ABSTRACT BODY: The entrance of women into academic leadership has not been accompanied by equity for male and female faculty. Women earn less than men for similar positions, advance more slowly toward seniority, and have not progressed into key leadership roles in many organizations. The metaphor of the "glass ceiling" has been changed to "labyrinth" due to the increasing number of women in leadership acknowledging that women must wind through unexpected turns for success.¹ However, certain occupations that are considered traditionally masculine or feminine still create occupational segregation.² While there are many studies that show evidence of discrimination for women, there are far fewer studies that document successful strategies for women in employment contexts. An empirical investigation of interventions in the social science literature that describe successful strategies for women may create a contextual integration for women physical therapists who aspire to leadership or need understanding of patterns of power within the workplace. With the recent push for evidence-based research, the goal of this presentation is to synthesize experimental evidence to improve evidence-based decision making. This is in concordance with the heart of NIH's mission for type 2 translational research which attempts to enhance integration of best practices using all disciplines. The social science literature provides important empirical evidence about patterns of social normativity. One study reported that as masculine-instrumental traits are highly valued in our society, individuals who display these characteristics are better adjusted as they are given more recognition and approval than those who do not exhibit those traits.³ Heilman found that women deemed successful in a masculine sex-typed position are less liked than successful men and has career-affecting outcomes in evaluation and reward allocation.⁴ These penalties that competent women incur for success in masculine arenas arise from a perceived deficit in nurturing and socially acceptable communal behaviors implied by their success.⁵ While successful women face severe consequences when they violate perceived gender-stereotypic prescriptions, women leaders who follow prescriptive practices are devalued because a masculine view of collaboration is that it undermines one's power thus creating weakness.⁶ As women are perceived as acting "out-of-role" by being successful in a male-dominated profession, the people around her see her as succeeding against expectation and others will attribute her success to luck, the task being easy, or to working hard rather than competence.⁷ When women assert authority outside of traditionally normative behaviors, they will encounter reactive opposition to their authority.⁹ Studies have shown that women can reduce this opposition by softening assertive, competent behaviors to increase their influence and negotiate constraints on their social power.¹⁰ These results add to understanding of the strength of social categorizations.