Is It Safe Places Where A Person Can Try Out New Roles?

When analyzing leadership characteristics and styles, there are considerable differences in gender characteristics that are identified. Men are considered to have “masculine” traits, such as being

Leadership - The perception of excellence in business leadership needs to be re-examined. This requires challenging the norms that determine leadership eligibility. Are there drivers that perpetuate a leadership incumbency that excludes females? What is the basis for these drivers?

One identified contributor to women's slower than expected assent into leadership is the persistence of assumptions and stereotypes that women are intrinsically "communal" or "dependent" and "passive", and therefore, lack the capacity to succeed as leaders. (National Academy of Sciences National Academy of Engineering Institute of Medicine of the National Academies, 2006 as cited by Isaac, Kaatz & Carnes, 2012).

Northouse (2016a) describes the development of female leadership. It was once a question if women could lead; yes, they can, but a gender gap exists. Differences between men and women that affect their job attainment. Although men and women may have equal access to entry and lower level positions, men hold more prestigious upper level jobs. Why does this occur? Generally, women have invested less than men in human capital: job history, training, and school. Women invest more time than men in taking care of family. As a result, men obtain jobs that require more responsibilities (Northouse, 2016a).

This journal seeks to discuss recent identifications and explanations of gender differences in leadership, behaviour & effectiveness in organizations. The models are reviewed based on their contribution and arguments, contextual issues of international and national as well, stereotype and perception of superior and subordinate roles are reviewed and discussed. Rational differences are reviewed and resolved in the context of gender in the perceptions of leadership effectiveness.

In order to become a leader first a women needs to know who she is

For instance, to support the first argument, research should be conducted on women leaders of specific cultures, Smith and Reed initially presented statistics related to female employment. For instance, in the United States approximately 50% of management positions are held by women (Smith & Reed, 2010). Despite the growth in the number of women leadership roles, gender biases continue to exist. For example, in Pakistan women rarely receive support to become leaders because of the belief that they should be at home (Smith & Reed, 2010). As in the previous scenario, these biases are often the result of cultural norms/beliefs, therefore, differences within leadership structures will exist within each subgroup. Smith and Reed (2010) conclude this argument by emphasizing that a greater understanding of women’s leadership influence within each subgroup would “unleash the potential of all citizens in promoting national economic health and prosperity” (p.

For my research question I will be asking: “How is America making progress on gender equity?” Fundamentally, I believe that women are still misrepresented, and are still facing many challenges in the workplace, especially in the business world. The gender stereotypes play a considerable role in the way the society sees women as leaders. However, it will be judicious to consider the small but noticeable changes that have been made over the past years concerning gender equality in the American workplace.

To understand differences between male and female leaders, it perhaps is best to understand how these differences are perceived. The perception of an individual can greatly differ depending on the viewpoint of the observer. A subject who is both educated and articulate can be defined by an observer as a worthy and accomplished individual. The observer in this case has assigned positive qualities to describe the subject. The same educated and articulate individual can be defined as conceited and stuck-up by a second observer. The second observer has assigned negative qualities to describe the individual. Suppose an unbiased scientific study concludes the educated and articulate individual is in fact worthy, accomplished, yet conceited and stuck-up, how is this possible and what does this say about the perception of the observers? According to Ashleigh Shelby Rosette, assistant professor at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business, perceptions can and do change within the context of executive business; “successful women may face changing stereotypes as they move up the corporate ladder” (Rosette, 2010). Rosette conducted a study in which she had students evaluate male and female CEO’s. Though female top executives and middle managers were viewed less favorably, at the CEO level they were viewed more favorably than their male counterparts.

As the author points out, the figures on women in leadership is staggering in disparity. The article takes time to focus on identifying and highlighting reasons what makes a successful leader. Having an opportunity to attend a leadership meeting, in which we discussed improving inclusion at my company, this article presented many of the same reasons that as a company we tried to understand, “Why do we not have more women in leadership?” This article really underscores that in order for a business to survive and grow or for that matter, any organization to flourish you need to find individuals that embody the above-mentioned leadership traits not just seniority.

Leadership is considered a social influence process by which a leader seeks the voluntary participation of followers in an effort to reach an organizations goals (Budworth and Mann, 2010). Furthermore, it is also a process where one person exercises social influence over other members of the group (Budworth and Mann, 2010). Leadership is also a process that involves leaders influencing their followers towards a specific goal achievement (Budworth and Mann, 2010). The concept of leadership is extremely broad and consists of countless theories that apply different concepts to explain what leadership is. The topic of research for the purposes of this paper is the role that gender differences play in transformational leadership in correlation to job satisfaction. This area needs some extra research as many of the studies reviewed within the literature review and outside of this paper have not had enough female leaders to participate in studies. Now, more and more female leaders are emerging and taking on leadership roles, which make it important to study this topic further. Additionally, according to many studies, more leaders and managers are becoming transformational leaders, thus it is important to study the impact that the transformational leadership style has on individuals or employees.

Aspects of gender roles that are especially relevant to understanding leadership, pertain to agentic and communal attributes (Eagly, Karau, & Makhijani, 1995). Agentic characteristics are attributed more strongly to men than women. For example, males tend to be more aggressive, ambitious, dominant, forceful, independent, daring, self-confident, and competitive. In employment settings, agentic behaviors might include speaking assertively, competing for attention, influencing others, initiating activity directed to assigned tasks, and making problem-focused suggestions. Communal characteristics are attributed more to women than men, and describes women to be more concerned with the welfare of other people. For example, women tend to be more affectionate, helpful, kind, sympathetic, interpersonally sensitive, nurturing, and gentle. In employment settings, communal behaviors might include speaking tentatively, not drawing attention to oneself, accepting others’ direction, supporting and soothing others, and contributing to the solution of relational and interpersonal problems (Klenke, 2003). To address the question of whether men and women have different leadership styles, Eagly, Karau, & Makhijani (1995) conducted a review of leadership studies. These studies of leadership styles showed women to be both interpersonally oriented and self-governing, and men to be both task-oriented and dictatorial.

More and more women are rising to the leadership challenge, even in some of the most male-dominated industries. The increase in the number of women attending college, the increasing number of women in the workplace or starting their own business has demonstrated to men who own businesses that women can be both managers and mothers, thus showing their male counterpart that women can in fact "do it all".

Gender and leadership? Leadership and gender? A journey through the landscape of theories start off by giving a statistical summary of percentages of women in higher echelon position in the workforce. With this information in the intro, the article quickly highlights the limited representation of women in exclusive positions in Fortune 500 companies. Next, the paper examines multiple theories why this problem exists in the workforce. The four theories examined are biology and sex; gender role; causal factors; and attitudinal drivers (Appelbaum et al, 2003, p. 44).

• The objective is to identify and understand the underlying obstacles and potentials of women’s effective leadership and advancement.