Widely held gender stereotypes mean people tend to judge a company more harshly for ethical blunders if the CEO is female, say researchers writing in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. "When leaders are described in ways that reinforce stereotypes, we continue to find that people penalize female-led organizations more for ethical failures, but we can reduce these penalties for female-led organizations by highlighting agentic traits of their leaders," co-author Amanda P. Cowen, an associate professor of commerce at the University of Virginia said in a statement.