Anticipated chilly climate for women: the development and validation of a measure
| Date | 16 April 2024 |
| Pages | 795-816 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/ER-01-2023-0017 |
| Published date | 16 April 2024 |
| Subject Matter | HR & organizational behaviour,Industrial/labour relations,Employment law |
| Author | Petya Puncheva-Michelotti,Sarah Hudson,Sophie Hennekam |
Anticipated chilly climate for
women: the development and
validation of a measure
Petya Puncheva-Michelotti and Sarah Hudson
Rennes School of Business, Rennes, France, and
Sophie Hennekam
Organization Studies and Ethics Department, Audencia Business School,
Nantes, France
Abstract
Purpose –This study develops a measure of anticipated chilly climate for women and provides initial
evidence of its validity.
Design/methodology/approach–We draw on three studies. Study 1 consisted of three focus groups to gain
deeper insights into the meaning of the concept for prospective female jobseekers and generate scale items. In
Study 2, we pre-tested job post vignettes (N5203), refined the scale items and explored the factor structure
(N5136). Study 3 aimed to determine the convergent and discriminant validity of thenew scale (N5224) by
testing its relationships with organisational attractiveness, person-organisation fit perceptions and gendered
language.
Findings –The results show that the anticipated chilly climate is an important concept with implications for
applicants’career decision-making and career growth in the technology industry, where women tend to be
underrepresented. Perceptions of anticipated chilly climate comprise expectations of devaluation,
marginalisation and exclusion from the prospective employment. The masculine stereotypes embedded in
the language of the job posts signalled a chilly climate for both genders, negatively affecting perceptions of fit
and organisational attractiveness.
Originality/value –Most previous studies have focussed on the actual experiences of chilly climates in
organisations. We extend this body of literature to anticipatory climates and draw on social identity threat
theory and signalling theory to highlight that job applicants make inferences about the climate they expect to
find based on job ads. Specifically, they may anticipate a chilly climate based on cues from job ads signalling
masculine stereotypes. Whilst the literature has emphasised women’s perceptions of chilly climates within
organisations, our results show that both genders anticipate chilly climates with detrimental consequences for
both organisations and prospective job applications.
Keywords Anticipated chilly climate for women, Scale development, Gendered language, Job ads,
Gender stereotypes, Career development, Recruitment, Social identity threat theory
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
Organisational clim ate perceptions have be en associated with a rang e of relevant
organisational outcomes such as organisational commitment and performance
(Berberoglu, 2018;Woznyj et al., 2019), job satisfaction (Schulte et al., 2006) and turnover
(Li et al., 2020) as well as work adjustment (Davies et al., 2019). However, an organisation’s
climate can only be felt once individuals have joined the organisation. Drawing on signalling
theory, we argue that individuals who are considering applying for a job make inferences
about the climate of an organisation as they read and reflect on job advertisements. Job
advertisements present an important tool through which individuals gather information and
create first impressions about a potential employer (Muruganantham et al., 2020), influencing
their perception of fit with the organisation (Verwaeren et al., 2017), organisational
attractiveness and thus their intention to apply.
Chilly climate
for women
795
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
https://www.emerald.com/insight/0142-5455.htm
Received 12 January 2023
Revised 21 December 2023
14 February 2024
Accepted 11 March 2024
Employee Relations: The
International Journal
Vol. 46 No. 4, 2024
pp. 795-816
© Emerald Publishing Limited
0142-5455
DOI 10.1108/ER-01-2023-0017
However, job ads are not often neutral and may contain words, which elicit explicit or
implicit expectations of the gender of the ideal candidate. Whilst the use of pronouns and
gender-loaded words like “policeman”or “waitress”is subject to regulations in many
countries, the use of wording associated with stereotypical feminine and masculine personal
qualities, behaviours and attitudes continue to prevail across jobs and industries and
influence the assessment of a potential employer (Hentschel et al., 2021). In sum, individuals
create expectations about the climate in an organisation based on their reading of a
recruitment ad that in turn may influence their perceptions of fit with that organisation as
well as the attractiveness of the organisation. We refer to this as “anticipated climate”.
Drawing on social identity threat theory, women tend to perceive organisations described
with masculine-themed words as less appealing than those with feminine-themed words
(Askehave and Zethsen, 2014;Gaucher et al., 2011) as they may anticipate concerns regarding
devaluation, marginalisation and exclusion (Murphy et al., 2007). This is important as
gendered language in job ads contributes to the persistent underrepresentation of women in
certain sectors or positions (Wille and Derous, 2018). More specifically, through subtle cues
women may feel less legitimate to apply, forming a barrier to their career advancement or
inclusion in the workforce (Nater and Sczesny, 2016;Miner et al., 2019), which in turn prevents
organisations to tap into this talent pool (Dutz et al., 2022). A scale on anticipated chilly
climate can be used by human resources (HR) personnel to assess the extent to which women
anticipate that their gender is perceived to be a liability in the organisation. More specifically,
it provides information about whether women, and possibly also other minorities, anticipate
being devalued, marginalised and excluded. This information could be a starting point to
make changes to organisational policies, practices or structures. For instance, the scale could
be used as a kick-off for a discussion about what exactly triggers these perceptions of
anticipated marginalisation, devaluation or mistreatment and how potentially unconscious
bias can be reduced. Further, apart from the wording of a job advertisement, the skills that are
being requested are not neutral and create another layer of bias that can be identified through
the scale and followed-up with in-depth discussions with HR. Addressing these issues, could
enhance the representation of various minority groups in higher level positions as the subtle
cues that prevent these groups from applying are removed and could result in a more
inclusive workplace for all.
Anticipated climate is important as not all individuals feel that they will be automatically
valued and included in an organisation (Avery et al., 2013;Koçak et al., 2022). These
perceptions, in turn are likely to influence job and career decisions, particularly in fields and
positions where women are underrepresented. For instance, women in male-dominated
sectors such as artificial intelligence (AI) may expect to be excluded or encounter unfair
treatment (Young et al., 2021). Previous research has pointed to the “leaky pipeline”to explain
the underrepresentation of women in science and technology sectors (Blickenstaff, 2005;
Herman et al., 2013;Ib
a~
nez and Garc
ıa-Mingo, 2021), and the job search phase is one of the
stages where women may not continue into a career in technological domains. They may
anticipate what we call a “chilly climate”, in which they feel unwelcome. This “chilliness”
arises from explicit and implicit messages that convey to women that their gender could be a
liability in the AI sector. Stereotypical masculine models of performance and competence are
known to emerge in the descriptions of job roles in personnel selection in male-dominated
sectors (Dick and Nadin, 2006;Hentschel et al., 2021). This is problematic not only from a
social justice point of view, but also because the products and tools the AI sector create
influence our lives in multiple ways, including education, healthcare, the labour market and
the criminal justice system (West et al., 2019). These tools and products are not neutral but
have been found to echo the gender and racial dynamics of the industry leading to bias and
discrimination (Ahn et al., 2022). Consequently, the lack of diversity in the sector reinforces
inequality and exclusion not only in the AI industry, but in society more broadly.
ER
46,4
796
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