Gender Dynamics in Leadership: Styles, Impact, and Trends
Gender Dynamics in Leadership
Linking to the previous discussion, we now focus on whether there are real differences between men and women when it comes to leadership, a current and relevant topic. A major effect of gender on leadership is the presumption that women are less competent and less worthy of leadership positions. Leaders adapt to expectations based on how people categorize them as male or female. These expectations stem from traditional gender roles in society, family, and employment.
Dr. Alice Eagly’s research from the 1980s and 1990s indicates that women in managerial positions tend to adopt participative and democratic leadership styles, acting more as transformational leaders than men, who often adopt a more transactional style. This research suggests that female managers place greater emphasis on communication, affiliation, and cooperation than their male counterparts.
Expert opinions on gender differences in leadership style have evolved in recent decades. Initially, there was the idea that men…
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Despite improvements in societal norms and the reduction of institutional barriers, the scarcity of women in leadership positions persists.
Indeed, there is evidence that women are less likely than men to seek elected political leadership positions, and female students are less likely to run for student government in college. Consequently, many corporations, NGOs, and colleges now implement leadership training programs specifically for women, designed to build their leadership skills and foster their interest in leadership roles.
Conclusion
Considering that much of the research from the 1990s and earlier placed men in a more favorable position in terms of leadership, it appears that the world of work has been changing, becoming more balanced in terms of gender. As previously emphasized, men often had an advantage due to their actions and societal expectations regarding leadership and gender. However, psychological studies have shown that the most successful companies have both men and women in high-level positions, creating a balance of leadership styles. Workers need both authority and understanding to feel comfortable.
Moreover, women tend to have a more collective approach. They intuitively recognize which employees need more support and demonstrate greater understanding. Additionally, women are often more relationship-oriented compared to men, who are typically more task-oriented. A study repeated in 2001 by Eagly and Johannesen-Schmidt yielded similar results and conclusions.
However, a contradictory study suggests that the only significant difference between male and female leadership lies in the decision-making process. Differences in other areas, such as task orientation, motivation, and leadership styles, are not significant enough to conclude that leadership varies substantially between genders.
According to the 2009 McKinsey Report, women’s leadership style is more people-based and can be described as role modeling, unlike men’s style.
It was also stated that women provide clear expectations and rewards. Similarly, a 2012 study by Zenger Folkman demonstrates that women are rated as more competent when taking initiative, focusing on self-development, demonstrating honesty, and driving for results.
The Source of Gender Differences in Leadership
The source of gender differences in leadership remains a subject of study. According to research by Gita Patel, men and women may have different leadership styles due to variations in their personal spheres. Research suggests that women are generally more risk-averse, have higher social sensitivity, and react based on feelings. Men, on the other hand, are generally more overconfident, more optimistic, and react based on action. Key personal differences include confidence, social risk, emotions, and actions.
Regarding confidence and self-efficacy, men tend to outperform women.
In 2001, Barber and Odean found that men trade in greater volumes than women, resulting in greater losses. The fact that women are less confident in financial and business matters can lead to lower levels of profitability. In terms of social risk, even though women are considered more risk-averse, they tend to take more risks in social situations than men.
Another personal difference that may affect leadership style is emotions and actions. According to Harshman and Paivio, women react more emotionally than men, especially in negative situations. Therefore, when an immediate response is required, men tend to react with action, while women tend to react with feeling.
It is also believed that women may lack adequate traits and predispositions to hold high and prestigious positions because they are perceived as too emotional, chaotic, and not sufficiently assertive.
“People have similar beliefs about leaders and men, but dissimilar beliefs about leaders and women,” as women are traditionally seen as caring, people-oriented, warm, and nice, while leaders are expected to be assertive, tough, result-oriented, and confident.
This combination of characteristics can create a mismatch, resulting in a poorer evaluation of women as leaders. There is also greater acceptance for men to be authoritarian than for women. When a female leader chooses an authoritarian style, she may be seen as aggressive, and her leadership may be rejected because women are stereotypically perceived as the “nice ones.”
Moreover, the fact that women are often given more responsibilities related to raising children and managing the household, along with the socially accepted stereotypical role of women being far from leadership positions, affects women themselves, limiting their opportunities to pursue a career path.
Even though some may defend such stereotypes, claiming that men are indeed better leaders, facts and numbers often prove the opposite. For example, research by the Peterson Institute for International Economics revealed a correlation between the number of women in C-suite positions and the profits of companies. Companies with at least 30% women in leadership positions show at least a 1% point increase in net profit margin compared to companies without female leaders.
It turns out that the most successful companies have more female leaders than less profitable organizations. Notably, Apple, which has the highest percentage of women in senior management positions (29%), is at the top of this list, although this ratio remains unbalanced.
Gender diversity, as well as racial diversity, improves the overall performance of a company, as people with different skills and views are able to cooperate in the decision-making process, leading to more creative solutions and the implementation of new and innovative methods.
The Impact of Leadership Styles on Organizations
In the past, most women who succeeded in becoming leaders did so by adopting the male style of leadership. However, there are now indications that women are beginning to influence organizations using their own leadership styles. Rosener (1990) studied what she calls the second generation of women leaders. The first generation of female directors had to follow the same rules of conduct for success that applied to men.
This new generation is making its way “not by adopting the style and habits that have been successful for men, but by… taking advantage of what is proper to their socialization as women and creating a different path to the top” (pp. 119-20). Most of these women work in medium-sized organizations that have experienced rapid growth and change, organizations that have been more hospitable to women, and non-traditional management styles.
Rosener borrowed concepts first used by Burns (1978) to describe the different leadership styles he found. The men in the study were typically “transactional” leaders, meaning they see work performance as a series of transactions with subordinates. These transactions involve exchanging rewards for services rendered or punishments for inadequate performance.
Rosener found that men are more likely to use the power that comes from their organizational position. The women in his study were characterized as “transformational” leaders. They have the ability to get their subordinates to transform their own interests into the interests of the larger group. Women attribute their power not to their position within the organization, but to their own personal characteristics (remembering what Dr. Alice Eagly said).
Rosener (1990) attributes these women’s behaviors to two factors: their socialization and their professional careers. The average age of the women in the study was fifty-one, meaning they had life experiences that had been affected by gender.
As Rosener states, until the 1960s, men and women received very different messages about what was expected of them.
While men were supposed to be competitive, tough, decisive, and in control, women were allowed to be cooperative, emotional, and supportive. This is one of the reasons why women today are more likely to be transformative leaders. The other reason is that women’s career experiences have been different from those of men, who were more likely to have held line positions. Lacking formal authority over others, these women had to find other ways to achieve their goals.
Many other management experts have pointed out that today’s organizations need to be transformed if they are to succeed in the future.
Much has been written about the demand for new management skills, and there is a widely shared perception that vertical command and control skills must be complemented, or in some cases replaced, by a skill set that includes bargaining and mediation.
Expert opinions on gender differences in leadership style have evolved in recent decades. Initially, there was the idea that men…
Training Programs
Despite improvements in societal norms and the reduction of institutional barriers, the scarcity of women in leadership positions persists.
Indeed, there is evidence that women are less likely than men to seek elected political leadership positions, and female students are less likely to run for student government in college.
Consequently, many corporations, NGOs, and colleges now implement leadership training programs specifically for women, designed to build their leadership skills and foster their interest in leadership roles.