Graduate Thesis Or Dissertation
 

An Inquiry into Attitudes Toward Professional Women : Rotary and Zonta Club Members

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https://ir.library.oregonstate.edu/concern/graduate_thesis_or_dissertations/b2774071t

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  • Over the past decade, federal as well as state legislation has been passed to eliminate discrimination and create equality in the workplace. However, the attitudes of professionals are not as easily changed. Many barriers still face female executives entering the corporate level. This study examined the attitudes of professionals in the Willamette Valley toward female executives. By using the Managerial Attitudes Toward Executive Females Scale (MATWES), the differences in the managerial attitudes of professionals in the four Oregon cities of Portland, Salem, Con/all is and Eugene were examined. Differences in sex, city, sex-city interaction, age and industry of employment were variables. The sample was composed of professionals were members of a Rotary Club (male) and members of a Zonta Club (female) in each city. Responses from 289 surveys were obtained during meetings and analyzed, 199 from Rotary Clubs and 90 from Zonta Clubs. One and two-way analyses of variance were performed on the categorical data. Findings were: 1. There was a difference (.05 level) in the managerial attitudes of Oregon Rotary and Zonta Club members, i.e. men and women professionals, toward women executives. 2. There was no statistical difference in the total managerial attitudes of professionals toward women executives in the Oregon cities of Salem, Eugene, Corvallis and Portland. However, six MATWES items were rejected. 3. There was not an interaction between sex and city although two items showed an interaction. 4. There was an association between the managerial attitudes toward women executives and the age of professionals in Oregon. However, two items showed a difference. 5. There was an association (.05 level) between the managerial attitudes toward women executives and the industry in which an Oregon professional is employed. On the basis of this study, the writer made the following conclusions: 1. The women were less sexist than the men. 2. Women may expect to be stereotyped and discriminated against for some time to come. 3. In three items women had lower mean scores than the men, all of which reflect a negative self image and an inaccurate perception of their male colleagues. 4. Men remain adamantly sexist on the issue of workplace equality and women share their outlook. 5. Eugene is more receptive to women executives than Portland. 6. Corvallis men expressed a willingness to accept female executives in time. 7. Corvallis men also believed more than any one else that women take credit for work done by men. 8. A change in attitudes is in process. 9. Professionals over the age of 65 believed they have less to fear from women competitors than professionals under the age of 35. 10. The transportation and retail trade industries are less receptive to promoting women than is government and the industries of commmunication and agriculture. The writer made the following recommendations: Women hoping to crack the executive ranks in Oregon businesses must be aware of the attitudes affecting their career. Men must also come to realize that by denying women subordinates access to executive positions, they contribute to the attitude which prevents their own wives, daughters and granddaughters from earning pay and positions equal to that of their male colleagues. Recommendations for further research were also made.
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