The odd Woman out: An (in)congruity Analysis of Gender Stereotyping in Gender-Dominant Public Sector Professions

Public sector professions are highly gender-dominant (e.g., police officers,teachers) and determined not only by professionals but also by gender roles.According to the role congruity theory, these social roles result in perceived (in)congruities between the jobholders’gender and gender-dominant professions.This research investigates this intersection for several professions. Throughoutthree large-scale surveys (conducted in Austria), we first document the genderdominance of various public sector professions, and further analyze the effectsfrom (in)congruities in gender-dominant professions. The findings are two-fold:First, for police officers, firefighters, politicians, nurses, and teachers, (in)congruitiesof job-holder’s gender with gender dominance of the profession result in positive(negative) ascriptions of job-related traits. However, (in)congruity effects are notconfirmed for other gender-dominant professions outside the public sector. Sec-ond, no (in)congruity effects are found for perceived professionalism. Findings areimportant for policy makers, as well as recruiters and employers who aim toreduce gender-related disadvantages within public sector employment.