In a study among 800 academics, Naomi Ellemers and her colleagues found that female professors underestimate the career ambitions of their female PhD students. At the same time, they describe themselves as extremely masculine. Fifteen years ago, the researchers observed the same pattern, calling it the Queen Bee effect. Despite the rise of women in academia, female professors still tend to emphasize that they are different from other women. The results of the broader research program show that this is because the picture of academic success is still very masculine, despite the increase in the number of women at university.
For further explanation, see the following article in Forbes here, also covered by Dutch media here, and the scientific article here.
Faniko, K., Ellemers, N., & Derks, B. (2020). The Queen Bee phenomenon in Academia 15 years after: Does it still exist, and if so, why? British Journal of Social Psychology, https://doi.org/10.1111/bjso.12408
