
Gender inequality is usually described as women’s disadvantage, only rarely as men’s advantage. Moreover, it is often illustrated by metaphors such as the glass ceiling—an invisible barrier to women’s career advancement—metaphors that often also focus on women’s disadvantage. Two studies ( N = 228; N = 495) examined effects of these different ways of framing gender inequality. Participants read about gender inequality in leadership with a focus on either women or men, and either without a metaphor ( women underrepresented vs. men overrepresented) or with a women-focused or men-focused metaphor ( glass ceiling/ labyrinth vs. old boys’ club). Metaphors caused participants to perceive gender inequality as (somewhat) more important. Regardless of metaphor use, women-focused descriptions led to more explanations of inequality focusing on women relative to explanations focusing on men, as well as to more suggestions of interventions targeting women at the expense of interventions aimed at systemic changes.
leadership, framing, comparison, DDC Classification::5 Naturwissenschaften und Mathematik :: 57 Biowissenschaften; Biologie :: 570 Biowissenschaften; Biologie, metaphor, glass ceiling
leadership, framing, comparison, DDC Classification::5 Naturwissenschaften und Mathematik :: 57 Biowissenschaften; Biologie :: 570 Biowissenschaften; Biologie, metaphor, glass ceiling
| selected citations These citations are derived from selected sources. This is an alternative to the "Influence" indicator, which also reflects the overall/total impact of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network (diachronically). | 13 | |
| popularity This indicator reflects the "current" impact/attention (the "hype") of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network. | Top 10% | |
| influence This indicator reflects the overall/total impact of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network (diachronically). | Average | |
| impulse This indicator reflects the initial momentum of an article directly after its publication, based on the underlying citation network. | Top 10% |
