Development and Validation of a Scale to Measure Beliefs about Women Managers.

This paper presents preliminary evidence on the internal consistency and validity of a scale designed to measure the degree to which one believes women managers experience a greater number of obstacles and more critical judgments about their work performance as compared to managerial men (the Stereotype Beliefs about Women Managers scale; SBWMS). Survey data from 1,337 managerial and non-managerial men and women employed by a large manufacturing organization revealed that the 6-item scale possessed a single factor. Significant mean group differences and correlations between the SBWMS and a number of organizationally-relevant measures provide good preliminary support for the scale's validity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]