Study on the Career Effects of Managerial Stereotyping Receives Funding from Prestigious Research Institute

The Graduate Management Admission Council's Management Education Research Institute has agreed to fully fund a new study titled "The Role of the MBA Degree and Other Human Capital Factors in Mitigating the Effects of Managerial Stereotyping on Career Outcomes" that is being conducted by professors Jenny Hoobler and Sandy Wayne and PhD student Grace Lemmon. Below is a summary of the study from the co-authors.

Recently, the value of the MBA in terms of graduates' salaries and career advancement has been questioned. We suggest that especially for minority group members, the MBA is critical to their human capital. Recent experimental work has demonstrated that reduced competency expectations are the mechanism through which managers' stereotypes affect the workplace outcomes of minority subordinates. Therefore, we propose a study which tests whether subordinates' human capital factors (e.g., the attainment of an MBA, the prestige of graduates' business schools) can mitigate such stereotyping. In two studies we will test a model where human capital factors are proposed to diminish the stereotyping effects of gender, race and motherhood on manager-assessed career achievement and potential, as well as turnover. This research is designed to uncover ways in which manager biases may be prevented from stymieing the careers of minority MBA professionals.