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From influential to bossy, why perceived gender affects workplace authority
A study partly authored by Desautels professor Laura Doering explores the broader issue of gender and jobs. The authors studied microfinance loan managers as a profession that hasn’t yet become gender stereotyped.
As managers moved among clients, repayment rates varied according to their assumed authority, with male managers enjoying more clout.
Interestingly, as clients assigned perceived gender to the job itself, it affected the authority enjoyed by the manager, no matter which sex the person in the position was.