Leadership & Gender

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Leadership Gender

• By Brian, Keith, Katherine, Amanda and Jenny

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Introduction

• Leadership- behaviors that help a group achieve
  its goals
• Leadership is not gender specific
• Leader- person named by the group as the
  leader person who group members perceive to be
  the leader person who has the greatest influence
  on the groups decision person who actually
  performs leadership behaviors

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Task Behaviors

• 91 of male leaders behavior is devoted to
  active task behavior where as females devote 88
• Women emphasize production and will continue
  their strong contributions to the task at hand
  when the group is doing well, where as men will
  reduce their contributions as the group does
  better

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Task Behavior contd

• A study of student group problem-solving found
  that female leaders spend more time communicating
  about the task on hand than men, as they make
  more off-task comments
• Procedural suggestions are one of females
  strengths in group work. They generate twice as
  many procedural suggestions in resolving
  conflicts as men do
• When females emerge as leaders in a mixed-sex
  group it is usually because they worked
  substantially harder than any other member in the
  group

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Social-Emotional Behaviors

• Women are more likely to meet the
  social-emotional needs of the group slightly more
  than men do
• Women are rated as being more interpersonally
  warm during the first interactions with group
  members then male leaders
• Three separate studies have shown that females
  using an authoritarian style of leadership were
  perceived less favorably than males using the
  same style
• In decision making, women are more likely to use
  a democratic, or participative, style than men
• Men were more satisfied with the leadership of a
  woman
• Women value listening as a skill that makes
  others feel both comfortable and important

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Womens Way of Interacting

• Women have an equalitarian (a person who believes
  in the equality of all people) view among
  themselves
• Women are described to be more cooperative and
  supportive, while their male counterparts tend to
  be more self-assertive and competitive
• Women desire leaders who are cooperative,
  empathetic, supportive, democratic, and calm
• Most women perceive leadership more as a
  facilitation and organization rather then power
  and dominance

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The Effectiveness of Female Male Leaders

• 2 sets of extensive field research projects
  reveal there is a lack of difference in the
  effectiveness of female male leaders

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West Point Coeducation

• Conservative liberal views
• Limited contact with female male leaders
  received ratings based on preconceived attitudes
• Extended interaction with female male leaders
  received equal ratings of effectiveness

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Tavistock Institute Self-Reflective Groups

• Groups composed of undergraduate graduate
  psychology students
• Emotionally responsive emotionally detached
  leaders
• No consistent evidence that these groups are more
  effective or satisfied with either female or male
  leaders

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Summary of the Studies

• These studies collectively reveal that females
  males are equally effective leaders
• In addition, female male leaders are equally
  effective in conflict management styles
• The only difference in female male conflict
  management styles include age, education,
  managerial experiencethe leaders must share
  similarities to one another

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The Effects of Sex-Role Stereotypes

• Studies show a tendency for a pro-male bias in
  leadership roles
• Both men and women have said female bosses were
  more collaborative, and less aggressive than men
  they seek consensus, emphasize team building, are
  more nurturing and empathetic, and are more
  approachable
• However, males are still frequently rated more
  positively than females for the same behaviors

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The Effects of Sex-Role Stereotypes contd

• Men are often rated as showing more leadership,
  having higher-quality contributions, being more
  desirable for hiring, meriting a higher salary,
  and meriting a more responsible job
• For the same behaviors females were rated as
  bossier, more dominating, more emotional, less
  warm, less sensitive, and less attractive than
  males
• Women have overwhelmingly less respect,
  responsibility, and power than men

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Resistance to Powerful Women

• People react more negatively towards women than
  men in powerful positions
• Women have to fight harder to get the same
  recognition as men for the same tasks
• Individuals who earn higher incomes are perceived
  to be more powerful
• Women earn 76 cents for every dollar earned by a
  man
• By the year 2050, men will still be making higher
  salaries than women do for doing the exact same
  jobs

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Things are Slowly Changing

• There has been a decrease in the backlash against
  women's attempt to gain power
• Within academia, more professors, editors, and
  first authors of scholarly articles are women
  than in the past
• Women have begun to increase their individual
  power, independence, assertiveness, and
  competitiveness
• Studies have shown when people are reminded of
  their attitudes towards sex-role stereotypes,
  group interaction and the emergence of leadership
  are positively affected
• Male dominance is effectively reduced when people
  are reminded of their equalitarian attitudes
• Women are enabled to reach their full potential
  as leaders

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Leadership Gender Wrap Up
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References

• Diekman, A., Goodfriend, W., Goodwin, S.
  (2004). Dynamic Stereotypes of Power Perceived
  Change and Stability in Gender Hierarchies.
  Sex-Roles A Journal of Research, 50(3-4),
  201-215. Retrieved April 23, 2004, from
  (http//web4.infotrac.galegroup.com).
• Baril, G.L., Korabik, K. Watson, C. (1993,
  September). Managers' conflict management style
  leadership effectiveness the moderating effects
  of gender. Sex Roles A Journal of Research, v29,
  n5-6, p 405.
• Shimanoff, S. Jenkins, M. (1996) Leadership and
  Gender Challenging Assumptions and Recognizing
  Resources. Small Group Communication Theory
  Practice (pp. 184-188). Brown Benchmark.