Behaviour attributed to individual character is better explained by position: opportunity, power, and numerical proportion.
Kanter's 1977 study of a corporation found that behaviour attributed to gender was better explained by numerical rarity and blocked mobility. Put anyone in a token position and the same behaviour appears.
In practice
- A woman in a team of nine men is treated as representing all women; the same person in a team of four is treated as herself.
- An employee in a role with no visible path stops volunteering for extra work, and is described as unambitious.