Pers Soc Psychol Rev
November 2015
vol. 19
no. 4
343-370
- Alyssa Croft, Department of Psychology, The University of British Columbia, 2136 West Mall, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada V6T 1Z4. Email: acroft@psych.ubc.ca
Abstract
Social psychological research has sought
to understand and mitigate the psychological barriers that block women’s
interest,
performance, and advancement in male-dominated,
agentic roles (e.g., science, technology, engineering, and math).
Research
has not, however, correspondingly examined men’s
underrepresentation in communal roles, traditionally occupied by women
(e.g.,
careers in health care, early childhood education,
and domestic roles including child care). In this article, we seek to
provide
a roadmap for research on this underexamined
inequality by (a) outlining the benefits of increasing men’s
representation in
communal roles; (b) reviewing cultural,
evolutionary, and historical perspectives on the asymmetry in status
assigned to men’s
and women’s roles; and (c) articulating the role of
gender stereotypes in creating social and psychological barriers to
men’s
interest and inclusion in communal roles. We argue
that promoting equal opportunities for both women and men requires a
better
understanding of the psychological barriers to
men’s involvement in communal roles.
