Gender Role Perception in Society and Attitude towards Women Managers in Bangladesh

Abstract

This study investigates employees’ attitudes towards women managers in different types of organizations in the context of Bangladesh. Two groups of respondents – supervisors of the women managers and other employees who report to the women managers were selected for data collection through a multistage procedure. The study found that employees, on the whole, have an indifferent attitude towards women managers at the workplace. Among different aspects pertinent to women's leadership, the employees demonstrated a favorable attitude about the women managers’ knowledge and skill, while the employees feel that maternity and other feminine issues make women less desirable in the managerial positions. As the differences were investigated among the respondents of different demographic groups, significant differences were found among various groups based on gender, age, and sectors of employment. However, no significant difference was found among the employees based on their reporting relation with (supervisor and sub-ordinate) the women managers.