PRIDE AND PREJUDICE BEYOND THE GLASS CEILING - BRAZILIAN FEMALE EXECUTIVE'S PSYCHOLOGICAL TYPE

Sep 17, 2026

Uploaded by Jake

This paper relates female executives’ psychological type characteristics to those of their male colleagues in Brazilian corporations. The theoretical framework examines the glass ceiling and prejudices faced by women in leadership roles. A mixed qualitative-quantitative design was used: interviews with 743 men and 222 women from 344 corporations, and the MBTI questionnaire for 430 executives. Focus groups with 227 participants and 104 semi-structured interviews complemented the study, identifying ESTJ as most frequent and highlighting strong workplace and social pressures.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages14

Reading Time35 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Glass ceiling concept and executive access

Discrimination, representation, and participation

Persisting exclusion mechanisms

DOI: [http://dx.doi.org/10.5007/2175-8077.2014v16n39p210](http://dx.doi.org/10.5007/2175-8077.2014v16n39p210) Artigo recebido em: 30/11/2012 Aceito em: 15/08/2013 PRIDE AND PREJUDICE BEYOND THE GLASS CEILING: BRAZILIAN ’ FEMALE EXECUTIVE S PSYCHOLOGICAL TYPE Orgulho e Preconceito além do Teto de Vidro: o tipo psicológico das executivas brasileiras Antonio Carvalho Neto Professor permanente do Programa de Pós-Graduação em Administração. PUC Minas. Belo Horizonte, MG. Brasil. E-mail: [carvalhoneto@pucminas.br](carvalhoneto@pucminas.br) Betania Tanure Professor permanente do Programa de Pós-Graduação em Administração. PUC Minas. Belo Horizonte, MG. Brasil. E-mail: [betaniatanure@pucminas.br](betaniatanure@pucminas.br) Carolina Mota-Santos Professora do curso de Psicologia da PUC Minas. Belo Horizonte, MG. Brasil. E-mail: [cmotasotnas@yahoo.com.br](cmotasotnas@yahoo.com.br) Abstract This paper intends to relate characteristics of female executive psychological type with their male colleagues in corporations operating in Brazil (CEOs, VPs/directorsand top managers) . The theoretical framework explores the glass ceiling and the prejudices faced by female executives. It was developed a mixed qualitativequantitative method. In the quantitative part we interviewed 743 men and 222 women from 344 corporations. We applied also the questionnaire MBTIto 430 of these executives. In the qualitative part we held focus groups with 227 individuals and 104 semistructured interviews. The most active psychological MBTI type found was the ESTJ, both to men and women. The dominant characteristics in this type is more rational, logical and less emotional. Prejudices are huge: women need to work harder to show that they are as competent as men. They also live the society’s pressure in relation to the roles as mother and wife. Keywords: Female Executives Profile. Masculine Executives Profile. MBTI. Glass Ceiling. Prejudice. Resumo Este artigo relaciona características do tipo psicológico das mulheres executivas com as de seus colegas homens nas grandes empresas do Brasil (Presidentes, VicePresidentes/Diretores e terceiro escalão) . O referencialteórico explora barreiras sofridas pelas executivas. O método de pesquisa foi quantitativo-qualitativo. Aplicou-se dois tipos de questionário: em 743 homense 222 mulheres de 344 empresas; o MBTI (Myers-Briggs Type Indicator), indicador baseado em Jung, em 430 desses executivos. Na parte qualitativa realizou-se grupos de foco com 227 indivíduos e 104 entrevistassemiestruturadas. O tipo de MBTI mais frequente foi o ESTJ, para homens e mulheres, mais racional, lógicoe menos emocional. Os preconceitos são enormes: elas precisam trabalhar muito para mostrar que sãocompetentes como os homens e também sofrempressão social sobre os papéis de mãe, esposa e principal responsável pelo lar. Mesmo assim, elas são orgulhosas do sucesso conquistado e não querem voltar para casa. Palavras-chave: Perfil das Executivas. Perfil dos Executivos. MBTI. Teto de Vidro. Preconceito. Esta obra está sob uma Licença Creative Commons Atribuição-Uso. 3ULGH DQG 3UHMXGLFH %H\RQG WKH *ODVV &HLOLQJ􀀝 EUD]LOLDQ IHPDOH H[HFXWLYH·V SV\FKRORJLFDO W\SH 1 INTRODUCTION Although there are women occupying executive positions on organizations in Brazil, the number is not representative yet, i.e. , that is not consistent with the percentage of women working there (AGUIAR, 2007) . It´s common to hear the phrase: “We think that the woman´s presence is important”, but when we asked how many women there are in the corporation, Tanure, Carvalho Neto and Andrade (2007) have even heard the following: two women in a group of 1000. In other words, 0,2%! Despite the increase of the discourse of equality between men and women in areas such as education and culture, changes are rare when considering the hierarchical division of labor within firms. The issue of representation and participation of women in all levels of pow

FAQs

What is the main focus of the study?

The study investigates how female executives’ psychological type relates to that of male colleagues in Brazilian corporations, using the glass ceiling framework and prejudice as key concepts.

How was the research conducted?

It used a mixed qualitative-quantitative approach, combining interviews and MBTI questionnaires with focus groups and semi-structured interviews.

Which MBTI psychological type appeared as most frequent?

The ESTJ type was the most active and most frequent psychological type found for both men and women.

Sep 17, 2026

Uploaded by Jake