Asia Pacific Journal of Human Resources (2019) ,  doi:10.1111/1744-7941.

12224

Effects of supervisor gender on promotability

of female managers
Hyondong Kim Dongguk University-Seoul, Korea
Tong Hyouk Kang University of Memphis, USA

In order to more fully understand the importance of same-gender competition in female supervisor–
subordinate working relationships, this study examined the effects of supervisor gender on promotion
probabilities for Korean female managers with or without managerial qualifications (e.g. mentoring
participation and job ranks). Using a balanced panel sample of 568 Korean female managers in each
of four waves (in total, 2272 female managers over 7 years), we conducted a multinomial logistic
regression analysis to estimate the promotability of female managers. Our findings showed that men-
toring participation negatively affects promotion probability for female managers when they have
female supervisors (vs male supervisors). Competitive interdependence can be exacerbated between
female managers and female supervisors, especially when they are qualified to compete for the same
resources and opportunities, which are limited for female managers and supervisors.
Keywords: competition in same-gender relationships, job ranks, mentoring, multinomial logistic
regression analysis, promotability of Korean female managers, supervisor gender

Key points
1 Mentoring participation reduced promotion probabilities of female managers with
female supervisors compared to male supervisors.
2 Competitive interdependence between female managers and female supervisors is
exacerbated especially when managers are qualified to compete for resources and
opportunities that are limited for the group of females.
3 Organizations should make efforts to create and sustain environments where their
performance evaluations are based on job-related skills and abilities, and objective
achievements, rather than gender-based perceptions.

Career progression opportunities providing females with the ability to access and occupy
powerful positions have steadily increased, as female employees and managers have

Correspondence: Hyondong Kim, Dongguk Business School, L419, Dongguk University-Seoul,

30 Pildong-ro, 1-gil, Jung-gu, Seoul 04620, Korea; e-mail: kim1415@dongguk.edu
Accepted for publication 19 February 2019.
© 2019 Australian HR Institute
Asia Pacific Journal of Human Resources 

accumulated requisite working skills and experience (Abendroth et al. 2017). Females
increasingly take part in supervisory roles with increasingly improved educational attain-
ment and objective achievements. In female managers’ working relationships with super-
visors in particular, females may undertake changes from traditional concepts of the
supervisor–subordinate relationship, as their supervisors over the past decades have
mostly been males. Interpersonal interactions between female supervisors and their female
managers elicit different reactions from those involving male supervisors, because the
category of gender seems to be a salient factor leading to differences in shaping and devel-
oping attributes and behaviors between females and males (Heilman and Parks-Stamm
2007). Gender roles, which are closely associated with how working individuals perceive
themselves and others, may account for the evaluations and responses that supervisors
and managers elicit toward each other (Sheppard and Aquino 2017). For female supervi-
sors and managers, the shared gender identification between them defines characteristics
of independent working relationships, which appear to be distinguishable from male
colleagues: demographic similarity can lead to social comparison between each other or
motivate them to foster gender identification (Heilman and Parks-Stamm 2007; Hoobler,
Wayne and Lemmon 2009). Two contradictory perspectives – competition vs
co-operation – can explain same-gender working interdependence in female supervisor–
manager relations. (As this paper focuses on the supervision of female managers, the term
‘supervisor’ refers to higher level managers.)
The view that women are depicted as jealous and unsupportive of the career progress
of other females has been widely disseminated in mainstream media (Sheppard and
Aquino 2017). The competitive natures of women’s work relationships shape and inten-
sify the intentions of female supervisors to thwart the careers of female managers (Lee,
Kesebir and Pillutla 2016). Many studies have found evidence of the ‘queen bee syn-
drome’, which refers to senior female leaders ignoring and even obstructing the career
advancement of female managers (Lee, Kesebir and Pillutla 2016). Female supervisors also
must confront invisible barriers – generally termed the ‘glass ceiling’ – to career advance-
ment. Female supervisors are likely to disentangle themselves from gender identification
in order to circumvent the career penalties incurred by gender membership. Moreover,
the presence of hidden quotas for C-suite females forces female supervisors and female
managers to engage in competitive interdependent relationships (Dezso, Ross and Uribe
2016). Because female supervisors may read signals of competence from female sub-
ordinates as threatening, they may react negatively to strongly competent female managers
(Inesi and Cable 2015).
By contrast, gender similarity fosters in-group identification, which defines and shapes
the relationship characteristics between female managers and their female supervisors.
Female supervisors are willing to support the career advancement of female managers that
they perceive as belonging to the same gender category. Lee, Kesebir and Pillutla (2016)
reported that female workers strongly reject competitive relationships with same-gender
co-workers, because relational norms for female workers involve collaborative inter-
dependence. In a similar vein, Vial, Brescoll and Napier (2018) found evidence of
2 © 2019 Australian HR Institute
 Hyondong Kim and Tong Hyouk Kang

in-group favoritism between female supervisors and female managers indicating that
female supervisors are more likely to make favorable assessments of female managers than
their male counterparts.
Existing studies have produced mixed findings regarding whether workplace relation-
ships between female supervisors and female managers produce negative consequences or
facilitate career success (Lee, Kesebir and Pillutla 2016). Testing female managers’ man-
agerial qualifications makes the contribution of filling gaps in the relationships between
supervisor gender and their promotability.
First, female managers’ qualifications are hypothesized to impact their career out-
comes, as they can either be seen as competitive threats or positive signals about gender
identity (Inesi and Cable 2015). We defined female managers with qualifications as those
receiving mentorship and those positioned in higher ranking jobs. Mentoring provides
guidance regarding the behaviors that are appropriate for female managers in organiza-
tional contexts. Since females have limited opportunities for promotion to higher man-
agerial levels, females in the higher ranks are seen as having the abilities and skills
necessary to reach the upper echelons (Leslie, Manchester and Dahm 2017). Female man-
agers who possess and demonstrate managerial qualifications are more likely to achieve
highly and positively contribute to organizational outcomes. These female managers may
believe that they deserve positive evaluations from female supervisors. However, in con-
trast to these beliefs, research has validated the counterintuitive prediction that female
supervisors tend to penalize female managers with managerial qualifications, by triggering
the comparison process between in-group and out-group members (Sheppard and
Aquino 2017). Testing mentoring participation and job rank as proxies for managerial
qualifications is a means of delineating the mechanisms through which female supervisors
come to block or facilitate the career advancement of female managers.
Second, this study used a sample of Korean female managers in order to determine the
importance of supervisor gender in determining the promotability of female managers
with competences and qualifications. The proportion of female workers in managerial
and professional occupations has increased rapidly in Korea (Kim et al. 2010). However,
the Global Leadership and Organizational Behavior Effectiveness project reported that
Korea has the lowest scores for gender egalitarianism (House et al. 2004). Female man-
agers in Korea encounter conflicts stemming from traditional notions of gender roles that
diminish their opportunities for upward mobility in the workplace (Kim et al. 2010). As
Asian females have steadily advanced into management positions, normative gender
expectations in Asian societies have increasingly led to questions about whether women
can effectively perform managerial roles (Kim et al. 2010, 2013). This study suggests that
Asian companies should consider how supervisor gender relates to managerial qualifica-
tions in thwarting or facilitating the career prospects of female managers. We tested our
hypotheses using a 2008–2014 dataset from the Korean Women Manager Panel (KWMP)
collected by the Korea Women Development Institute (KWDI), a governmental research
institution focused on enacting and institutionalizing governmental policies and legisla-
tion to endorse gender equality in workplaces. KWMP allows us to conduct longitudinal
© 2019 Australian HR Institute 3
Asia Pacific Journal of Human Resources 

analysis that contains changes in job ranks of female managers over 7 years in four waves
from 2008 to 2014, biannually. Using the KWMP dataset, this study can analyze how the
interactions of supervisor gender with job ranks and mentoring participations determine
the career tracks of female employers over years.
Using the KWMP dataset, the current study can dig more deeply into the concept of
competitive vs co-operative interdependence so as to provide further scholarly insight into
how supervisors evaluate the promotability of female managers – particularly those with
managerial qualifications – positively or negatively. We expect that the results of the cur-
rent study present empirical evidence on the paradoxical role of female supervisors in the
career prospects of female managers (Inesi and Cable 2015).

Competition vs co-operation in relationships for female supervisors and

managers
The awareness of gender begins in childhood, and our understanding of gender constructs
extends throughout our lives (Wood and Eagly 2015). People generally place themselves
in one of two gender categories, male or female. The respective psychological traits
ascribed to men and women cause and extend stereotypical beliefs about each gender’s
respective characteristics and abilities (Wood and Eagly 2015). Many assume that manage-
rial roles require masculine traits, and those who make such assumptions may view stereo-
typically female psychological traits (e.g. communal, nurturing, friendly, and concerned
about others) as incongruent with such requirements and obstacles to their success in
managerial positions (Heilman and Parks-Stamm 2007; Hoobler, Wayne and Lemmon
2009). Because gender is a salient social category on the individual level, demographic
similarity between female supervisors and female managers causes them to perceive them-
selves as in-group members; however, the stereotyped beliefs that characterize females as
unfit for managerial tasks and activities accompany this identification (Chattopadhyay,
George and Lawrence 2004).
The stereotypes associated with their gender lead female supervisors to distance them-
selves from their gender group in order to avoid the negative effects of gender stereotyping
(Sheppard and Aquino 2017). Moreover, placing women in upper level positions enables
organizations to fulfill diversity requirements, comply with laws, and support the values
of diversity (Leslie, Manchester and Dahm 2017). Requirements to recruit and select
females for upper echelon positions reveal the gender-matching processes used to produce
and promote gender diversity in the workplace (Dezso, Ross and Uribe 2016). The likeli-
hood of replacing female supervisors increases when female subordinates with sufficient
managerial skills and abilities aspire to attain higher positions. Female supervisors feel
threatened by successful female subordinates, as their successes may negatively impact the
supervisors’ efforts to advance their own careers (Derks et al. 2011). Shared gender iden-
tity can trigger social comparison processes between female supervisors and female subor-
dinates (Sheppard and Aquino 2017). When same gender comparisons exacerbate
negative self-evaluations, female supervisors tend to penalize female subordinates so as to

4 © 2019 Australian HR Institute

 Hyondong Kim and Tong Hyouk Kang

invalidate threatening comparisons (Sheppard and Aquino 2017). Consequently, female

supervisors choose to reject in-group gender identification, as opposed to showing gender
favoritism (Hoobler, Wayne and Lemmon 2009; Wood and Eagly 2015). Demographic
similarity with female supervisors fosters gender identification, which is expected to miti-
gate the effects of gender stereotyping on the career progress of female managers.
However, by contrast, as gender is a salient social category to individuals, demographic
similarity between supervisors and managers can lead them to perceive themselves as
in-group members (Chattopadhyay, George and Lawrence 2004). Women supervisors
tend to make a positive valuation of female managers in order to enhance self-esteem as
well as reduce uncertainty in their personal identity (Chattopadhyay, George and
Lawrence 2004). Female supervisors are more likely to make commitments to female
managers’ career development in order to enhance their own self-concepts (Wood and
Eagly 2015).
In this study, we regarded mentoring participation and high job rank as evidence of
female managers’ competence and accomplishment on the job (Inesi and Cable 2015).
Through mentoring relationships, female managers access resources that are critical to
their career progress (Ramaswami et al. 2010). Females positioned in high management
positions have demonstrated managerial capabilities across career paths. Female managers
who have received mentoring or hold high-ranking jobs are regarded as preferred candi-
dates for promotion to upper echelon positions. We expected that adopting the concept
of competitive vs interdependence would enable us to identify conditions – mentoring
participation and job rank – in which female supervisors can either become ‘queen bees’
or serve in committed coaching roles, particularly in relation to female subordinates with
managerial qualifications.

Hypotheses development
Supervisor gender and mentoring program
Female managers’ lack of access to senior leadership positions can be partially attributed
to not receiving sufficient opportunities to support their career advancement (Abendroth
et al. 2017). Female managers are thought to lack the experience and competence to main-
tain and develop motivations to achieve career success (Hoobler, Wayne and Lemmon
2009). Through participation in mentoring programs, female managers can access devel-
opmental opportunities to acquire requisite career-related skills and abilities, which can
ameliorate gender stereotyping effects (Hoobler, Wayne and Lemmon 2009; McDonald
and Westphal 2013).
Demographic similarity with supervisors is expected to help female managers cope
with the tendency to devalue their management skills and abilities. As female supervisors
attach meanings or self-conceptions to gender, they are more likely than male supervisors
to perceive that mentoring participation equips female managers with career-related skills
and leadership competencies; this results in positive career consequences for female
managers.

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Asia Pacific Journal of Human Resources 

However, contrary to original expectations, female supervisors’ judgments of female

managers are less favorable and more gender-biased, because they perceive themselves as
competing for status and thus view their subordinates as threats (Lee, Kesebir and Pillutla
2016). The gender stereotypes embedded in male-dominated work contexts are explicitly
and implicitly reflected in corporate decisions to appoint females to upper echelon posi-
tions. Corporations must comply with laws that aim to develop and sustain gender diver-
sity in management positions; the persistence of gender-based beliefs leads corporations
to maintain quotas for females in top management positions: the employees replacing
departing senior female leaders are more likely to be of the same gender (Dezso, Ross and
Uribe 2016; Tinsley et al. 2017).
Through mentoring participation, female managers acquire sponsorship and coaching
for career development, and enhance their senses of interpersonal relationship and emo-
tional bonds. As female managers exposed to gender discrimination have feelings of anx-
iety and disturbing feelings, mentoring participation helps them cope with the negative
effects of gender discriminating experiences (Ragins et al. 2017). Mentoring programs
inspire female managers to articulate their sense of purpose and achievements in pursuing
and advancing career paths. They also provide coaching in leadership competencies and
instill confidence, thereby inspiring female subordinates to target senior leadership posi-
tions that they previously had deemed out of reach (Ramaswami et al. 2010).
Gender is a salient cue that can be an important criterion during the selection and pro-
motion decision process (Tinsley et al. 2017). As stereotypical beliefs prescribe female
gender-type jobs that fit with feminine characteristics, selection and promotion decisions
that favor female candidates are tilted toward functional positions in which female man-
agers have previously achieved success (Lee, Kesebir and Pillutla 2016). Mentoring partici-
pation helps female managers quickly and accurately learn about proper behavioral norms
in the context where most corporate elite members are male managers (McDonald and
Westphal 2013). Female managers who receive mentoring are particularly likely to be
included in candidate pools for powerful and influential positions (Tinsley et al. 2017).
Female supervisors regard female managers who participate in mentoring programs as
potential threats to their careers, and their relationships with same-gender managers are
therefore marked by competition (Lee, Kesebir and Pillutla 2016). Since female managers
with mentoring experience represent potential competition for female supervisors, female
supervisors are more likely to be critical of their performance outcomes in seeking to
define themselves as masculine and distance themselves from femininity (Hekman et al.
2017; Lee, Kesebir and Pillutla 2016). In order to neutralize threats to their own career
aspirations, female supervisors penalize female managers who undergo mentoring experi-
ences, thereby preserving their status against competitive feelings from female colleagues.
Hypothesis 1: Mentoring participation negatively moderates the relationship between
supervisor gender and the promotability of female subordinates. Female supervisors reduce
the promotability of female subordinates who participate in mentoring programs over those
who do not.

6 © 2019 Australian HR Institute

 Hyondong Kim and Tong Hyouk Kang

Supervisor gender and job ranks

The job ranks of female managers can be interpreted as evidence of competence, as access
to powerful and influential positions have remained limited for female employees and
managers. Gender stereotyping accounts for considerable differences in how management
performance is evaluated as well as how rewards are allocated (Hekman et al. 2017). As
compared with male counterparts with equivalent skills and talents, female managers are
stereotyped as having fewer and lower level managerial capabilities, which reduces their
likelihood of selection for promotion (Hoobler, Wayne and Lemmon 2009; Lyness and
Judiesch 2014). Thereby, females in higher positions must have demonstrated significant
capabilities and accumulated experiences throughout their careers, as they are prone to
gender-biased perceptions about managerial qualifications. As female managers’ perform-
ance and qualifications can be observed and evaluated by organizations, job ranks can
reveal female managers’ potentials. Females who hold higher ranking positions can be
viewed as possessing the capability to ascend into senior leadership positions.
In recent years, the increasing attention to gender diversity has boosted and sustained
demand for female managers with management potential. Legal provisions impose senior
female manager quotas so as to address the scarcity of females in upper level positions and
achieve diversity goals (Tinsley et al. 2017; Zhang and Qu 2016). Corporations must iden-
tify and promote female managers who possess and develop the potential to ascend into
upper level positions. However, relative to their male counterparts, female supervisors
have limited opportunities to become part of the corporate elite. Gender-matching pro-
cesses may play a significant role in ensuring gender parity in upper level positions; female
candidates replace departing female top managers (Tinsley et al. 2017).
People tend to think of themselves as belonging to either one of the two gender cate-
gories of men or women, as gender identity is salient and visible (Wood and Eagly 2015).
Ascribing gender in-group attributes to themselves reinforces their belonging to the gen-
der in-group and confers positive gender in-group identification (Wood and Eagly 2015).
Female supervisors expect fierce competition with same-gender working colleagues for
top level promotions, as gender discrimination against females in senior leadership posi-
tions is still prevalent (Abendroth et al. 2017; Tinsley et al. 2017). Female supervisors tend
to view female managers in high-ranking positions as strong competitors for powerful
positions, making intense competition between female managers with management
potential and female supervisors likely. Female supervisors take advantage of their super-
visorial positions to criticize the competence of female managers in high-ranking posi-
tions. Thus, we predicted that female supervisors would be negatively disposed toward the
promotability of female managers with high job ranks, because the existence of gender-
based quota can explicitly or implicitly constrain career development opportunities for
female groups (Dezso, Ross and Uribe 2016).
Hypothesis 2: Job rank negatively moderates the relationship between supervisor gender and
the promotability of female managers. Female supervisors are more negatively disposed toward
the promotability of female managers when those managers hold high-ranking positions.

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Asia Pacific Journal of Human Resources 

Methods
Participants and procedure
Female managers are underrepresented in Korean companies. More research is
needed to promote career development for female managers. Since 2007, the KWDI
has conducted the KWMP in order to gather comprehensive data about work- and
family-related factors. The KWDI formed the KWMP research team, which included
KWDI researchers, professors, and consultants, to confirm the reliability and validity
of the KWMP questionnaire items. The KWMP provided their data to researchers
so as to help identify and develop ways to advance the careers of female managers
(Kim et al. 2010, 2013). The KWMP used a targeted-sampling strategy to identify
female-manager samples. It also developed female-manager samples based on indus-
tries (manufacturing, retailing, finance, and service) and company sizes (100–299,
300–999, 1000–1999, and more than 2000 workers) (Kim et al. 2013) prior to con-
ducting the survey in 2007. Those conducting the survey selected a sample of 2000
female managers from 300 companies. Between 2008 and 2014, the panel conducted
a large-scale survey biannually in four waves. Of the 2000 female managers selected
in total, 1806 responded to KWMP at wave 1 (2008). Of these 1806 female man-
agers, as more than 1000 female managers changed occupations or quit to be
housewives, temporary workers, or self-employed workers, only 824 female managers
remained in KWMP by 2014 (Appendix 1). Of these 824 female managers, 348
took maternal leave and 862 changed their jobs: 256 female managers experienced
career interruptions because they took maternal leave (89 females), changed their
jobs (179 females), did both (61 females), or temporarily failed to make contact
(49 females). The total number of female managers in the balanced panel KWMP
is 2272 female managers (568 9 4 = 2272) over 7 years (2008, 2010, 2012, and
2014) at four waves – 568 of whom participated in each wave. With the balanced
panel data of 2272 female managers over 7 years, we can analyze how interrelated
relations among supervisor gender, mentoring participations, and job ranks affect
the job-rank changes of those female managers.

Measures
Supervisor gender
Supervisor gender served as a dummy variable. We coded gender as 1 for female supervi-
sors and 0 for male supervisors.

Mentoring participation
We asked female managers whether they participated in mentoring programs and
coded mentoring program participation as 1 for participation and 0 for no
participation.

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 Hyondong Kim and Tong Hyouk Kang

Job rank
We measured job rank by asking female managers to select their current job rank from five
possible categories: 1) junior manager; 2) manager; 3) junior director; 4) director; and 5)
executive.

Promotion/no change/demotion
The KWMP included job-rank data in a 5-scaled single item (1 = junior manager; 2 =
manager; 3 = junior director; 4 = director; 5 = executive). This study used job-rank data to
gather information about promotion/no change/demotion for 2 years. We calculated job-
rank changes by subtracting current job-rank data (2008, 2010, and 2012) from future
job-rank data (2010, 2012, and 2014) as follows: promotion (current – past > 0), no
change (current – past = 0), and demotion (current – past < 0). For example, one female
manager was junior director in 2010 and had been promoted to director by 2012. As
junior director was recorded as ‘3’ and director was recorded as ‘4’, subtracting junior
director in 2010 from director in 2012 equaled ‘1’, which indicates a ‘promotion’. Another
female manager was manager in 2012 and still remained manager in 2014. As manager
was recorded ‘2’, subtracting position 2012 from 2014 equaled ‘0’, which refers to ‘no
change’. Subtracting current job ranks from next-wave job ranks generated values ranging
from 2 to +2. Negative values of job-rank changes, such as ‘ 2’ or ‘ 1’, are regarded as
a demotion; a zero value of job-rank change refers to no change; and a positive value of
job-rank changes, such as ‘2’ or ‘1’, is regarded as a promotion. The three dummy-coded
variables – promotion/no change/demotion – represent job-rank changes, which are
multinomial variables.

Control variables
The control variables included age, education, job functions, industry memberships,
workplace discrimination, supervisor changes, ratios of female employees in workplace,
CEO gender, and family unsupportive work environment. We measured education as a
continuous variable: 1) high school graduate; 2) 2-year college graduate; 3) 4-year univer-
sity graduate; 4) master’s degree; and 5) PhD. Female managers tend to tilt toward jobs or
industries that are regarded as being a good fit for feminine characteristics. The KWMP
had 18 job functions: 1) R&D; 2) management planning; 3) management information sys-
tem; 4) supply chain management; 5) asset management; 6) law; 7) human resource man-
agement; 8) accounting/finance; 9) marketing; 10) domestic sales; 11) overseas sales; 12)
advertising; 13) customer service; 14) operation management; 15) industrial technology;
16) manufacturing & engineering; 17) environmental management; and 18) quality man-
agement. We categorized job functions into four dummy-coded variables: R&D, manage-
ment, marketing, and other functions. The management function included management
planning, management information system, supply chain management, law, human
resource management, and accounting/finance. The marketing function included domes-
tic sales, overseas sales, marketing, customer service, and advertising. We categorized
industry memberships into manufacturing, finance, retailing, and other industries. The
© 2019 Australian HR Institute 9
Asia Pacific Journal of Human Resources 

career prospects of female managers were vulnerable to the extent to which HR decisions
regarding the female managers were made fairly and without gender bias. The KWMP
asked female managers whether they had experienced discrimination in five areas: hiring,
job assignment, compensation, training/education, and promotion decisions. We meas-
ured each organization’s female employee ratios by dividing the total number of female
employees and managers by the total number of employees and managers in the organiza-
tion. We dummy coded the five workplace discrimination questions. The KWMP asked
female subordinates’ whether their supervisors had changed. With this item, we measured
whether supervisors had changed in the preceding 2 years. The ownership and traditional-
ity values were closely associated with the assumptions about the traditional model – that
work and family domains are incompatible for female employees and managers. As the
KWMP dataset did not assess the ownership of the company and traditionality value,
CEO gender and family unsupportive working environment from the KWMP dataset were
used to represent company ownership and traditionality value. CEO ownership was
dummy-coded as ‘1’ for a female CEO and ‘0’ for a male CEO. Items assessing family
unsupportive work environment were adopted from Allen (2001): 1) long hours inside
the office are the way to achieve advancement; 2) the way to advance in this company is to
keep non-work matters out of the workplace; 3) attending to personal needs, such as tak-
ing time off for sick children, is frowned upon; and 4) work should be the primary priority
in a person’s life.

Results
Descriptive statistics and correlation
Table 1 presents the descriptive statistics and correlations for the study variables. Participant
ages ranged from 23 to 60; individuals in their 30s and 40s accounted for 62% and 33% of
the sample, respectively. One thousand two hundred twenty-seven female managers were
university graduates (54.01%); 375 were college graduates (16.5%); and 334 had master’s
degrees (14.70%). Those who held R&D positions accounted for 14.17% (322 managers) of
the sample; 43.62% (991 managers) held management positions; and 28.65% (651
managers) held marketing positions. Work discrimination averaged 0.78: 25.5% of female
managers had experienced discrimination in promotion decisions; 14.8%, 15.8%, and
15.9% of female managers had experienced discrimination in job assignments, compensa-
tion, and workplace training decisions, respectively. Twenty-five percent of female managers
worked in manufacturing, 39% worked in finance, and only 6% worked in retailing. Female
employees and managers accounted for 32% of all employees. Twenty-eight percent of
female subordinates experienced supervisor changes over the 6-year and four-wave duration
of the study. Only six percent of all CEOs were females.
Three hundred thirty-four female managers had female supervisors (14.7%), and
another 1938 female managers had men as supervisors (85.3%). One thousand one hun-
dred eighty-nine female managers participated in mentoring programs (52.3%), while

10 © 2019 Australian HR Institute

 Table 1 Descriptive statistics and correlation table
Variables Mean SD 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22

1 2008 .25 .43

2 2010 .25 .43 .33
3 2012 .25 .43 .33 .33
4 2014 .25 .43 .33 .33 .33
5 Age 37.88 4.93 .35 .11 .12 .35

© 2019 Australian HR Institute

6 Education 2.70 .90 .01 .04 .01 .06 .04
7 R&D .14 .35 .02 .00 .00 .01 .01 .18
8 Management .28 .45 .05 .01 .01 .02 .07 .01 .25
9 Marketing .28 .45 .06 .00 .03 .03 .08 .04 .26 .39
10 Others .13 .34 .01 .00 .00 .01 .07 .08 .16 .24 .25
11 Supervisor changed .28 .44 .30 .10 .34 .06 .11 .04 .07 .01 .11 .03
12 Work discrimination .78 1.20 .03 .00 .00 .03 .07 .10 .06 .01 .03 .03 .00
13 Female ratios .32 .17 .03 .02 .01 .03 .08 .03 .07 .01 .02 .08 .03 .08
14 Manufacturing .25 .43 .00 .00 .00 .00 .08 .05 .02 .01 .01 .01 .04 .00 .16
15 Finance .38 .48 .00 .00 .00 .00 .13 .01 .11 .05 .19 .01 .05 .00 .26 .45
16 Retailing .06 .23 .00 .00 .00 .00 .03 .07 .06 .06 .01 .01 .06 .01 .00 .14 .19
17 Other industries .31 .46 .00 .00 .00 .00 .04 .09 .17 .01 .20 .00 .05 .01 .08 .39 .52 .17
18 CEO gender .06 .24 .01 .03 .02 .01 .02 .00 .01 .03 .05 .01 .00 .00 .14 .13 .03 .05 .01
19 Family unsupportive 2.98 .74 .02 .02 .09 .04 .04 .03 .01 .03 .01 .05 .04 .08 .07 .03 .14 .03 .05 .01
work environment
20 Supervisor gender .14 .35 .02 .00 .01 .02 .07 .00 .00 .06 .03 .03 .00 .08 .17 .06 .01 .07 .03 .03 .08
21 Mentoring .52 .50 .07 .03 .05 .04 .09 .01 .03 .01 .06 .00 .05 .02 .07 .12 .12 .03 .03 .07 .02 .00
22 Job ranks 3.17 1.00 .24 .09 .12 .21 .60 .23 .02 .04 .06 .00 .17 .05 .09 .11 .02 .04 .09 .01 .04 .00 .11
23 Promotion/No change/ .22 .52 .05 .02 .14 .07 .01 .08 .01 .00 .00 .01 .34 .08 .03 .00 .02 .02 .01 .02 .00 .03 .03 .35
Demotiona
a
Promotion/No change/Demotion is multinomial variable: Promotion = 1; No change = 0; Demotion = 1.
n = 2272. All correlations above 0.04 are significant at p < 0.05; all correlations above 0.06 are significant at p < 0.01. Supervisor gender (1 = female, 0 = male), mentoring (1 = yes, 0 = no),
job functions, industry memberships, supervisor changed (1 = change, 0 = no change) and CEO gender (1 = female, 0 = male) were dummy-coded (1 = yes, 0 = no).
Hyondong Kim and Tong Hyouk Kang

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Asia Pacific Journal of Human Resources 

1083 had no opportunity to take part in mentoring programs (47.7%). One hundred and
seventy-five female managers had female supervisors and participated in mentoring pro-
grams (7.88%). The sample included 654 junior managers (28.79%), 847 managers
(37.28%), 524 junior directors (23.06%), and 212 directors (9.33%); only 35 female
managers held executive positions (1.54%). Job-change records ranged from +2 to 2,
and 1550 managers experienced no change in status (68.22%). One hundred nine female
managers had received demotions (5.9%) and 613 received promotions (27%).

Multinomial logistic regression analysis

Multinomial logistic regression analyses analyze nominal dependent variables. Nominal
variables represent discrete sets of alternative choices without unique ordering (Rabe-
Hesketh and Skrondal 2012). We used a multinomial distribution to model probabilities
that fell into multiple nominal variable categories. Given S = 3 categories, two intercepts
and two coefficients are required to specify the probabilities of taking three-category val-
ues (Rabe-Hesketh and Skrondal 2012). We designated ‘No change’ as the base outcome
for ‘Promotion’ and ‘Demotion’ by setting both the intercept and coefficient for those
categories to zero. The parameters for No change can be used to compare between the
alternatives of Promotion and Demotion, as they reveal the influence of supervisor gender
and mentoring participation on promotions/demotions.

Test of hypotheses
Table 2 summarizes the multinomial logistic regression results. Model 1 analyzed the con-
trol variables and model 2 tested the main effects of independent variables, including
supervisor gender, mentoring participation, and job rank. Model 3 examined the two-way
interaction effects between supervisor gender, and mentoring participation as well as job
rank on the promotability of female managers.
We conducted a Hausman test to check the assumption of the independence of irrele-
vant alternatives (IIA). The Chi-square values for the three groups – Demotion
(v2 = 5.422, p > 0.10), No change (v2 = 16.22, p > 0.10), and Promotion (v2 = 15.22,
p > 0.10) – were not significant, which suggested no violations of IIA assumptions. Wald
tests for combining alternatives produced statistically significant outcomes given a pair of
alternatives (Demotion and No change: v2 = 68.06, p < 0.05; Demotion and Promotion:
v2 = 48.90, p < 0.05; No change and Promotion: v2 = 42.44, p < 0.05). Analyzing the
three categories of multinomial variables separately proved more valid than combining
the categories.
Of the control variables, work discrimination experience (promotion: B = 0.15,
p < 0.001), education (Promotion: B = 0.22, p < 0.01), and supervisor changes (Promo-
tion: B = 2.58, p < 0.001) were significantly related to promotion and demotion proba-
bilities. Meanwhile, among the independent variables, neither supervisor gender
(Promotion: B = 0.17, p > 0.10) nor mentoring participation (Promotion: B = 0.03,
p > 0.10) was significantly related to promotion and demotion probabilities. Tests of the
two-way interactions between supervisor gender and mentoring program participation
12 © 2019 Australian HR Institute
 Hyondong Kim and Tong Hyouk Kang

showed negative values in predicting promotion probabilities (B = 0.77, p < 0.05). The
fact that female managers participating in mentoring programs under female supervision
had lower promotion probabilities partially supported hypothesis 1. However, supervisor
gender and job rank had no significant interactions (B = 0.72, p > 0.05), failing to sup-
port hypothesis 2.
An odds ratio is the ratio of the probability of a particular event divided by the base-
line probability (Rabe-Hesketh and Skrondal 2012). Coefficients represent log odds-
ratios for the odds of each category vs the baseline category (Rabe-Hesketh and Skron-
dal 2012). A one-unit increase in independent variable x corresponds to the odds ratio
for a particular category vs the base category. The graph in Figure 1 predicted probabili-
ties for promotion when female managers had female supervisors and participated in
mentoring programs. They plot the interactive effects between supervisor gender and
mentoring participation on demotion, no change, and promotion probabilities,
respectively.
As shown in Figure 1, promotion probabilities remained flat, ranging from 26% to
28% when female subordinates did not have a chance to participate in mentoring pro-
grams. However, the interaction between mentoring participation and female supervisors
reduced promotion probabilities from 28% to 9%, augmenting the negative effects on the
promotability of female subordinates (Figure 1) and supporting hypothesis 1.

Analyzing male managers

Korean Women Manager Panel asked female participants to extend invitations to male
counterparts who had equivalent skills and positions with them. Eight hundred male
managers participated in KWMP in two waves, 2008 and 2010. After excluding missing
variables, we had 621 male manager samples. According to the descriptive statistics analy-
ses, the promotion rates of male managers were 25.81%, which did not significantly differ
from the promotion rates of female managers, 26.61%. As the KWMP female samples
were responsible for managerial and professional occupations, the promotion rates of
males and females were similar. As the value of this study lies in the availability of compar-
ison between female and male managers, similar promotion rates between female and
male managers can serve as support for the study’s objective of examining the deter-
minants of female manager promotability, not temporary workers or non-managerial
employees. As compared with female managers, the analysis of male manager samples
failed to show significant interaction effects of supervisor gender and job ranks as well as
mentoring participations. Thus, the findings (see Appendix 2) of the current study indi-
cate that supervisor gender and mentoring participation play crucial roles in the career
development of female managers as compared with that of male managers.

Discussion
The results of the current study show that female supervisors reduced the promotion
probability for female managers who were mentored; they also increased the chances for

© 2019 Australian HR Institute 13

Asia Pacific Journal of Human Resources 

Table 2 Supervisor gender, and mentoring and job rank

Variables Model 1 Model 2 Model 3

Promotion Constant 6.23 (1.75)*** 16.29 (2.37)*** 16.49 (2.36)*

2010 .05 (.15) .05 (.17) .05 (.17)
2012 1.22 (.19)*** 1.48 (.21)*** 1.46 (.21)**
2014 1.98 (.21)*** 2.42 (.24)*** 2.41 (.24)***
Age 1.31 (.49)*** 6.04 (.70)*** 6.09 (.71)***
Education .22 (.06)** .07 (.07) .08 (.07)
R&D .02 (.18) .08 (.20) .06 (.20)
Management .02 (.14) .02 (16) .04 (.16)
Marketing .21 (.14) .37 (.16)* .39 (.16)*
Supervisor 2.58 (.15)*** 2.92 (.17)*** 2.91 (.17)***
changed
Work .15 (.05)** .12 (.05)* .12 (.05)*
discrimination
Female ratios .29 (.31) .10 (.36) .09 (.36)
Manufacturing .16 (.14) .58 (.16)*** .56 (.17)***
Finance .19 (.14) .24 (.16) .24 (.16)
Retailing .44 (.23) .88 (.27)*** .85 (.27)**
CEO gender .19 (.22) .26 (.24) .25 (.25)
Family .02 (.07) .02 (.27) .02 (.08)
unsupportive
work
environment
Supervisor .17 (.17) .06 (.63)
gender
Mentoring .03 (.12) .14 (.13)
Job ranks 1.62 (.10)*** 1.60 (.10)***
Supervisor .77 (.34)*
gender 9
Mentoring
Supervisor .19 (.18)
gender 9
Job ranks
Demotion Constant 7.88 (3.29)* 18.20 (3.93)*** 17.86 (3.95)**
2010 .37 (.23) .40 (.23) .39 (.23)
2012 4.09 (.76)*** 3.80 (.77)*** 3.83 (.77)***
2014 3.73 (.64)*** 3.39 (.65)*** 3.43 (.65)***
Age 1.45 (.91) 4.83 (1.13)*** 4.80 (1.13)***
Education .07 (.11) .07 (.12) .07 (.12)
R&D .45 (.34) .48 (.36) .56 (.36)
Management .21 (.28) .22 (.30) .25 (.30)
Marketing .20 (.29) .26 (.30) .31 (.30)
1.78 (.30)*** 1.52 (.32)*** 1.52 (.32)***

14 © 2019 Australian HR Institute

 Hyondong Kim and Tong Hyouk Kang

Table 2 (continued)
Variables Model 1 Model 2 Model 3

Supervisor
changed
Work .08 (.08) .07 (.09) .08 (.08)
discrimination
Female ratio .84 (.66) .88 (.71) .86 (.71)
Manufacturing .26 (.29) .14 (.30) .12 (.30)
Finance .17 (.29) .08 (.30) .08 (.30)
Retailing 1.05 (.40)*** .67 (.43) .63 (.43)
CEO gender .07 (.49) .04 (.50) .01 (.50)
Family 1.05 (.40)* .02 (.15) .02 (.15)
unsupportive
work
environment
Supervisor .63 (.29)*** 1.22 (1.03)
gender
Mentoring .01 (.22) .02 (.24)
Job ranks 1.01 (.19)*** 1.16 (.22)***
Supervisor gender 9 .04 (.56)
Mentoring
Supervisor gender 9 .72 (.37)
Job ranks

LR Chi2(df) 639.39 (34) 1090.97 (40) 1099.80 (44)

Log likelihood 1407.134 1181.343 1176.930
N = 2272. +p < 0.10, *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001. Supervisor and CEO gender (1: female
and 0: male), mentoring, job functions and industry memberships were dummy-coded (1: yes; 0:
no). No change (0) is base outcome for Demotion ( 1) and Promotion (1).

demotion when female managers occupied upper- and middle-management positions.

Female supervisors appear to embrace competitive attitudes toward female candidates for
promotion, as the social comparison process is activated for same-gendered female work-
ing relations. Female supervisors are less likely to be supportive of the career prospects of
women managers, since female managers who participate in mentoring are more qualified
to replace supervisors of the same gender (Derks et al. 2011). For female supervisors,
female managers who demonstrate managerial qualifications appear to be seen as compet-
ing for smaller chances of career success. The penalties that female managers confront in
the labor market take into account the significance of the social comparison process with
female supervisors.

© 2019 Australian HR Institute 15

Asia Pacific Journal of Human Resources 

Research implications
It is counterintuitive that female managers who demonstrate managerial qualifications are
penalized more than less competent females (Inesi and Cable 2015). The results of the cur-
rent study can be inferred from the competitive interdependency model that accounts for
mixed implications about working relationships between female supervisors and female
managers: female supervisors may view competent female managers as a target of social
comparison, so those female managers may in turn be threatening to the female supervi-
sors’ career prospects. Female managers who show strong credentials and qualifications
appear to be salient and may be victims of penalization from female supervisors.
In this study, competitive interdependence theory may predict that the promotability
of female managers is contingent upon the supervisor gender and manager qualifications.
Our research has compared the career consequences of female managers’ working rela-
tions with same- and different-gender supervisors. Female employees and managers who
aspire to top management positions confront implicit quotas that intensify competition
with female peers (Dezso, Ross and Uribe 2016; Hekman et al. 2017). Competent, con-
scientious, and credible female managers are more likely to replace other females in upper
level positions, as upper level managers target the small number of females occupying
senior leadership positions (Dezso, Ross and Uribe 2016). Female supervisors face the
potential risk of losing their status as participating in mentoring programs extends room
for female managers to ascend to powerful positions in organizations (McDonald and
Westphal 2013; Sheppard and Aquino 2017). Female supervisors and female managers
may, as a result, engage in zero-sum competition: female managers can ascend to top
management positions as replacements for women supervisors; female managers and
female supervisors may, therefore, competitively target the small number of positions
available to them. In this way, same-gender supervisory relationships can hinder the career
success of female managers who participate in mentoring programs.
An important extension of this research would be to indicate the presence of competi-
tive interdependence between female supervisors and female managers: female managers’
qualifications may have threatening effects on the career prospects of female supervisors,

Figure 1 Predicted probabilities of promotion based on supervisor gender and mentoring

16 © 2019 Australian HR Institute

 Hyondong Kim and Tong Hyouk Kang

as competitive interdependence between females’ working relations is exacerbated by

social comparisons with the same gender. Future research should examine when and
where female managers’ competitions with same gender co-workers are exacerbated and
can come to have harmful effects on their career outcomes (Lee, Kesebir and Pillutla
2016).

Practical implications
Female supervisors who are interested in mentoring participation of female managers
may be expected to improve their managerial talents and capabilities. However, the con-
cept of competitive interdependence raises a question as to whether mentoring can be
beneficial or problematic for the career tracks of female managers; thereby, in contrast to
original expectations, mentoring experiences may intensify competitive interdependence
between female supervisors and female managers (Lee, Kesebir and Pillutla 2016). When
institutionalizing a mentoring program within an organization aimed at maintaining and
promoting the status and power of female employees and managers, female managers’
mentoring experiences can be an unexpectedly negative externality to the future career
prospects of women in such positions (Inesi and Cable 2015; Lee, Kesebir and Pillutla
2016). When female supervisors come to appreciate the effectiveness of mentoring pro-
gram for female managers, the actions and efforts of female supervisors should acquire
recognitions from organizations. Female supervisors may exploit the advantages of a men-
toring program to capitalize on the potentials of female managers: coaching and sponsor-
ship from mentoring programs provide opportunities for female managers to learn and
accumulate career-related skills and abilities. When female supervisors are supportive of
female managers’ mentoring participations, they should believe their activities to be help-
ful or acceptable to mentoring benefits for female managers to be evaluated favorably
(Sheppard and Aquino 2017). Mentoring programs need to be planned and implemented
so as to increase female managers’ contributions to team task accomplishments and organ-
izational interests that benefit female supervisors’ career prospects, rather than triggering a
rivalry between them.
The results of this study indicate that female managers tend to experience career inter-
ruptions. Of the 824 female manager samples in wave 4 (2014), 256 female managers
could not participate in KWMP during waves 1–3 (2008–2012). The total numbers of
maternal leave recipients were 348 of the 824 female managers who participated in wave 4
(2014). Of 348 female managers, 89 experienced career interruptions, which was one-third
of the total number of non-participants, 256 female managers. Work–family conflicts may
be a source of career changes for other non-participants who reported changing their jobs
and occupations, becoming unemployed, starting a business, or being hired as tempo-
raries. Imbalanced states between work and family domains are underlying assumptions
about traditional work–family relations. As females are regarded as being responsible for
housework and childcare, female managers experience high levels of family interferences
with company works. As female managers spend more time and resources to care for
family, they are less likely to be viewed as capable of taking managerial leadership
© 2019 Australian HR Institute 17
Asia Pacific Journal of Human Resources 

positions (Hoobler, Wayne and Lemmon 2009). Furthermore, female supervisors regard
female managers as potential competitors to their career progress. Female supervisors
may leverage work–family conflict as shaping and exacerbating negative perceptions of
female managers as unfit for managerial roles, as they share gender attributes with female
managers. Under female supervisors, family conflicts with company work are more likely
to be highlighted as major causes for the lack of fit to promotions. Work–family support
programs are designed and implemented to help female managers cope with family inter-
ference with company work. However, if competitive interdependence between female
supervisors and female managers persists within organizations, a company’s efforts to
tackle the work–family challenges of female managers may not be effective. While it is
challenging, organizations provide education and training about the existence of higher
levels of family interference with work for female managers. After diluting negative per-
ceptions about work–family relations for female managers, work–family support pro-
grams can be effective in increasing the possibility of promotions and supporting their
career development.

Limitations and future research directions

This study contributes to scholarly understanding of the ways in which organizations
facilitate the career development of female managers by highlighting the importance of
supervisors in the promotion probabilities of female managers; however, some limitations
warrant attention.
First, this study used a male-manager sample to test the significance of the gender dif-
ference in the effects of supervisor gender and mentoring programs on the promotability
of company managers. Comparing male and female manager samples may help identify
the significance of supervisor gender and mentoring programs in career prospects of
female managers. However, as KWMP had male manager samples in 2008 and 2012, cau-
tion should be taken to interpret the comparison between male and female managers. Sec-
ond, testing mentoring effectiveness requires an examination of various mentoring
program characteristics, such as mentoring function and mentor type. The KWMP dataset
did not survey mentoring function variables. However, existing mentoring studies have
demonstrated significant interactions between mentoring function and mentor gender
(Ragins et al. 2017), and additional investigations of mentoring function could help more
fully explain how mentor gender affects female managers’ promotability. A variety of fac-
tors that affect mentoring effectiveness, such as time spent mentoring, the frequency of
interactions between mentors and proteges, and the mentors’ communication and coach-
ing skills, must be considered in testing mentoring effectiveness. Third, the KWMP asked
female managers about their mentoring experience with their direct supervisors, but
female managers can also receive mentoring from other members of senior management
or even from outside their companies, and mentors other than direct supervisors likely
have varying impacts on the promotability of female managers. Fourth, the gendered
attributes of each industry context impact the career trajectories of female managers
(Ramaswami et al. 2010). The KWMP surveyed employees in four industry membership
18 © 2019 Australian HR Institute
 Hyondong Kim and Tong Hyouk Kang

categories: manufacturing, finance, retailing, and others. In order to more fully explain
the importance of industry context in mentoring effectiveness for the career success of
female subordinates, future studies should consider a variety of industries in which gender
stereotypes prevail. Fifth, detailed information about supervisor job types would facilitate
a more comprehensive examination of the effects of supervisor gender and mentoring on
the promotability of female managers. Finally, supervisors’ perceptions of the promotabil-
ity of female managers depend on national contexts. In countries with low gender egalitar-
ianism, like South Korea, supervisors have more negative perceptions of female
subordinates’ job-related competencies than in countries with high gender egalitarianism,
like Sweden. Since levels of gender egalitarianism significantly affect supervisor roles in
female subordinate promotability, future studies should compare countries with high and
low gender egalitarianism in order to analyze the relationships between supervisor gender,
mentoring programs, and promotability for female subordinates.

Conclusions
The competitive nature of female working relationships poses a dilemma in which the
institutionalization of a mentoring program within an organization can support or thwart
the career progress of female managers. Gender similarity categorizes female supervisors
and female managers into an in-group; but sharing attributes induce feelings of competi-
tion between female supervisors and female managers, while it enacts and fosters interde-
pendence (Sheppard and Aquino 2017). The findings of this study highlight the negative
impacts of mentoring participation on the career advancement of female managers when
their supervisors are females. The results of the study note the ‘queen bee syndrome’, in
which powerful women at the top levels of management are not supportive of female
managers attempting to climb the ladder. Planning and implementing mentoring pro-
grams to facilitate female manager career advancement need to mitigate competitive ele-
ments in female supervisor–manager interdependent relationships. Our study explores
why female working relationships are characterized as competitive, although a variety of
programs and policies are enacted and implemented to target gender equity in organiza-
tions. As female managers and supervisors are particularly concerned about the negative
perceptions and biased judgments about their gender identity, ‘female’, organizations
make efforts to create and sustain environments where their performance evaluations are
based on job-related skills and abilities as well as objective achievements, rather than gen-
der-based perceptions.

Hyondong Kim (PhD, Ohio State Univ) is a professor in Dongguk University-Seoul. Hyondong
Kim teaches organizational behavior and human resource management.

Tong Hyouk Kang is a PhD candidate in the Deparment of Management, Fogelman College of
Business and Economics, University of Memphis. His research interests include corporate strategy,
internationl strategy, and entrepreneurship..

© 2019 Australian HR Institute 19

Asia Pacific Journal of Human Resources 

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Appendix 1
KWMP female sample statistics

Year (total numbers) Status Numbers

2008 (1806) Management positions 1736

Change occupations 41
Unemployed 27
Started own business 1
Temporary 1
2010 (1450) Management positions 1275
Change occupations 76
Unemployed 90
Started own business 4
Temporary 5
2012 (1078) Management positions 904
Change occupations 78
Unemployed 74
Started own business 5
Temporary 7
2014 (930) Management positions 824
Change occupations 49
Unemployed 49
Started own business 3
Temporary 5

© 2019 Australian HR Institute 21

Asia Pacific Journal of Human Resources 

Appendix 2
Male managers

Promotion Constant 16.67 (4.09)***

Age 5.70 (1.23)***
Education .03 (.15)
R&D .81 (.56)
Management .66 (.48)
Marketing .67 (.51)
Work discrimination .14 (.13)
Male ratio 1.15 (.64)
Manufacturing .34 (.25)
Finance .78 (.30)***
Retailing 1.11 (.51)***
CEO gender .16 (.39)
Family unsupportive work environment .41 (.17)**
Supervisor gender 1.50 (1.44)
Mentoring .04 (.20)
Job ranks 1.07 (.18)***
Supervisor gender 9 Mentoring 1.49 (.81)
Supervisor gender 9 Job ranks .04 (.45)
Demotion Constant 15.01 (1893.29)
Age 1.60 (4.08)
Education .32 (.47)
R&D .79 (2766.10)
Management 16.32 (1893.24)
Marketing 15.81 (1893.24)
Work discrimination .37 (.24)
Male ratio .39 (2.14)
Manufacturing .92 (.78)
Finance .76 (1.28)
Retailing 14.99 (2073.84)
CEO gender 15.31 (2056.71)
Family unsupportive work environment .82 (.53)
Supervisor gender 12.46 (8142.96)
Mentoring .07 (.64)
Job ranks .71 (.50)
Supervisor gender 9 Mentoring .46 (5381.03)
Supervisor gender 9 Job ranks .63 (2459.29)
LR chi2 (df) 89.88 (36)
Log likelihood 359.26
N = 621. +p < 0.10, *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001. Supervisor and CEO gender (1 = female,
0 = male), mentoring, job functions and industry memberships were dummy-coded (1 = yes,
0 = no). No change (= 0) is base outcome for Demotion (= 1) and Promotion (= 1).

22 © 2019 Australian HR Institute