Dual tracks to the top: Men often linked with power, women with status

Ascents to the top of social hierarchies are stereotypically gendered - men are linked with power, and women with status based on respect and admiration, according to new Cornell research.

Men are associated with control over people and resources, and women are aligned with respect and admiration, said Charlotte Townsend, a postdoctoral researcher in the ILR School and lead author of "Not all Powerful People are Created Equal: An Examination of Gender and Pathways to Social Hierarchy Through the Lens of Social Cognition."

Published in the journal Psychological Science in August, the paper's co-authors are Sonya Mishra of the Tuck School of Business, Dartmouth College; and Laura J. Kray of the Haas School of Business, University of California, Berkeley.

"There is a pathway that is working for women, but it still constrains women because others give you the status and can take it away. It is less tangible," Townsendsaid. "Status is inherently subjective to other's perceptions. It's conferred by others. So, once you reach the top, you still need the admiration of others, and so you still have to behave in a certain way."

By contrast, she said, "men's power is not reliant on others. You can wield power in the ways you want."

The authors said that if society continues to associate women with status and men with power, it "may confine women to societal roles that afford them prestige without accompanying control over resources, further entrenching gender inequality in social hierarchies."

The researchers based their findings on four studies with 816 U.S. adults. The authors first captured recognition of "World's Most Powerful People" and Forbes' "World's Most Powerful Women" lists.

Very few women joined Bill Gates, Jamie Dimon, Mark Zuckerberg and others on the World's Most Powerful People" list, Townsend said, noting that the "World's Most Powerful Women" is populated by women such as Beyoncé, Taylor Swift and Oprah Winfrey, who have high numbers of social media followers.

"Status is based on others' perceptions," she said. "If you have a lot of fans, you need their continued support. It's much more tenuous than power where you have money or an organization behind you."

The studies showed that women internalize these gender stereotypes, associating themselves with status more than power.

Although men reported having less status and more power than women, men implicitly associated themselves with status as much as power. Importantly, no gender differences emerged in the desires for power and status; therefore, these findings are not due to women wanting status more, or power less, than men do, the researchers said.

Mary Catt is director of communications for the ILR School.

Photo sources: Sources: DFID - UK Department for International Development / Wikimedia Commons; Anthony Quintano / Wikimedia Commons; Financial Times / Wikimedia Commons; Vavox Project / Wikimedia Commons; greginhollywood / Flickr; avrilllllla / Flickr.

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