Study: Companies that have one female executive may be less likely to hire more

A depressing new study demonstrates another way women could be held back in their careers.

Researchers from the University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business and Columbia Business School found that if one of a company's five highest-paid executive jobs was held by a woman, the company was 51 percent less likely to offer a woman one of the other top four jobs.

The study authors believe "unconscious biases are at play," along with "implicit quotas," The Wall Street Journal reports. The report notes that among companies that have women in one of their top five positions, most of them only have one woman in the group.

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Cristian Dezso, one of the study authors and an associate professor at the University of Maryland's business school, told the Journal that male executives may believe women won't perform the jobs as well as men. "It might very well be the case that male top managers just want to check a box — there is no more effort, no more mentoring, to appoint a second woman to the top management team," Dezso said.

Dezso added that even if women help each other climb the ranks, it "is still not enough to overcome the potential resistance from male managers."