| The purpose of the study was to determine the degree to which the woman business/management major in a four-year Roman Catholic liberal arts college for women had potential for middle- and/or upper-level management, given a match between selected characteristics of the subjects and those which current literature claims are requisite for success in management.;The study sought answers to the following questions: (1) To what extent did a demographic profile of the subjects match that of the profile of the woman executive reported in the literature? (2) To what extent did the subjects possess the same characteristics and attitudes as those identified with the successful woman executive? (3) Given a specific profile and set of characteristics, to what degree did the subjects appear to have potential for middle- or upper-level management?;Two sets of data were collected--data on the characteristics of females occupying mid- and upper-level management positions and data on the characteristics of the business/management majors. Data on the subjects were obtained through the administration of the Bem Sex Role Inventory and the Sixteen-Personality Factor Test (16PF).;Results of the study, based on 156 usable returns, indicated that the demographic backgrounds of the subjects were similar to those of the executives with respect to major area of study and participation in extracurricular activities. The subjects differed from the executives in their degree of involvement with religion, employment record while undergraduates, socio-economic backgrounds and GPAs. A majority of the subjects had a masculine or androgynous sex-role orientation and to a moderate degree exhibited those traits characteristic of the female executives.;The findings seem to give credence to the fact that individuals coming from small institutions of higher learning, with a religious affiliation, have better-than-average potential to reach middle-level management with a small but impressive number showing potential for upper-level management. |
