Although the gender gap in leadership is particularly pronounced between middle and top management, the academic literature on organizational measures to support female managers’ careers in the form of work flexibility and female support measures has so far paid little attention to effects on these levels. Because of conflicting theoretical perspectives on female and male middle and top managers’ reactions, we examine the effects of work flexibility and female support measures on their perceived fit with the organization. Specifically, we conducted a study with 205 middle and top managers across different industries with two points of measurement. Across middle and top management levels, we found a positive relation between work flexibility and person-organization fit, which was even stronger for women than for men. When only examining middle managers, there was a positive relation between work flexibility and person-organization fit for women, but not for men. In top management, we found a marginally (p = 0.05) positive relation between work flexibility and person-organization fit for both men and women. In contrast, we found no relations between childcare and fit. Thus, political and organizational decision-makers may be especially advised to raise work flexibility for supporting women (and men) in middle and top management.      «

Although the gender gap in leadership is particularly pronounced between middle and top management, the academic literature on organizational measures to support female managers’ careers in the form of work flexibility and female support measures has so far paid little attention to effects on these levels. Because of conflicting theoretical perspectives on female and male middle and top managers’ reactions, we examine the effects of work flexibility and female support measures on their perceived...     »