance only impacts women because there’s a perceived mismatch between women and high-level leadership, particularly in male-dominated areas. Manzi explains, “Because men have historically dominated top leadership roles, when we look at men in positions of leadership, we don’t think of them as men. But as soon as we see a woman in these positions, we automatically think of her as a female leader.”
This additional focus on the gender of female leaders makes it more likely that people judge future women based on previous women’s performance. Since it’s not unusual to have men in these roles, people don’t focus on a male leader’s gender and don’t generalize the leader’s performance to subsequent men.
The solution to this problem is clear. As more and more women enter the top ranks of leadership our perceptions of female leaders are bound to change. “I don’t want to seem like that we’re saying don’t put women in positions of power, because that’s definitely not what we’re saying,” Manzi clarifies. She explains that once we have a sufficient number of female leaders, then the women in these roles won’t seem so unusual, and people will be less likely to focus on their gender. In turn, people will be less likely to penalize future female leaders because of the failure of a female predecessor.
Another clear advantage of having female leaders is they serve as role models motivating more women to aspire to these roles. “The work on role modeling says it’s really important for women to see other women in these positions. It makes them think, ‘I could actually do that,’” Manzi says.
We should certainly celebrate the fact that more women are achieving top-level positions. But we should also be aware that our work is not done. It’s remarkable that Kim Ng has broken into the management ranks in Major League Baseball. Her presence will likely inspire more young women to pursue careers in sports. However, according to this research, the likelihood that a female general manager will be hired in the future depends on whether the Miami Marlins have a winning record next year. Male baseball managers will continue to be hired in the future, regardless of how their male predecessors perform.
