Think Manager – Think Parent? Investigating the fatherhood advantage and the motherhood penalty using the Think Manager – Think Male paradigm

Abstract

Men remain overrepresented in leadership positions, due in part to a think manager – think male (TMTM) association (Schein, 1973) whereby stereotypes of men are more similar to stereotypes of manager than are stereotypes of women. Building on research into the motherhood penalty and fatherhood advantage, we extend Schein’s TMTM paradigm to investigate whether parenthood exacerbates the phenomenon. In Study 1 (N = 326), we find clear support for a fatherhood advantage, such that fathers are described as more similar to managers compared to either men in general, women in general, or to mothers. We did not find evidence for a motherhood penalty. Indeed, mothers, compared to women in general, were seen as more similar to managers (a motherhood advantage within women), while relative to fathers, mothers were seen as less similar to managers, thus, a gender penalty remained within parenthood. We replicate these findings in a pre-registered Study 2 (N = 561), and further show that patterns are similar for ideal managers (prescriptive manager stereotypes, Study 1) and leaders more generally (Study 2). Taken together, the results suggest that gender and managerial stereotypes do not reveal a simple fatherhood advantage and motherhood penalty. Rather, stereotypes of parenthood may provide benefits for both mothers and fathers – suggestive of a parenthood advantage, at least in terms of stereotype content.