gender diversity and leadership

Diversity and Leadership

Leadership Theories 2FE017Fall 2014

Yuliya Ponomarevayuliya.ponomareva@lnu.se

Why to study diversity?

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Organizational Diversity - “any significant difference that distinguishes one individual from another” (Williams and O’Reilly, 1998 p. 102).

Multiple Forms of Diversity

- Ethnic diversity- Gender - Age - Education

- Sexual orientation

- Socioeconomic level

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Relative Depth of Diversity Characteristics

Surface level elements of diversity (demographic diversity) tend to become less influential over time

Deeper level elements of diversity

- Socio-economic background- World view- Values

How do we react on diversity?

- Social Identity theory- Self-categorization theory- Similarity attraction theory

- Opposites attract?

Social attributions – a potential reason for discrimination• Organizations consist of groups with different power,

status and prestige (Hogg, Terry, 2000)

• Ingroup – outgroup bias

• Dispersonification

Empirical evidence (Park and Westphal, 2013): Demographic minority CEOs are especially likely to receive

blame from the media and other CEOs for poor performance of their firms.

“Matthew effect” – individuals with higher social status are able to derive greater benefits for their achievements than individuals with lower social status.

“Attribution error” – a tendency to evaluate in-group members more positively than the out-group members.

Conclusions: Minority CEOs are not only disadvantaged in terms of access to the corporate elite, they continue to be disadvantaged during their careers as CEOs.

“DOUBLE-EDGED SWORD” of DiversityTeam diversity Studies:

Creativity vs. Conflict

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Demographic Faultlines

© X96lee15/https://colleges.niche.com/ CC-BY-SA-3.0

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Interaction effects of diversity characteristics

Increased Alienation from the society

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Practical implications

Managing diversity in organizations:

Multicultural organizations: good, bad, or just not managed effectively?

Law on discrimination in Sweden: 7 criteria(Diskrimineringslagen (2008:567)

Gender

Age

• Transgender expression

• Ethnicity

• Disability

• Sexual orientation• Religion or view of belief

Leader’s role in managing diversity

“It is based on the articulation and implementation of explicit values that promote an agenda of equality,

fairness and respect.” (Walker et al., 2005: 3)

• Recognition: job selection, equal treatment

• Conflict suppression

• Avoiding biases: breaking the currently dominating ”white, male, hetherosexual, middle class, middle aged” view on leadership (Coleman, 2012).

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What is Gender?

Gender is a social phenomenon that includes social, psychological, cultural, and behavioral aspects of being a man or a woman (Prasad, 2005).

Sex is a biological criteria applied to classify people as males or females (West and Zimmerman, 1987)

“No country in the world has achieved genderequality.” (Global Gender Gap Report, 2010)

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Causes of Gender Inequality

- Implicit theories about gender

- Gender stereotypes - Role expectations

Culture and traditions

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Long history of “gender-neutral” view on organization

Hegemony of heterosexual male values and male monopoly on agenda setting (Hearn and Parkin, 1987)

Gender research started to develop along the areas where women were persistently excluded: art, literature, history

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The Rise of Gender Research

Labour market shortage

Women’s access to education

Improved childcare

Feminist movement

Ontario Chamber of Commercehttps://www.flickr.com/CC BY-ND 2.0

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Feminist Perspective

The research within feministic tradition is largely concerned with the issues of inequality and exploitation of women.

Different research streams in feminism (Prasad, 2005):

liberal feminismexperience feminism radical feminism poststructural feminism.

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Some Statistics

21.8 % female representation in parliment

9 female heads of the state, 15 the heads fo the goverment (unwomen.org)

Gender Gap Index 2012 (World Bank, 2012)

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Salary Gap Index (Catalys,2006)

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Why so few women reach the top?(Catalyst, 2006)

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Sex-based Discrimination

Glass Ceiling is the invisible barrier preventing women from achieving high positions within an organization.

Main Reasons: Social Stigma Higher standards of performance Limited access to social and professional networks Work-Family conflict

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Path dependence of Gender Issues

Gender issues tend to be persistent over time.

Change in Male roles

- New occupations- Child care obligations- Clothing, perfume- Toys for children

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Effective leadership

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Differences between male and female leadership styles

Mixed and inconsistent results

No evidence that leaders of one gender are more effective than leaders of another one

(Eagly, Karau, & Makhijani, 1995)

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“there are likely to be excellent, average, and poor managerial performers within each sex.” (Powell, 1990, p.74)

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Research Indications

Women are more prone to practice democratic, participative leadership styles

Women are more strictly evaluated in a male-dominated environment

(Eagly and Johnson, 1995)

http://www.ted.com/talks/sheryl_sandberg_why_we_have_too_few_women_leaders#t-880752

More TEDtalks on Diversity:

http://www.ted.com/talks/thandie_newton_embracing_otherness_embracing_myself#t-799877

TEDtalk on Gender Diversity

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Simple inclusion of diversity in the workforce is not a solution by itself!

Diversity issues must be recognized and cared for (Billing and Sundin, 2006)

Legal support for victims of discrimination has to be developed and enforced

Policies and institutions of gender equality which would help women to balance their professional and family life must be enforced and monitored

Equal employment opportunities

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Conclusions

The concept of diversity is multidimensionalGender is a socially constructed phenomenonGender is an important factor within organizationsGender inequality remains to be persistent within social structure:

unequal pay distribution, companies are not fully capitalizing on women's’ potential, few women in leadership positions.

Effective Leadership incorporates both traditionally viewed as masculine and feminine characteristics

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References:Billing, Y.D. & Sundin, E. (2006). From managing equality to managing diversity: a critical Scandinavian perspective on gender and workplace

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111-134.Byrne, D. (1971). The attraction paradigm. New York: Academic Press. Coleman, M. (2012). Leadership and diversity, Educational Management Administration and Leadership, 40: 592. Eagly, A. H., Karau, S., & Makhijani, M. (1995). Gender and the effectiveness of leaders: A meta-analysis. Journal of Personality and Social

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