U.S.A.M.V. Bucuresti I.M.A.P.A.

Facultatea de Management  grupa 8219

Studenti: Oprisan Cezar si Diana Velicu

Men vs Women's leadership abilities

We’ve all heard the claims, the theories, and the

speculation about the ways leadership styles vary

between women and men.

When studying perception and effectiveness of men and

women in leadership, in multiple studies, we found that

men and women are perceived better by subordinates and

are seen as more effective leaders when in positions in

accordance to traditional gender roles.

In a study conducted in 1990, it was found that women “lose authority... if they employ feminine styles of leadership in male-dominated roles. A meta-analysis conducted later yielded similar results in which men and women are both perceived as more effective leaders in stereotypical roles and both are found ineffective in non-traditional roles.

In 2011 a survey was made and here are the results:

Women are rated higher in fully 12 of the 16

competencies that go into outstanding leadership.

And two of the traits where women outscored men to the

highest degree — taking initiative and driving for results

— have long been thought of as particularly male

strengths.

Men outscored women significantly on only one management competence in this survey — the ability to

develop a strategic perspective.

Here is the result of the survey:

Women are becoming more prevalent in the workforce

over the past two decades, especially in management and

leadership positions, these stereotypes are changing and

various conclusions about gender effects on leadership

are being made.

Then, why are we not engaging and fully employing these exemplary women leaders?

Many studies have been made in the last years but I think that an important thing that makes the difference is the nationality of the participants. As recent as 2011, Andersen and Hansson conducted a study to determine if there were significant differences in leadership behaviors as claimed by previous studies and authors. Andersen and Hansen studied public managers on leadership styles, decision-making styles, and motivation profiles and found that the only differences were in decision-making styles, but none were great enough to be considered significant

Additionally, in a 2010 study, men and women leaders in a

large German sample were found to be the same with respect to

transformational leadership behavior.

Cliff (2005) studied male and female business owners, who are

free to manage as they see fit, as opposed to middle managers

who are more constrained, and found that no significant

differences exist in men and women's leadership behavior.

According to the researchers, the findings "challenge the

gender-stereotypic argument that a leader's sex plays an

important role when it comes to organizational design and

management.

Resources:

https://hbr.org/2012/03/a-study-in-leadership-women-do

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sex_differences_in_leadership