Teams' Female Representation and Perceived Potency as Inputs to Team Outcomes in a Predominantly Male Field Setting

Abstract

We developed a team-level temporal model and tested it with data from 92 newly formed teams in a naturalistic military setting where females were a distinct minority in all teams. Contrary to what is posited by theory on customary perceptions of females' capabilities and gender-role congruence, a higher female proportion within teams did not adversely influence teams' early perceived potency, later social cohesion, or observers' assessments of teamwork. Consistent with theory regarding gender and abilities, however, a higher female proportion within teams contributed to better team problem solving but led to slightly worse team results on physically demanding tasks. In addition, teams' early perceived potency contributed positively to early task proficiency and later social cohesion. Furthermore, teams' social cohesion contributed positively to externally observed teamwork while controlling for task proficiency. We discuss implications of these findings for theory and practice.

Linking Transformational Leadership and Team Performance: A Conflict Management Approach

“…Consistent with previous research (Hirschfeld et al., 2005; Marks et al., 2002; Mathieu and Rapp, 2009; Pearsall and Ellis, 2006; Tjosvold et al., 2005), this study argues that when teams are effective in coordinating, they are likely to have a high level of task performance. Teams with greater coordination capacity are better at locating within the team the needed knowledge and resources and then mobilizing and integrating them to perform the tasks.…”

“…This study distinguishes between team coordination, which measures how effectively team members combine their resources and integrate their ideas (Faraj and Sproull, 2000; Lewis, 2003; Marks et al., 2001), and team performance, which evaluates their progress to goal achievement, and hypothesizes that team coordination leads to team performance (Hirschfeld et al., 2005; Marks et al., 2002; Mathieu and Rapp, 2009; Pearsall and Ellis, 2006; Tjosvold et al., 2005). As this study investigates the impact of transformational leaders on how teams manage their conflicts, it empirically relates the research on transformational leadership to that on conflict management and team performance.…”

Age‐ and Gender‐based Role Incongruence: Implications for Knowledge Mastery and Observed Leadership Potential Among Personnel in a Leadership Development Program

“…Powell and Graves (2003) have noted that for organizations having positive gender‐diversity cultures, it is less likely that negative consequences will ensue from being in the gender minority within a team. The USAF officer culture, for example, is bolstered by mechanisms that promote equal treatment on the basis of gender, including policies, guidelines, training courses, and review procedures (see Hirschfeld, Jordan, Feild, Giles, & Armenakis, 2005). Use of such practices could be beneficial in other organizations as well.…”

Gender Diversity und Organisationserfolg — Eine kritische Bestandsaufnahme

“…Williams/O'Reilly (1998); van Knippenberg/Schippers (2007), S. 517. sen 26 . So argumentieren Hirschfeld et al (2005) Shore et al (2009) verweisen in ihrem Review allerdings darauf, dass die meisten empirischen Studien zu den Effekten von Gender Diversity theoretische Perspektiven formulieren, die negative Effekte -etwa im Sinne der "Social Categorization"-Perspektivevorhersagen 41 . Vor diesem Hintergrund werden im Folgenden die empirischen Befunde zu den Effekten von Gender Diversity beleuchtet.…”