ABSTRACT
Human capital theory proposes that three differences between men and women explain their differing representation in management, especially in the top ranks: educational attainment, job preferences, and accumulated work experience. This chapter discusses the impact of these individual differences on men's and women's advancement into the upper ranks of management. It argues that cultural schemas, specifically gender roles and gender norms, explain most of these gender differences. Cultural schemas that are especially relevant to the vertical gender gap in management are: (1) men are better than women at math and science, (2) men belong at work and women belong at home, and (3) men are more natural managers and leaders than women. Traditional expectations about gender roles at work versus at home, especially for married women with young children, explains why female managers accumulate less work experience than their male counterparts and so explains the vertical gender gap in management.
