ABSTRACT

Research has long stressed the need for women, ethnic minorities, and other disempowered groups to have role models in organizations as exemplars of achievement. Many have suggested that a lack of women in leadership positions means a paucity of role models for junior women (Ely, 1994; Gilbert, 1985; Kanter, 1977). Starting in the late 1970s researchers began to investigate issues of gender and role modeling in people’s careers. The findings emanating from these early efforts have been largely inconclusive and, more important, have failed to convey what role models mean to male and female observers (Speizer, 1981). Few studies have assessed what the patterns of identification are for men and women, and thus we still know little about how men and women go about identifying role models in organizations. If White women and ethnic minorities lack exemplars of achievement, what are their strategies for identification? Do they identify with male success models or simply go it alone, using trial-and-error learning?