tuesday, march 2, 2004
news
the university daily kansan 5
5A
CEOs show more feminine qualities
By Joshua Kendall
jkendall@kansan.com
Kansas staff writer
Two studies at the University of Kansas found that CEOs — chief executive officers — are slowly expressing more feminine characteristics than in the past. But the notion of a 'good leader' is still perceived as predominately masculine.
culine.
The study, inspired by the honors thesis of Elisha Waters, who graduated last semester, asked 151 students from the University 92 questions about what characteristics were inherent in a CEO.
Michael Dennis, assistant professor of communication studies, said although female and male CEOs had different characteristics, the word "professional" shrank the perpetual gap between the sexes.
CEOs are stereotypically associated with masculine labels such as independent, competitive and logical, Dennis said.
The study found that the stereotype of a good leader still sits squarely on the shoulders of men, who hold 89.1 percent of corporate office positions, according to Catalyst, a not-for-profit New York-based women's research organization.
The virtues readily linked to women are more accepted than in the past, Adrianne Kunkel, assistant professor of communication studies, said.
Labels such as sensitive, warm and accommodating are not directly correlated with power, but they show how the effeminate qualities serve better in team building and staff relations.
These qualities, though prevalent in human relation positions, are not seen as direct signs of leadership.
"The CEO is clearly a title of power," Kunkel said.
power, Kunkel said.
Power easily correlates with perceptions of men because they have historically been the ones who maintained these high profile jobs, Kunkel said. She said that women were making progress because stereotypes dissipated when professionalism was assumed.
was assumed. The 151 subjects questioned in the study were divided into six groups and asked to rate characteristics of males and females on a sliding scale of one to five.
sitting side by side.
For example, one group was questioned about traits inherent to females, while another was asked about successful males. Traits for women such as persistence, talkativeness and competence were similar to data from studies in the '70s.
A twist added by a follow-up study conducted by Dennis and Kunkel examined whether the
subjects viewed themselves as masculine, feminine, neither or androgynous — expressing both qualities of males and females. Out of the 220 participants in this study, 57 were perceived as feminine.
Males represented 25 percent of the group that had feminine traits. This group rated women CEOs on a more balanced scale said Dennis.
said Dennis. Dennis said a common misunderstanding was that you had to be female to be feminine. "The feminine participants didn't see any difference in gender," said Dennis.
Dennis said that people needed to release the masculinity factor because it was unnecessary to be successful.
"If we could get people to be more feminine, we might have a better world," Dennis said.
Edited by Nikki Nugent
Star search
Gabe Roland, Kansas City, Kan., senior, accompanied Megan McCluney, Bonner Springs sophomore, as she sang *Time After Time* at Saturday night's A Night at the Apollo Theatre talent show. The night included musical performances, spoken word and Apollo Theater history. Laura Clark, Wichita junior, won with her performance of Hero.
The Pentagon said as many as 2,000 U.S. troops could go to Haiti to help to curb violence that culminated Sunday in Aristide's departure.
White House officials said Aristide left willingly and that the United States aided his safe departure. But in a telephone interview with The Associated Press, Aristide said: "No. I was forced to leave."
WASHINGTON — The Bush administration insisted yesterday that Haiti's exiled president was not kidnapped or strong-armed into fleeing, despite Jean-Bertrand Aristide's claims that the U.S. military forced him to leave.
U.S. denies role in ousting Aristide
The Associated Press
forced to leave.
"Agents were telling me that if I don't leave they would start shooting and killing in a matter of time," Aristide said during the interview, which was interrupted at times by static. Asked to identify the "agents," Aristide said: "White American, white military."
"They came at night ... There were too many. I couldn't count them," he added.
them. He added
A White House official responded, "He resigned and left on his own accord."
Aristide's supporters in the United States said the one-time U.S. ally told them he was being held against his will in the Central African Republic, a charge that country's foreign affairs minister rejected.
rejected.
The administration did make clear to Aristide in the tumultuous hours before he left that he could not count on U.S. protection from rebels threatening to storm the presidential palace and kill him. Secretary of State Colin Powell relayed that message Saturday night to Aristide's Washington lobbyist, former U.S. Rep. Ron Dellums (D-Calif.) said an administration official speaking on condition of anonymity.
In a telephone interview with
CNN last night, Aristide said the United States on Saturday withdrew the 19 Americans assigned to bolster his security detail.
The official said Aristide asked U.S. officials whether some of the 50 Marines that President Bush had sent a week ago to protect the U.S. Embassy in Port-au-Prince might shift to the presidential palace if the rebels drew close.
The answer was no. The response was the same on Saturday when members of Aristide's presidential guard, which included some Americans working as contract employees, asked embassy officials about the prospect of U.S. protection at the palace in the face of an expected assault.
assault. "He was not kidnapped. We did not force him on to the airplane. He went onto the airplane willingly, and that's the truth," Powell said.
Power said.
Bush's spokesman, Scott McCllenan, said, "It's nonsense, and conspiracy theories like that do nothing to help the Haitian people realize the future that they aspire to."
aspire to Civil rights activist Jesse Jackson said Congress should investigate whether the United States, specifically the CIA, had a role in the rebellion that led to Aristide's exile.
exile.
At the Pentagon, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said U.S. troops would remain in Haiti for a "relatively short period." He said they would join an international force, which could include up to 5,000 troops from France, Canada and elsewhere, that would stay under replaced by a U.N. peacekeeping force.
Also, Gen. Richard B. Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said 800 to 1,000 Haitians had been returned to their country in recent days after being picked up trying to flee over the water.
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