Running head: REVERSE GENDER STEREOTYPE 1

Men in the workplace face the same type of gender stereotypes as women; the difference is that
no-one fights for men
[Name]
[Date]
REVERSE GENDER STEREOTYPE 2

TABLE OF CONTENTS
1 Chapter 1: Introduction ..................................................................................................................... 3
1.1 Statement of the Problem .............................................................................................................. 3
1.2 Research Significance ................................................................................................................... 4
1.3 Purpose of the Study ..................................................................................................................... 4
1.4 Aims and Objectives ..................................................................................................................... 4
1.5 Research Questions ....................................................................................................................... 5
2 Chapter 2: Literature Review ............................................................................................................ 5
3 Chapter 3: Methodology..................................................................................................................... 7
3.1 Research Philosophy ..................................................................................................................... 7
3.2 Research Design............................................................................................................................ 7
3.3 Research Methods ......................................................................................................................... 8
3.4 Sampling Methods ........................................................................................................................ 8
3.5 Data Analysis ................................................................................................................................ 8
3.6 Rigor and Reliability ..................................................................................................................... 9
3.7 Ethical Issues ................................................................................................................................ 9
3.8 Limitations .................................................................................................................................... 9
4 References .......................................................................................................................................... 10
REVERSE GENDER STEREOTYPE 3

Men in the workplace face the same type of gender stereotypes as

women; the difference is that no-one fights for men

1 INTRODUCTION
This chapter would describe the problem statement, the purpose of the study, research
significance in a contemporary context and major aims and objectives of the research.

1.1 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

Opposite to the commonly held perception that only girls and women face the discriminated
behavior on the basis of their gender, increasing evidence is available that demonstrates the
stereotype behavior against boys and men. In some cases, the reverse gender stereotype behavior
becomes more prevalent (Cameron, 2006). The Benatar (2012) has named this phenomenon as
“Second Sexism” which reflects the unjust and wrongful discrimination against boys and men on
the basis of their gender. Though, the first sexism (that is the discrimination against women) is still
a highly intense issue in various regions of the world (Tomaskovic-Devey, 2014). Anyhow,
various studies have confirmed that in the contemporary era, men also face the discriminatory
behavior (e.g. Benatar, 2012; Arai, Bursell & Nekby, 2015).

Benatar has argued that this discrimination is not only prevalent at the workplace but in every
sphere of life. For instance, the author argues that social norms and state policies heavily encourage
the men than women to combat and become part of the military, causing thousands and millions
of men to suffer and die. Regions where women are recruited, they are treated with a comparatively
lenient behavior. Other than the military, men also face the domestic violence, but their issues are
not highlighted by human right activists and society and state institutions take these matters less
seriously (Benatar, 2012, p.37). Evidence also suggests that the courts also treat females leniently
than males. The underlying study would mainly discuss such reverse gender discrimination.
However, to narrow down the scope of the study, the researcher would investigate such
discriminatory behavior at the workplace. Review of literature has suggested that underlying
phenomenon has not been adequately explored by previous researchers, suggesting the need for
future research and setting the basis for the execution of this study.
REVERSE GENDER STEREOTYPE 4

1.2 RESEARCH SIGNIFICANCE

In the contemporary era, the negative effects of sexism have been witnessed by various sources,
suggesting the need to take proper action that could eradicate any sort of discrimination from the
society and provide an equal opportunity to all, irrespective of age, ethnicity and gender (Barnett,
2005). Much research has been done to acknowledge and highlight the effect of discriminatory
attitude upon females that has grabbed the attention of state policy makers and human rights
activists at the global stage (Coppock, Haydon & Richter, 2014). Unfortunately, researchers, as
well as human rights activists, have ignored the potential impact of reverse gender discrimination,
which is increasing day by day due to ignorance of society and policy makers. Studies have proved
that discriminatory attitude at workplace directly affects the morale of employees, resulting in
reduced productivity and high turnover (Benatar, 2012). Hence, the researcher intends to execute
research in this study dimension, acknowledging the significance of it.

1.3 PURPOSE OF THE STUDY

The main purpose of the study is to highlight the increasing stereotype attitude against men and
notify the feminists, human right activists and policymakers so that they may raise their voice
against such discriminatory attitude. The central purpose is to draw the attention of relevant
authorities and convince those who deny its existence because proper remedial could not be taken
until the issue is highlighted and acknowledged by the international bodies and state authorities.
The paper would also discuss the main beliefs about the attitude towards men that explain why
they face the discriminatory attitude at the workplace in particular and in society in general.

1.4 AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

The main aim of the underlying research is to raise the voice against reverse gender discrimination
as it is equally unjust and has an equal destructive impact upon employees’ productivity at
workplace. In order to achieve this broader aim, the research has also crafted certain objectives as
given below:

 To conduct the critical analysis of existing literature about reverse gender stereotypes and
extract important theoretical insights.
REVERSE GENDER STEREOTYPE 5

 To analyze various gender stereotype theories and assess the linkage with contemporary
context.
 To executive the empirical investigation and explore the factors that encourage such
reverse stereotype behavior.
 To assess the impact of such behavior on employees’ productivity by providing the
statistical evidence.
 To offer the useful recommendations to modern business organizations, human rights
activities, international bodies and state policymakers for practical implementation of
extracted theoretical insights.

1.5 RESEARCH QUESTIONS

The underlying study has crafted following research questions, and whole research would be
conducted to answer these questions by providing the sound theoretical basis and valid empirical
evidence.

RQ1: Which factors promote the reverse gender stereotype behavior at the workplace?

RQ2: How the reverse gender stereotype behavior affects the employees’ productivity at the
workplace?

2 LITERATURE REVIEW
In societies where discrimination on the basis of gender has been highlighted, criticized and raised
on various platforms, the people have mainly focused on the women facing such discriminatory
attitude, ignoring the probability that males can also be the victim of such attitude (Sterba, 2008).
A little attention paid to this issue has rarely resulted in any meaningful action. Benatar (2011) has
named this reverse gender discrimination as “Second Sexism” because males are not the primary
but secondary victim of gender discrimination. Second sexism or reverse gender discrimination is
a neglected or less seriously taken issue that is becoming more prevalent with the passage of time.
This negligence is regrettable as it has high implication for prevailing discrimination against men
(Coppock, Haydon & Richter, 2014).
REVERSE GENDER STEREOTYPE 6

Moreover, the discrimination against women couldn’t be addressed until all types of sexism are
adequately addressed. There are a number of men that are more oppressed than various women.
Feminists who are determined to assist the women in any situation sometimes face situations where
support to women against males would further escalate the injustice level in the world (Richards,
1994, p. 31). Though the findings of various researches have shown inconsistent results, some
researchers have proposed that proportion of fatal accidents at workplace tend to be much higher
in males as compared to females (Clark & Sekher, 2007). Although, arguments are made, which
suggest that males’ risk taking attitude is mainly responsible for such discrimination. However,
this factor doesn’t entirely justify the discriminatory behavior. In some instances, males are
explicitly or implicitly pressurized to take such risks in the same way as women as pressurized to
assume some roles based on their gender (Benatar, 2012).

A previous study conducted by William and Bests (1982) assessed the reverse gender stereotype
behaviors in 30 different countries. The study collected the data from around 5000 college
students, and respondents were asked to assess 300 adjectives from Google Check List typifying
women or men. The investigators themselves designated the adjectives as negative or positive. In
most of the countries including USA, Australia, Peru, Italy, etc.), respondents viewed women more
positively than men. Countries including Israel, Nigeria, Japan and Malaysia viewed men more
positively than women. Overall, the findings revealed that the respondents had a more negative
perception of males than females, reflecting reverse gender stereotype behavior.

A study conducted by Fiebert & Meyer (1997) executed an empirical investigation to explore the
reverse gender stereotype in general society. The research was conducted in the context of United
States, and findings revealed that out of 79 responses, 39 viewed the women positively, 24
responses were neutral and 16 viewed women negatively. On the other hand, out of 34 retained
responses, 23 viewed men positively, 48 viewed men negatively, and 13 responses were neutral.
When Chi-square test was run, it showed that there was a statistically significant difference and
men were viewed more negatively than women.

Segal (2015) has reported that the reverse gender stereotype at workplace started with the notion
of positive gender stereotypes, when certain titles became increasingly popular, including:
“Women are better leaders” article published in Forbes, “5 ways women are better bosses” article
published in American Express, “Women are better leaders”, published in Business Insider, and
REVERSE GENDER STEREOTYPE 7

“Why women are better leaders” published in Psychology Today. The SHRM article argued that
such positive biasness on the basis of gender is unhealthy as well and leads towards another
problem, called “reverse gender stereotype”. The employees need to be solely assessed on the basis
of their competency, instead of gender as it is the only way that can lead towards enhancement in
organizational performance and an overall fair organizational culture (Segal, 2015).

3 METHODOLOGY
This chapter would explain the individual components of research methodology, including chosen
research philosophy, research design, research approach, sampling technique, data analysis
techniques, ethical issues and associated limitations.

3.1 RESEARCH PHILOSOPHY

Research paradigm or research philosophy provides the firm theoretical foundation to the research.
The underlying study has chosen the positivist research paradigm for exploring the underlying
phenomenon. The positivist research paradigm allows the restrictive interpretation of facts on
logical grounds. It discourages the subjective interpretation and regards the researcher as an
independent and separate entity. In this case, it would not allow the researcher to rely on personal
opinion about underlying phenomenon.

3.2 RESEARCH DESIGN

Research design provides a roadmap for the execution of whole research. In this case, the
researcher has chosen the descriptive research design to report the findings through tables, graphs
and description of the underlying phenomenon. The researcher has chosen the sequential
exploratory research design to execute the investigation. The sequential exploratory research
design would enable the researcher to firstly collect the qualitative insights and highlight the
factors promoting reverse gender stereotype behavior at the workplace. Afterwards, on the basis
of qualitative insights, the quantitative data would statistically assess the influence of such reverse
gender discrimination upon employees’ morale and productivity.
REVERSE GENDER STEREOTYPE 8

3.3 RESEARCH METHODS

The underlying study has chosen the mixed research method approach to collect the insights. The
qualitative data would be collected from senior management to explore in-depth insights that
otherwise would have remained unexplored if researcher would have chosen a quantitative
approach. Semi-structured interviews would be conducted and each interview would be having an
average duration of approximately 30 minutes. On the other hand, the quantitative data would be
collected from frontline employees of chosen organizations through close ended questionnaire.
The instrument would be made on the basis of insights collected from literature and thematic
analysis. Responses would be collected on 5-point Likert Scale where 1 would represent the
“strongly disagree”, and 5 would represent the “strongly agree”.

3.4 SAMPLING METHODS

The researcher would choose the random sampling technique while collecting the quantitative and
qualitative insights for various reasons. Firstly, the technique is simple and less expensive.
Secondly, less time is required to draw the sample and collect insights. Moreover, random
sampling technique involves less biasness than other sampling techniques. For qualitative data, a
total of 5 in-depth interviews would be conducted by senior management of various service
organizations. Whereas, quantitative data would be collected from 100 frontline employees of
chosen service organizations.

3.5 DATA ANALYSIS

In order to analyze the qualitative data, the thematic analysis would be conducted. Firstly, the
interviews would be conducted and transcribed. After completing the transcription process,
different categories and sub-categories would be made, and unique codes would be assigned to
each category. Afterwards, categories would be grouped into various themes. A comprehensive
comparison and analysis of these themes would offer useful insights for practical implementation.
In order to analyze the quantitative data, the study would include executive percentage analysis to
extract important demographic insights. Pearson correlation would assess the nature and strength
of the relation between different study variables extracted from literature and thematic analysis.
Multiple linear regression would determine the overall statistical significance of the theoretical
model. Finally, the comparison of qualitative and quantitative insights would offer useful
REVERSE GENDER STEREOTYPE 9

recommendations to policymakers for formulating strategies to combat reverse gender stereotype

behavior at the workplace.

3.6 RIGOR AND RELIABILITY

In order to assess the reliability of the collected insights, the researcher would conduct the
reliability analysis in SPSS. The value of Cronbach alpha would determine the reliability of the
quantitative insights. The pilot study would be run, and data would be collected from 20
respondents. After getting the Cronbach alpha’s value greater or equal to 0.7, data from selected
sample would be collected.

3.7 ETHICAL ISSUES

As the underlying study has chosen a highly sensitive issue, there would be a range of ethical
issues that need to be taken into serious consideration for ensuring reliability and validity of
reported insights. The researcher wouldn’t allow the subjective interpretation and personal opinion
while analyzing the qualitative data. Moreover, the researcher would take the consent from the
respondents before collecting the data. Ethical consent form would be filled by the respondents
and scope, and aim of the research would be explicitly communicated. Lastly, the confidentiality
and privacy would also be ensured, and researcher would not reveal personal information of the
respondents in any part of the research.

3.8 LIMITATIONS
Firstly, the study would only focus on the impact of such behavior at the workplace. However, the
influence is also evident in other spheres of life as well. Secondly, due to time and resource
constraints, the data would be collected from a limited number of respondents and from a specific
region. Results might differ if future research is executed in a different region. Lastly, mixed
method approach wouldn’t allow the researcher to explore in-depth insights. Future researchers
might focus upon a purely qualitative study by conducting in-depth focus groups to reveal hidden
realities.
REVERSE GENDER STEREOTYPE 10

4 REFERENCES
Arai, M., Bursell, M., & Nekby, L. (2015). The reverse gender gap in ethnic discrimination:
employer stereotypes of men and women with Arabic names. International Migration
Review.
Barnett, R. C. (2005). Ageism and sexism in the workplace. Generations, 29(3), 25-30.
Benatar, D. (2012). The second sexism: discrimination against men and boys. John Wiley & Sons.

Cameron, C. (2006). Men in the Nursery Revisited: issues of male workers and
professionalism. Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood, 7(1), 68-79.

Clark, A. W., & Sekher, T. V. (2007). Can Career-Minded Young Women Reverse Gender
Discrimination? A View from Bangalore's High-Tech Sector. Gender, technology and
development, 11(3), 285-319.

Coppock, V., Haydon, D., & Richter, I. (2014). The illusions of post-feminism: New women, old
myths. Routledge.

Digby, T. (1998). Do feminists hate men? Feminism, antifeminism, and gender

oppositionality. Journal of social philosophy, 29(2), 15-31.

Fiebert, M. S., & Meyer, M. W. (1997). Gender stereotypes: A bias against men. The Journal of
psychology, 131(4), 407-410.

Segal, J. (2015). How Gender Bias Hurts Men. [online] SHRM. Available at:
https://www.shrm.org/hr-today/news/hr-magazine/pages/1015-discriminating-against-
men.aspx [Accessed 3 Feb. 2017].
Sterba, J. P. (2008). Does Feminism Discriminate Against Men? A Debate.

Tomaskovic-Devey, D. (2014). The relational generation of workplace inequalities. Social

Currents, 1(1), 51-73.

Williams, J. E., & Best, D. L. (1982). Measuring sex stereotypes: A thirty-nation study. Sage
Publications, Inc.