Leadership Traits

Abstract

Women are gradually assuming important leadership roles in the social, business and political spheres. For this reason, the difference in leadership style and characteristics of men and women leaders has been the subject of controversial discussions both in society and in academia. Even though it is a current subject, there are few studies in the literature about it. This research aims to identify the characteristics and style of leaders to understand whether gender influences leadership style. For that, an integrative systematic review was developed in the Scopus, Web of Science and Scielo databases, between 2010 and 2020, chosen and analyzed 22 publications. Characteristics and leadership styles of men and women were found and related. It was found that gender may not have a direct influence on the style and characteristics of leaders, as they are influenced by the gender stereotype they assume. A woman can have more masculine style and leadership characteristics if she adopts the male stereotype, and vice versa. The results point to the need for more research on leadership style and gender, especially the development of more comprehensive quantitative studies and also qualitative research that focus on the experience of women and men leaders in organizations.