Innovative work behavior and sex‐based stereotypes: Examining sex differences in perceptions and evaluations of innovative work behavior

• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/job.2219
• Author: Derek R. Avery,Aleksandra Luksyte,Kerrie L. Unsworth
• Published date: 01 March 2018
• Date: 01 March 2018

RESEARCH ARTICLE

Innovative work behavior and sex‐based stereotypes:

Examining sex differences in perceptions and evaluations of

innovative work behavior

Aleksandra Luksyte

1

|Kerrie L. Unsworth

2

|Derek R. Avery

3

1

Management and Organizations, The

University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA,

Australia

2

Leeds University Business School, Leeds, U.K.

3

School of Business, Wake Forest University,

Winston‐Salem, North Carolina, U.S.A.

Correspondence

Aleksandra Luksyte, Management and

Organizations, The University of Western

Australia, 35 Stirling Highway (M261),

Crawley, WA 6009, Australia.

Email: alex.luksyte@uwa.edu.au

Summary

Building on role congruity theory, we predict that innovative work behaviors are stereotypically

ascribed to men more than to women. Because of this bias, women who innovate may not receive

better performance evaluations than those who do not innovate, whereas engaging in innovative

work behaviors is beneficial for men. These predictions were supported across 3 complementary

field and experimental studies. The results of an experiment (Study 1; N= 407) revealed that

innovative work behaviors are stereotypically associated with men more than women. In Studies

2 and 3, using multisource employee evaluation data (N= 153) and by experimentally manipulat-

ing innovative work behaviors (N= 232), respectively, we found that favorable performance eval-

uations were associated with innovative work behaviors for men but not for women. These

studies highlight a previously unidentified form of sex bias and are particularly important for

those wishing to increase innovative behaviors in the workplace: We need to address this phe-

nomenon of “think innovation‐think male.”

KEYWORDS

innovative workbehavior, performance evaluations, sex

1|INTRODUCTION

Given that roughly half of the world0s population is female and

women0s labor force participation rates now rival men0s in many devel-

oped and developing nations (e.g., in OECD countries, labor force par-

ticipation rates of women and men are 51% vs. 69%, respectively;

World Bank, 2014), the prospective value of women0s workplace con-

tributions is at an all‐time high. If companies are to achieve their full

potential, they must rely on their female employees0innovative work

behaviors or intentional actions to produce or adopt novel ideas, prod-

ucts, and services that benefit multiple stakeholders (Janssen, 2000;

Scott & Bruce, 1994). Unfortunately, women0s contributions (including

innovative work behaviors) may be viewed and valued differently than

that of their male colleagues (Kabat‐Farr & Cortina, 2012). Take, for

instance, this quote from a female product development manager: “I

can0t tell you how many times I have made suggestions in meetings

that were totally ignored”(Blank & Slipp, 1994, p. 153).

One reason to suspect that innovative work behaviors displayed

by men and women may be viewed differently is based on role congru-

ity theory (Eagly & Karau, 2002). The theory proposes that (a) many of

the attributes of successful leaders (e.g., assertive and decisive) are

incongruent with communal characteristics (e.g., nurturing and com-

passionate) traditionally ascribed to women (Ely, Ibarra, & Kolb,

2011) and (b) this discrepancy between leader and sex roles often

results in women being perceived as ineffective leaders (Johnson,

Murphy, Zewdie, & Reichard, 2008). It is also worth noting that lack

of fit theory involves very similar predictions and has received sound

empirical support (Heilman, 2012; Lyness & Heilman, 2006). The the-

ory posits that it is not the negativity of descriptive sex stereotypes

(generalized beliefs about what women and men are like) that explains

why women fare worse in masculine jobs and when engaging in mas-

culine work behaviors. Rather, these stereotypes give rise to a per-

ceived lack of fit between communal attributes ascribed to women

and characteristics (usually agentic) needed to succeed in masculine

jobs and work behaviors (Heilman, 2012). We contend that innovative

work behavior is viewed as a prototypically masculine activity because,

by definition, it is a risky endeavor (Janssen, van de Vliert, & West,

2004) that requires taking initiative (Parker & Collins, 2010) and

embracing and championing change (Wu, Parker, & de Jong, 2014)—

actions that are likely to be associated with men. Further, prescriptive

Received: 10 July 2016 Revised: 20 June 2017 Accepted: 12 July 2017

DOI: 10.1002/job.2219

292 Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. J Organ Behav. 2018;39:292–305.wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/job