Women are underrepresented among the top echelons of management at Hong Kong academic libraries. This is in contrast with the situation in the United States and certain other countries, where the representation of women in senior management is broadly in line with the profession as a whole. The present study addresses the possible role that the gender stereotyping of leaders might have in accounting for this situation. To this end, the beliefs of academic library professionals were surveyed so as to determine whether they endorsed a masculine, feminine, or androgynous (gender-neutral) sex role for an ideal library manager. This was achieved through the development of a modified form of the Bem Sex Role Inventory (BSRI), with particular care taken to ensure the measure remained valid in a Chinese cultural context. The results showed that 50% of respondents believed that a masculine personality type makes for an ideal leader, compared to just 12% that endorsed a female personality type. A preference for male leadership was therefore widespread among respondents. Additionally, there was little difference between male and female respondents, and women were just as likely as men to endorse a masculine role for good leaders. The possible impact of cultural factors on gender stereotypes among Hong Kong librarians is suggested as a potentially fruitful area for further investigation. Based on the results, a key recommendation of the paper is for managers and administrators in academic libraries and the higher education sector more generally to be made aware of the potentially unconscious impact that gender stereotyping can have on hiring and promotion decisions. / published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:HKU/oai:hub.hku.hk:10722/183351 |
| Date | January 2012 |
| Creators | Chan, Christopher Peter., 陳偉程. |
| Publisher | The University of Hong Kong (Pokfulam, Hong Kong) |
| Source Sets | Hong Kong University Theses |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | PG_Thesis |
| Source | http://hub.hku.hk/bib/B50177412 |
| Rights | The author retains all proprietary rights, (such as patent rights) and the right to use in future works., Creative Commons: Attribution 3.0 Hong Kong License |
| Relation | HKU Theses Online (HKUTO) |
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