Guardians of stereotypes about the woman as a limiting factor of group efficiency

Abstract

Traditional views of the woman's position in the society and the stereotype of her inferiority (primarily physical) as compared to the man led to the creation of the stereotype of inferiority of mixed groups as compared to groups made up entirely of men. The results of survey conducted on a sample of members of the Serbian Armed Forces and the Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Serbia have revealed that there are more 'guardians' of the above stereotype among men than among women; more among younger than among older people; more among those with lower educational level than among the highly educated; more among professional soldiers, NCOs and officers than among civilians; and more among members of the Serbian Armed Forces than among the employees of the Ministry of Defense. The range of the examinees' characteristics that, according to this survey, do not correlate with their assessment of the effectiveness of mixed groups includes: war experience (participation in armed conflicts in the former Yugoslavia), marital status, and the number of family members.

Keywords

• equality
• inferiority
• stereotypes
• the serbian armed forces