Ambivalent Sexism and Gender as Predictors of Turkish College Students’ Attitudes toward Women Managers

Abstract

The aim of this study is to explore how ambivalent sexism (hostile sexism/benevolent sexism) and gender predict attitudes toward women managers in Turkish college students, where the societal culture can be identified as a mixture of modern and traditional values. Turkish undergraduate students (N = 145) who were enrolled in Leadership Theory and Practices course from Anadolu University completed scales of Ambivalent Sexism, and Attitudes toward Women Managers (ATWoM). Results of the research suggest that men participants experienced less positive attitudes toward women managers than did women participants. Furthermore, regression analysis revealed that hostile sexism and gender were the predictors of attitudes toward women managers. Participants who scored high on hostile sexism also endorsed less favorable attitudes toward women managers than did those lower on hostile sexism. The contribution of benevolent sexism on the attitudes of women managers was insignificant. Implications of the findings are discussed for future research.