Can Professional Women Appear Too Masculine? The Case of the Necktie

Women have been advised to adopt a masculine appearance to denote an executive role. But can women appear too masculine and consequently diminish their professional role and chances for promotion? A necktie (a masculine symbol), a scarf, and an open-collared blouse were used to investigate the effect of clothing on responses to a female middle manager. Ninety-three female subjects responded to a photograph modeling a female manager in one of three clothing variations. Subjects indicated how likely the individual pictured possessed traits identified as necessary for executive success. Subjects also indicated how likely the manager was to be promoted. Data were analyzed using factor analysis, multivariate analyses of variance, and the Newman-Kuel's test. Results indicate subjects rated a female manager wearing either a necktie or a scarf as more likely to possess managerial characteristics than when wearing an open-collared blouse. However, subjects rated the female manager wearing a scarf as more likely to be promoted than when wearing a necktie or an open-collared blouse.