1. Foundations of Leadership Studies
4/19/2017
Gender and Leadership
Lecture 1: Introduction to the Course

2. Foundations of Leadership Studies
4/19/2017
Outline
Class Debate
Gender and Leadership Style
Class Exercise: Breaking the Glass Ceiling
Stereotypes and Discrimination of Women Leaders
Assignment 3
Lecture 1: Introduction to the Course

3. Foundations of Leadership Studies
4/19/2017
Class Debate
“Women lead differently than men”
Lecture 1: Introduction to the Course

4. Leader styles and gender
Foundations of Leadership Studies
4/19/2017
Leader styles and gender
Let’s take a look at what the empirical research tells us…
Leadership style findings from experimental settings tend to be gender stereotypic
Gender stereotypic behavior is observed
Organizational studies primarily do not show these gender differences
However, women’s styles are more democratic than men’s…
Might this reflect special legitimacy problems?
Lecture 1: Introduction to the Course

5. Leader styles and gender
Foundations of Leadership Studies
4/19/2017
Leader styles and gender
Study by Eagly and Johannesen-Schmidt
Women scored higher on transformational scales and contingent reward scales
Men scored higher on management by exception and laissez faire leadership
Women were more effective than men
What implications do these findings have for the effectiveness of female and male leaders?
Lecture 1: Introduction to the Course

6. Foundations of Leadership Studies
4/19/2017
Women Leaders
Women are underrepresented in elite leadership positions
Although…
Women represent 47% US workforce
Women now occupy a considerable portion of middle management positions
Women earn 51% of the bachelor degrees and 46% of all advanced degrees
They still only hold…
About 4% of top officer positions in Fortune 500 companies
3% of the most highly paid officer positions
.4% of CEO positions
Only 6 women CEO in Fortune 500 Companies
Glass ceiling
Lecture 1: Introduction to the Course

7. Exercise: Breaking the Glass Ceiling
Foundations of Leadership Studies
4/19/2017
Exercise: Breaking the Glass Ceiling
In your group, explore what forces are at work behind the aforementioned data. Compose a list of factors that contribute to women’s relative lack of top leadership roles. Then devise some recommended steps to make the workplace and its leadership more equitable along the lines of gender.
Lecture 1: Introduction to the Course

8. Foundations of Leadership Studies
4/19/2017
Role Congruity Theory
The descriptive and prescriptive aspects of the female gender stereotype are incongruent with the leadership role
That incongruity leads to prejudice against women leaders.
Lecture 1: Introduction to the Course

9. Foundations of Leadership Studies
4/19/2017
Stereotypes
Cognitive structures that influence the way individuals process information regarding groups & group members
Descriptive
Describe stereotypic beliefs about the attributes of women and men
Prescriptive
Prescribe how men and women should, or ought to, be
Lecture 1: Introduction to the Course

10. Descriptive Stereotypes Heilman, 2001
Foundations of Leadership Studies
4/19/2017
Descriptive Stereotypes Heilman, 2001
Men
Women
AGENTIC
Aggressive
Forceful
Independent
Decisive
COMMUNAL
Kind
Helpful
Sympathetic
Concerned for others
Lecture 1: Introduction to the Course

11. Prescriptive Stereotypes
Foundations of Leadership Studies
4/19/2017
Prescriptive Stereotypes
Not only should individuals conform to their stereotypic description, but they should also avoid behaviors that are incompatible with the stereotype
Ideal women and men are described in stereotypic terms
Women and men’s ideal selves are stereotypically differentiated
People hold stereotypically sex differentiated attitudes about the roles and responsibilities of women and men in society
Lecture 1: Introduction to the Course

12. Good Leadership is a Manly Business
Foundations of Leadership Studies
4/19/2017
Good Leadership is a Manly Business
…or so many think….
Role congruity theory maintains that the agentic qualities deemed necessary in the leadership role are incompatible with the predominantly communal qualities associated with women
Leadership prototypes are more congruent with male stereotypes than female stereotypes
Good managers are described predominantly by masculine attributes
Stereotypically male qualities are thought necessary to being a successful executive
Lecture 1: Introduction to the Course

13. Foundations of Leadership Studies
4/19/2017
Hewlett-Packard CEO
Carly Fiorina
Minority Leader
Nancy Pelosi.
Faces “cynics and doubters” who don’t believe a woman is capable of running Hewlett Packard
"There are some people here who probably don't want a woman as the No. 1. They are comfortable with women in the No. 2 position.“
–Legislative Aide, San Francisco Chronicle
Lecture 1: Introduction to the Course

14. Biases in the Perception and Evaluation of Women Leaders
Foundations of Leadership Studies
4/19/2017
Biases in the Perception and Evaluation of Women Leaders
Two competing expectations:
those based on gender stereotypes and those based on leadership roles
Two forms of prejudice
The descriptive components of the gender role and the leader role leads to perceptions that women are less qualified for elite leadership positions.
The prescriptive aspects of the female gender role leads to less favorable evaluations of women leaders when they demonstrate behaviors that fulfill prescriptions of the leader role
These two forms of prejudice lead to
Less favorable attitudes toward female than male leaders
Greater difficulty for women to attain top leadership roles
Greater difficulty for these women to be viewed as effective in these roles.
Lecture 1: Introduction to the Course

15. Biases in the Perception and Evaluation of Women Leaders
Foundations of Leadership Studies
4/19/2017
Biases in the Perception and Evaluation of Women Leaders
Empirical evidence:
Male politicians seen as better suited for pursuing the more agentic tasks of public policy
Directing the military, the economy, foreign relations
Female political leaders as more appropriately suited for more communal tasks
Helping the poor, working for peace
While women managers are seen as more similar to successful managers than women in general, they are rated as more different from successful middle managers than are male managers
Lecture 1: Introduction to the Course

16. Biases in the Perception and Evaluation of Women Leaders
Foundations of Leadership Studies
4/19/2017
Biases in the Perception and Evaluation of Women Leaders
More empirical evidence:
Women are presumed to be less competent leaders than men and less worthy of leadership positions
Eagly, Makhijani, and Klonsky’s (1992) meta-analysis revealed that male and female leaders are evaluated differently.
Male and female leaders are evaluated equally favorably when using a stereotypically feminine leadership style (democratic)
Female leaders were evaluated unfavorably when they used a stereotypically male leadership style (autocratic and directive)
Women were particularly devalued when the raters were men.
In sum, substantial empirical evidence reveals that stereotypes can significantly alter the perception and evaluation of female leaders
Lecture 1: Introduction to the Course

17. An Empirical Test of Role Congruity Theory
Foundations of Leadership Studies
4/19/2017
An Empirical Test of Role Congruity Theory
Assignment 3
Imagine that you are a researcher and your next project is to empirically test one aspect of role congruity theory. In one page or less, describe at least one testable hypothesis (that is, a specific testable proposition) that can be derived from role congruity theory. Additionally, discuss a specific way in which a researcher could feasibly go about testing your hypothesis.
Lecture 1: Introduction to the Course