An exploration of stereotypical beliefs about leadership styles: Is transformational leadership a route to women's promotion?

Abstract

An exploration of stereotypical beliefs about leadership stylesVinkenburg, C.J.; van Engen, Marloes; Eagly, A.H.; Johannesen-Schmidt, M.C. Published in:The Leadership Quarterly Document version:Publisher's PDF, also known as Version of record General rightsCopyright and moral rights for the publications made accessible in the public portal are retained by the authors and/or other copyright owners and it is a condition of accessing publications that users recognise and abide by the legal requirements associated with these rights.-Users may download and print one copy of any publication from the public portal for the purpose of private study or research -You may not further distribute the material or use it for any profit-making activity or commercial gain -You may freely distribute the URL identifying the publication in the public portal Take down policyIf you believe that this document breaches copyright, please contact us providing details, and we will remove access to the work immediately and investigate your claim. Two experimental studies examined whether gender stereotypes about the transformational, transactional, and laissez-faire leadership styles constitute an advantage or an impediment for women's access to leadership positions in organizations. The first study investigated the accuracy of descriptive gender stereotypes about leadership styles, showing that participants accurately believe that women display more transformational and contingent reward behaviors, and fewer management-by-exception and laissez-faire behaviors than men. The second study investigated prescriptive stereotypes about the importance of leadership styles for the promotion of women and men to different levels in organizations. Inspirational motivation was perceived as more important for men than women and especially important for promotion to CEO. In contrast, individualized consideration was perceived as more important for women than men and especially important for promotion to senior management. Consistent with these stereotypical beliefs about leadership, women interested in promotion may be well advised to blend individualized consideration and inspirational motivation behaviors.

25 Years On: Reflecting on the Past and Looking to the Future in Gender and Management Research

“…As such, this body of work is equally important today and researchers (e.g. Billing, 2011;Cabrera, 2009;Corby and Stanworth, 2009;Maxwell, 2009;Priola and Brannen, 2009;Vanderbroeck, 2010;Vinkenburg et al, 2011) continue to be intrigued by women's accounts of their gendered experiences in management and the processes which both facilitate and limit their career opportunities.…”

The effect of gender on negotiation behaviour

“…Reuvers et al, 2008;Eagly and Johnson, 1990) have shown that women and men (although equally successful as leaders) have di erent leadership styles -while women are more focused on employee well-being, men focus on domination over others and solving tasks, which corresponds to stereotypical male and female behaviour. A recent study by Vinkenburg et al (2011) investigated stereotypes about the importance of leadership styles for the promotion of women and men to di erent levels in organizations. Inspirational motivation (optimism and excitement about the future) was seen as more important for men than women, particularly for a promotion to CEO.…”

Challenges to Women’s Participation in Senior Administrative Positions in Iranian Higher Education

“…In this research, some of the challenges that women administrators experienced were resonated with most previous literature from around the world; most of the challenges include challenges regarding women's prescribed duties and their professional academic demands and heavy workload as lecturers and administrators (Luke et al, 2003;Lee, 2001;Letherby, 2006;Eagly, 2007;Madsen, 2008Madsen, , 2012Neale & Özkanlı, 2010;Eagly et al, 2011;Ramsay and White, 2011;Blackwoodet al, 2011;Nguyen, 2013;Morley, 2014;Baruch et al, 2014;Peterson, 2016). However, the results of this study make a valuable contribution to the discussion, because the findings reveal the specific influence of socio-cultural values in the Iranian context on challenges for women academicians in senior administrative positions.…”

“…Many personal attributes which are more likely to help women in accomplishing duties in administrative positions include collaborative style Madsen, 2008), more people-oriented (Eagly et al, 2001;Vinkenburg et al, 2011), assertiveness (Williams, 1993), adaptability, determination, self-motivation, confidence, and independence (Wolverton & Gmelch, 2002;Lam, 2006;Ismail & Rasdi, 2006;Madsen, 2008;Wajcman, 2013;Oplatka, 2006;Eagly & Carli, 2007;Heilman, 2001;Schein, 2001), and having a higher commitments (Johnsrud & Heck, 1994;Lam, 2009;Wajcman, 2013). Many scholars demonstrated that women having the above mentioned personal attributes are more likely to tolerate higher responsibility career positions in higher education.…”