Performance Appraisal Essay

Using actual performance appraisal data, Lyness and Heilman (2006), used the lack-of-fit model to assess the rate of promotion among men and women in line jobs, which are considered more prominent are typically the domain of men, or staff jobs, which serve the role of supporting line staff and are female dominated. The researchers reviewed past performance appraisals for men and women who hold line or staff jobs. It was hypothesized that female line managers would receive the poorest performance ratings than all other managers or management positions, but ironically that women who had been promoted would have higher performance appraisals than their male counterparts with promotions being be more strongly tied to performance appraisal outcomes for women than men (Lyness & Heliman, 2006). The results …show more content…
For views of non-leaders, hypothesis 2 was not supported as women and men were equally likely to be short-listed. Hypothesis 3 was supported because male participants were more likely to hire men rather than women, especially when there was no evidence of leadership on the part of the women. This study is interesting because while it confirms that gender bias in the workplace exists among men in hiring decisions, the results indicate that if women are already considered leaders, they may not be discriminated against. The authors concluded that gender bias is a complex process with no single driving factor, but pointed out that women are especially vulnerable. Because most hiring managers are men, unless women come into the situation with management experience, they may not be hired. This presents a major challenge to women and limits upward mobility because they have to be promoted to a leadership position and get experience before taking on a new leadership role in another