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In a field study in department stores it was investigated whether the gender-typing of the organizational context influences leadership behaviour of male and female managers. Shop assistants in masculine- to feminine-typed departments described their manager in terms of task-oriented, people-oriented, and transformational leadership styles. As predicted, no gender differences in leadership styles were found. The gender-typing of departments did not affect perceived leadership styles. Another contextual variable, the site of the department store, unexpectedly influenced leader behaviour.
One of the most striking differences concerning male and female managers is that there are not that many of the latter category. Although female participation in the workforce has gradually increased over the last decades, a proportional growth in the number of women in the managerial ranks of organizations has not occurred. The labour market has been, and still is, highly segregated by sex. Women are concentrated in professions that have traditionally been held by women and are underrepresented in `masculine-typed' jobs and in higher positions (International Labour Organization, 1997).
One of the explanations offered for the slow advancement of women in leadership positions, especially in the higher, male-dominated regions of organizations, is that women lack the appropriate leadership style. Female managers in male-dominated environments are expected to use leadership styles that suit the `men's world' in order to maintain their status. So-called `masculine modes of management' (Loden, 1985) are characterized by competitiveness, hierarchical authority and emphasis on control. Not surprisingly, these qualities are almost synonymous with characteristics considered typical for men (Broverman, Vogel, Broverman, Clarkson, & Rosenkrantz, 1972; Deaux & Lewis, 1984). Schein and her colleagues (Brenner, Tomkiewicz, & Schein, 1989; Schein, 1973; Schein & Mueller, 1992; Schein, Mueller, & Jacobson, 1989) have continuously shown that successful managers are indeed perceived to be very similar to men and not to women, despite celebrations of so-called `feminine modes of management' (Loden, 1985; Peters, 1990). At the same time, female managers face normative pressures to behave 'feminine' (Cialdini & Trost, 1998; Eagly, Wood, & Diekman, 2000). Various authors suggest that the balancing this requires can have repercussion on the well-being of female managers (Gardiner & Tiggermann, 1999) and makes it harder for women to reach the top (Kanter, 1977; Powell, 1988).
Gender stereotypes and leadership styles
Leadership styles...