As noted above, our study provides preliminary support for RCT
as it relates to men being seen as less effective leaders than women
in middle management positions, possibly because of those positions
being considered to be feminine in nature. We also found a
nonsignificant gender difference in effectiveness for lower level
positions, perhaps due to the gender-neutral characteristics associated
with such positions. Yet, contrary to hypotheses proposed
by RCT, we found that women were seen as more effective (by
others) when they held senior-level management positions. Foschi’s
(2000) double standards of competence model proposes that
women may be seen as more effective than men in top leadership
positions due to perceptions of their extra competence. This notion
was supported in a recent laboratory study by Rosette and Tost
(2010). Thus, RCT may be supplemented by this model to explain
that perceptions of extra competence can potentially override perceptions
on women’s incongruity, increasing assessments of their
effectiveness at the top.