Evaluation of male and female supervisors

Carlton E. Munson, DSW, is Assistant Professor, Graduate School of Social Work, University of Houston, Houston, Texas. Issues in social work supervision reacteristics that are considered inap lated to the sex of the workers have propriate for management positions.7 never been studied empirically, and Research that has gone beyond atti there has been little theoretical writing tudes to evaluate actual performance on the subject. This neglect is ironic, has not supported the stereotypes. No since supervision is the arena in which differences have been found in male many of the issues that have been and female leadership styles, partic raised recently regarding sex discrimularly when leaders were evaluated ination are usually encountered and by their subordinates. Most studies handled. For example, granting salhave found no significant difference ary increases, evaluating performance, between workers who had a male or making employment decisions, and female for a superior in job satisfac granting promotions are all compotion, satisfaction with salary, satisfac nents of supervision that have been tion with supervision, or promotional identified as the major sources of disopportunity.8 crimination against women in the pro fession.1 Discrimination in these areas is related to hierarchical organizaLITERATURE ON SUPERVISION tional arrangements in which superHistorically, there has been little ex visors get paid more than caseworkers, ploration of the roles of males and administrators get higher salaries than females in social work supervision. In supervisors, so that ". . . unless women an early text Robinson merely men are free to move up in supervisory tioned that a majority of supervisors and administrative positions, the hidjn social work were women, and in a den inequities become apparent." 2 revised edition of the same book pub Women have fared badly in this hierHshed thirteen years later, this refer archical process, and this has generence was eliminated.9 Reynolds, em ally been attributed to processes of phasizing that a majority of social socialization with respect to sex roles.3 workers were women, identified seven Much speculation exists regarding variations of the supervisory situation how men and women feel about workbased on the sex, age, education, and ing with and for women, but no empiriexperience of the worker. Reynolds cal study has been done to support this places more emphasis on the prob speculation.4 One research study lems associated with supervising males found that men obtain fewer responses than females. She depicts males as in interviewing than women, and femore interested in administration, and male interviewers obtain the highest holds that women excel "in the fine responses from men, except in situapoints of personal relationship" that tions in which the interviewer and characterize casework practice.10 Rey interviewee were both young.5 Another nolds summarizes the problem of study that did not explore sex varithe female supervisor of a male ables directly found that dissimilarity worker as follows: of the parties in an interview led to greater verbal accessibility.6 Since su^ woman supervisor . . . has a special pervision in part involves interviewing hazard to overcome in relation to a strategies, these studies demonstrate man worker whom she supervises. She ° ' mil» tan/1 t/% am/Mf x«/\rtinti/\M nntn the need for research on the impact may tend to enjoy association with . . him more than women workers, and to of sex differences on supervision. -mother" him, with loss of objectivity Social work has lagged behind as t0 b;s educational needs, or to look other disciplines in investigating and up to him, unconsciously, as "the documenting expectations and peryoung prince" who is destined to rule formance that are based on sex-role s°me day—and that very soon as com stereotypes of men and women in orpared to the time it would take a ganizational positions. In business woman to reach a similar position.11 and management, research on percepshe goes on to argue that this situa tions of leadership styles has demontion can be a problem for a man at strated that both men and women tempting to adjust to a profession that stereotype females as possessing charReynolds saw as "unhealthily femin