Gender similarities of social work managers

The purpose of this research was to determine if men and women social work administrators can be distinguished from one another by their work behaviors or their attitudes about work priorities. In addition, this prior question is addressed: To what degree is the state of knowledge in social work administration based on research that excludes women managers? Data from two independent samples of directors of hospital social work departments are examined as well as seven years of empirical research published in Administration in Social Work. The authors found that women and men social work managers are quite similar in their use of time and their perceptions of the priority of various organizational goals. Also, they found that the growing empirical research record is based on samples that consistently included women, and generally more than half of the samples are women. After offering an explanation of the findings, the authors propose a research agenda for those interested in social work administration.