Problem:
Sexism sustains these challenges through entrenched social identity processes and gender role expectations. Social identity theory explains in group favoritism among predominantly male leadership, who unconsciously valorize agentic, "masculine" traits (decisiveness, competitiveness) while devaluing communal, "feminine" ones (Blaine & Brenchley, 2021). The stereotype content model further illustrates ambivalent sexism: women are seen either as warm yet incompetent (paternalistic bias) or competent yet cold (envious bias), rendering them illegitimate candidates for authority regardless of actual performance (Eckes, 2002, as cited in Blaine & Brenchley, 2021). Implicit bias among leaders compounds the effect. Automatic associations link leadership with masculinity, causing identical accomplishments to be attributed to skill when performed by men but to luck or task ease when performed by women a pattern replicated from Goldberg's (1968) classic study to contemporary voice and resume experiments (Blaine & Brenchley, 2021). Without rigorous accountability and sustained bias mitigation training, these unconscious preferences continue to reproduce the glass ceiling, demonstrating that legal and policy advances alone cannot dismantle deeply socialized gender hierarchies. Need Assignment Help?