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Queen bee effect
The queen bee effect is a phenomenon in which women try to succeed in their careers by dismissing their gender and behaving in stereotypically masculine ways. It is different from traditional forms of sexism, because it includes women derogating other women. The queen bee effect ultimately interferes with the progress of women as a group and women who occupy high positions in male-dominated environments are the most susceptible to displaying queen bee symptoms.

Overview
In order to succeed in their careers, women must travel through a labyrinth of challenges that men do not typically encounter. Although men and women display different leadership styles, women are expected to be ambitious and competitive when trying to climb the corporate ladder.

Most diversity-focused initiatives postulate that members of minority groups will help each other succeed once they themselves have advanced in the organization. However, research has demonstrated that this is not always the case.

Staines, Tavris, and Jayaratne first used the term ‘queen bee’ in 1974 to describe a successful senior-level woman who strives to distance herself from other women in a male-dominated environment. She acts in self-interest and her behaviour perpetuates traditional stereotypes about women, and maintains the barriers that block their opportunities for advancement.

Empirical evidence
Research has found that women are less helpful to each other compared to men and are more likely to hesitate supporting initiatives that favour the advancement of women. Further, research has found that many women admit favouring a male boss over a female boss and that women readily criticize the success of other women.

A study in the Netherlands found that many successful women avoid behaving in a stereotypically feminine manner. For instance, it was found that female professors viewed starting a family as an obstacle to their career and were more likely to avoid collaboration with other women. Many of these female professors admitted to prioritizing their careers and personal success. They also displayed typical symptoms of the queen bee effect, which include describing oneself in stereotypically masculine terms (such as dominant, aggressive and competitive), stepping away from one’s gender and believing that they are “not like other women”.

Research has also found that queen bees view other women more negatively than they view their male colleagues. Although male and female PhD students had equivalent publication records, satisfaction and commitment, female professors evaluated the female PhD students as less committed than male students.

Another study found that women who reviewed grant applications for the NSF Economics Program rated proposals submitted by female primary investigators more harshly than those submitted by male primary investigators, even when the qualities of both was constant.

Explanations and the role of group identification
Some research suggests that that women should act in a stereotypically masculine fashion in order to succeed in a male-dominated setting. Therefore, women display typical queen bee symptoms to act in self-interest and ensure their success.

Other perspectives suggest that females are not naturally predisposed to display queen bee behaviour. Rather, the queen bee effect is a consequence of the conditions many women have to overcome during their careers. Although successful women displayed queen bee symptoms towards their female subordinates, this was affected by level of group identification. Women who experienced gender discrimination despite their low identification as women were more likely to describe themselves in stereotypically masculine terms and promote gender stereotypes compared to women with higher gender identification.

Another study also found that women who did not strongly identify with their gender were more likely to display queen bee symptoms. After recalling instances of gender discrimination in their careers, policewomen who had low gender identification showed more queen bee symptoms, whereas those with high gender identification were more inclined to help other women succeed.

By exhibiting queen bee symptoms, successful, low-identifying women are trying to resist the burden that traditional female stereotypes have on their careers. When successful women display stereotypically masculine behaviour in male-dominated settings, they hope to be seen as individuals and not as ambassadors of women overall. They strive to demonstrate that traditional female stereotypes do not apply to them. By prioritizing their success over the advancement of their group, queen bees display their commitment to their careers and maintain considerable distance between themselves and junior-level women.

Cognitive and motivational processes
There are other reasons for displaying queen bee symptoms, several of which include:

1)     Implicit stereotype promotion:  Successful women can believe that the majority is superior to the minority and implicitly stereotype their own group.  2)	Overcorrecting for ingroup bias: successful women may wish to avoid favouring their own group and compensate for that by preferring the majority.

3)	Conformity: Successful women may conform to the norms of the company, which can influence how they view their own group and the majority.

4)	Being loyal: Successful women may wish to demonstrate their commitment to the company by asserting that they do not allow the interests of their own group to interfere with their work. Thus, these women can be viewed more approvingly by their superiors.

5)	Recognize their hard work: Women may wish to believe that they succeeded through their hard work, rather than simply benefiting from affirmative action. To show their resilience, women may derogate other women to confirm that their group is not offered easy shortcuts. Women may also dismiss the success of other women in order to make themselves appear more accomplished.

6)	Preparing other women to succeed: Women may also believe that in order to succeed, they must be able to overcome obstacles, such as gender bias. Thus, by discriminating against other women, senior-level women may believe that they are helping them succeed.

Implications for junior women
The queen bee effect can have damaging consequences for the careers of junior-level women. Senior women who perpetuate gender stereotypes about their female subordinates are seen as highly trustworthy and their behaviour is less likely to be perceived as a form of gender discrimination.

Junior women can also make internal attributions based on negative feedback from queen bees and thus suffer from lowered self-confidence. Further, junior women view queen bees as poor role models who tarnish the reputation of women as a group through their behaviour. Queen bees can thus reduce the motivation of women as a group to achieve equal opportunities.

Prevention of the queen bee effect
Creating an environment where women are acknowledged for their contributions is important to prevent the queen bee effect. Once women feel safe to identify with their own group, they could be less motivated to display queen bee symptoms. Indeed, even women who are not strongly identified display queen bee symptoms in contexts where they are stigmatized. Examples of preventing the queen bee effect include:

1)	Correcting misconceptions about affirmative action and asserting that qualified women deserve to occupy high level positions.

2)	Creating an environment that values multiple perspectives in order to avoid conformity to norms favouring the majority.