2026-09-18T20:12:05Zhttps://dspace.mit.edu/server/oai/requestoai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/1075732022-01-13T07:54:09Zcom_1721.1_7582com_1721.1_7581col_1721.1_131023
Susan S. Silbey.
Shivaram, Ranjitha
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Center for Real Estate. Program in Real Estate Development.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Center for Real Estate. Program in Real Estate Development.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Center for Real Estate
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Urban Studies and Planning
a-ii---
2017-03-20T19:40:42Z
2017-03-20T19:40:42Z
2016
2014
http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/107573
974643056
Thesis: M.C.P., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Urban Studies and Planning, 2016.
Thesis: S.M. in Real Estate Development, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Program in Real Estate Development in conjunction with the Center for Real Estate, 2014.
Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.
Includes bibliographical references (pages 65-71).
Despite the rising representation of women in management, female managers continue to be devalued compared to male managers, presenting a challenge for gender inequality in organizations. This study helps address a significant gap in the literature by investigating if the devaluation of female managers can be explained by their lower effectiveness in motivating worker performance. We investigate this question by using a methodological framework that combines unique personnel records, ethnographic and field-experimental data in the context of a large Indian garment factory where female supervisors are devalued and paid 15% less than their male counterparts to manage a female workforce. First, we demonstrate that the devaluation of female supervisors cannot be explained by their lower managerial effectiveness. By exploiting within-worker changes in supervisor gender in the personnel data, we find that female supervisors elicit 5% higher worker performance than male supervisors. Second, we ethnographically and experimentally show that female supervisors outperform their male counterparts by adopting a "non-authoritative managerial style," and further suggest that this style could lead to devaluation by upper management. Combined, these results rule out managerial substance as an explanation for the devaluation of female managers, pointing instead to managerial style as a prime determinant of gender inequality in the workplace.
by Ranjitha Shivaram.
M.C.P.
S.M. in Real Estate Development
71 pages
eng
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
MIT theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed, downloaded, or printed from this source but further reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission.
http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582
Urban Studies and Planning.
Center for Real Estate. Program in Real Estate Development.
(Managerial) style over substance : determinants of devaluation for female supervisors in an Indian garment factory
Determinants of devaluation for female supervisors in an Indian garment factory
Thesis
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<Abstract>Despite the rising representation of women in management, female managers continue to be devalued compared to male managers, presenting a challenge for gender inequality in organizations. This study helps address a significant gap in the literature by investigating if the devaluation of female managers can be explained by their lower effectiveness in motivating worker performance. We investigate this question by using a methodological framework that combines unique personnel records, ethnographic and field-experimental data in the context of a large Indian garment factory where female supervisors are devalued and paid 15% less than their male counterparts to manage a female workforce. First, we demonstrate that the devaluation of female supervisors cannot be explained by their lower managerial effectiveness. By exploiting within-worker changes in supervisor gender in the personnel data, we find that female supervisors elicit 5% higher worker performance than male supervisors. Second, we ethnographically and experimentally show that female supervisors outperform their male counterparts by adopting a "non-authoritative managerial style," and further suggest that this style could lead to devaluation by upper management. Combined, these results rule out managerial substance as an explanation for the devaluation of female managers, pointing instead to managerial style as a prime determinant of gender inequality in the workplace.</Abstract>
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