Sex Differences, Organizational Level, and Superiors' Evaluation of Managerial Leadership

Abstract

Sex differences and leadership research literature includes many findings concerning subordinate evaluations of managers' performance, but little is known about superiors' perceptions of male and female managers. This study explored superiors' evaluations of the leadership skills of their managers to determine if sex differences exist. A sample of 400 male and female managers, representing middle and upper organizational levels, were rated on Benchmarks, a multirater feedback instrument developed at the Center for Creative Leadership. A 2 x 2 MANOVA detected no interaction effect between sex of the manager and organization level. Main effect analyses revealed one difference: Female managers were rated higher on 1 of 16 scales, putting people at ease. Upper level managers were evaluated higher than middle level managers by their superiors on 8 scales. Results indicate that sex differences are not salient in distinguishing managerial leadership ability once the manager has crossed a threshold of organizational experience.

Behavioral dimensions of public relations leadership in organizations

“…Previous leadership studies have reported mixed results in regard to sex difference in leadership style: some studies (e.g. Knott and Natalle, 1997;Thompson, 2000) have found no gender difference in leadership styles whereas other studies (e.g. Druskat, 1994;Bass et al, 1996) have.…”

Gender, managerial level, transformational leadership and work satisfaction

“…Knott and Natalle (1997) found that position influenced leadership ratings; upper level managers were rated higher by their supervisors on eight of 16 leadership behavior scales than middle-level managers. As previously mentioned, since clerical employees differed from managerial employees in work satisfaction (Mottaz, 1986;Mason, 1995), it is probable that higher level managers, with potentially greater autonomy and rewards, differ in work satisfaction from lower level managers.…”

Leadership and Gender in Public Relations: Perceived Effectiveness of Transformational and Transactional Leadership Styles

“…Druskat (1994) found that female subordinates rated 160 ALDOORY AND TOTH female leaders as displaying significantly more transformational behaviors and significantly fewer transactional behaviors than male leaders who were rated by male subordinates. Some studies have shown that subordinates rated women as being less effective than men (Knott & Natalle, 1997;Korabik, Baril, & Watson, 1993). Eagly, Makhijani, and Klonsky (1992) conducted a meta-analysis of experiments and concluded that female leaders were evaluated slightly more negatively than male leaders and that male participants had a stronger tendency to devalue female leaders.…”

“…Knott and Natalle (1997) examined perceptions of managerial leadership by superiors. Results revealed no significant sex differences except for 1 out of 15 scales-women managers were rated higher on "putting people at ease" than men were (p. 533).…”