The triggers and consequences of the Queen Bee phenomenon: A systematic literature review and integrative framework

Abstract

Staines, Tavris and Jayaratne (1974) first introduced the Queen Bee Phenomenon (QBP). The term has been extensively employed to explain specific behaviors driven by organizational inequalities where women engaged in leadership positions actively restrain the opportunities of upper mobility for junior women. While the literature constantly addresses the causes and behaviors of this phenomenon, the current scholarship still lacks an integrated view of the QBP literature and a concise integrative framework that explores its triggers and consequences to advance research and provide evidence-based results to guide policy and managerial decisions. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to identify, analyze and synthesize the literature on the QBP. We conducted a systematic literature review engaging bibliometrics and content analysis. Our results highlight the current state of the art of the QBP literature and introduce a new integrative framework that shows the interplay between the triggers, traits and consequences of the QBP. We contribute to the field by integrating previous research in the field into a framework that synthesizes and connects the scattered literature. Our results are helpful for designing new organizational policies that reduce the impacts of the QBP in the workplace. The research agenda propose avenues for advancing our understanding of the phenomenon.