Relationship Skills and Managerial Derailment: Shifting Standards of Evaluation for Men and Women Leaders?

The John Molson School of Business Concordia University Research Chair in Management presents Joyce E. Bono Associate Professor, Department of Human Resources and Industrial Relations, Carlson School of Management, University of Minnesota.

Friday November 12, 2010 at 2:00 p.m.
1450 Guy Street, MB 6.260 (corner of Guy and de Maisonneuve Blvd., 6th floor). Click here to view location on Google maps.


Women are better represented in management positions in 2010 than they have ever been. Yet, the advancement of women into top management positions remains slow. Applying the shifting standards model (Biernat, 2003) and role congruity theory (Eagly & Karau, 2002) to evaluations of men and women managers, we test a model in which we link communal personality to managers’ ability to form and maintain relationships at work, which we predicted would be differentially associated with bossess’ ratings of potential career derailment for men and women managers. Using two large samples of managers(~15,000 and ~30,000), we find that when women are good at relationships, they are seen as less likely than men with the same level of relationships success to derail. In contrast, when they violate gender-based stereotypes by having relationship problems at work, they are perceived by their bosses to be more likely than men with the same level of relationship problems to be candidates for derailment. This research demonstrates one of the ways that gender stereotypes can intentionally or unintentionally lead to biased evaluations of women managers. Because the effects we found are small, we discuss their practical significance as well.

Joyce E. Bono

Joyce E. Bono joined the University of Minnesota in 2001 (Department of Psychology), and the Carlson School of Management in 2007. She has BA from Spring Arbor College in Human Resources (1990), an MS in Administration from the University of Notre Dame Business School (1996) and a PhD in Organizational Behavior from the University of Iowa (2001). She is also the founder and director of the Leadership Lab, a virtual organization designed to link academic researchers with business organizations for the study and development of leadership and is also an associate with the Well Being at Work Collaboratory. Dr. Bono chose the academic life after 15 years in management. She teaches leadership and organizational behavior at the graduate level. She has published articles in the Academy of Management Journal, Journal of Applied Psychology, Personnel Psychology, Leadership Quarterly, and elsewhere. She currently serves as an Associate Editor for the Academy of Management Journal. Her expertise includes leadership, motivation, emotions and attitudes in organizations, employee health, and women in management. Her current research focuses on how managers influence employee health and motivation and the value of positive work relationships for employees and organizations. She believes that work (and the classroom) should be both productive and fun. She lives in Minneapolis with a neurotic but lovely dog, Charlie, who loves swimming and chasing squirrels, and an aging cat, Sasha.

Informal Morning Session

On the morning of November 12, Dr. Bono will also meet informally with interested MSc and PhD students. This session will be held in room MB 13.101 (13th floor), 1450 Guy Street (at de Maisonneuve Blvd.) from 10 - 11:30 a.m. Coffee and pastries will be served. Please RSVP to John Vongas at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it to assist in planning for this morning session.

For more Information

Please direct any questions concerning these events to Professor Gary Johns, Concordia University Research Chair in Management, at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

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