Despite the increasing representation of women in the workforce, gender disparities persist in leadership roles. This phenomenon, commonly referred to as the “glass ceiling,” has been partially attributed to unequal developmental supervision provided by leaders. Drawing on construal level theory, we argue that while leaders are often expected to operate at a high construal level, using abstract and strategic thinking to guide their decisions, this cognitive approach makes them particularly vulnerable to making biased decisions in providing developmental supervision. Across one field study and one experimental study, our results show that male employees, compared to female employees, receive significantly more developmental supervision from their leaders when their leader’s construal level is higher (vs. lower), and this relationship is mediated by leader’s perceptions of employees’ leader prototypicality. These findings extend leadership development literature by revealing cognitive mechanisms underlying gender bias and offer practical insights for organizations to mitigate these biases.
