Women 's Leadership Styles : Gender Stereotypes Start At Home, And A Woman 's Self Concept

Confidence, integrity, purpose, empowerment, determination, and courage. These are some of the many words associated with leadership. Regardless of gender, these words apply to all leaders. It is no longer a question of what women leaders are, but rather why there are not women leaders. Today’s society focuses on fulfilling leadership positions with males, not because females do not have the same skills and knowledge as men, but because people associate men with leaders. There are various daily obstacles that women face in the attempt towards leadership roles including prejudice beliefs, resistance due to stereotypes, leadership styles, family life demands and underinvestment in social capital. We have found that through depictions in the media, women are not seen as effective leaders in the same sense as men. These media findings and various research techniques provide evidence for the lack of female presence in leadership positions.

Those who agree that gender is a social construct would also argue that gendered behaviour is not innate, and that it is learnt throughout development. Gender identity is defined as “the way in which being feminine or masculine, woman or man, becomes an internalized part of the way we think about ourselves” (Ryle, 2014). The idea of masculinity and femininity and the strong distinction between the two are taught to us throughout our lives. An individual’s earliest exposure to the concept of gender comes from parental influence. Many studies show that parents socialize their children from birth by creating distinct environments for boys and girls and treating son’s and daughter’s differently. For instance, parents are more likely to assign domestic chores such as cooking, mending clothes and doing laundry to daughters, whereas sons are more likely to be assigned maintenance chores such as mowing lawn, small household repairs and carrying out garbage (Lackey, 1989). Parents may also use more emotive language when talking to their daughter’s and might encourage certain interests such as math and science in son’s, by purchasing more math and science toys and committing to other promotive activities (Jacobs & Bleeker, 2004; Leaper, 1998; Tenenbaum &

There is insurmountable evidence that points to the idea that gender stereotypes is largely accomplished through social factors. Scholars in both sociological and psychological fields believe that gender is constructed through the modeling of appropriate behaviors and the use of systematic rewards and punishments. Evidence also shows that many aspects of gender are not innate, as evidenced by children who do not exhibit a gender specific preference in friends, clothing or toys when placed in gender neutral settings. Only after negative reactions from parents, teachers, or friends do many children begin to take on the gender roles society comes to see as appropriate for them.

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).

From the moment they are born, children are exposed to myriad of rigid gender stereotypes. Even as newborns, children are carried out of the hospital in a pink blanket if they are female or a blue blanket if they are male. As children grow older, gender roles are reinforced by family members, the media, and other children and adults in the child’s life. As toddlers, girls often are given dolls and books about princess and boys are often given trucks and books about heroes. If a girl tracks mud across the floor she would probably get scolded by a parent, but if her brother did the same thing he would probably get a laugh or a “boys will be boys.”

A question that a lot of people, especially women, seem to wonder is why are women being held back from leadership positions in the workplace. According to PEW Research Center ‘the problem is that women still have to do more

Chin, J. L. (2011). Women and Leadership; Transforming Visions and Current Contexts. Forum On Public Policy Online, 2. Retrieved from http://www.forumonpublicpolicy.com

doctors, lawyers, political leaders, judges, law enforcement officers, etc. are still not viewed as the cultural norm. Most women are thrilled when they do see other women in these roles because it continues to be unusual to find them in such positions. Despite the idea that, women do two-thirds of the world’s work, their achievements are very often invisible. Women work hard, but they often receive little credit for their accomplishments. Yet, rarely (relative to men) do they reach high-visibility positions and leadership.

Children are introduced to gender roles at a very early age especially in American culture. As a child, we are taught to follow the norms of society in a variety of ways. For example, by the way we are told to dress, typically pink colors for girls and blues for boys. The term "gender role" refers to society's concept of how men and women are expected to act and behave. Gender roles shape individual behavior not only by dictating how people of each gender should behave, but also creating issues for those who don’t confine to the gender norms of their

Throughout the span of American history is can be said with confidence that the roles of genders have played a huge role in both the success and downfall of this great nation. From the rural up brings of the Puritans to the successful businessmen and women, politicians, and leaders that have propelled the Untied States to becoming a super power and force to be reckoned with in the world, we are still facing the unfortunate debacle of treating women differently or inferior when it comes to leadership positions. Some of our greatest leaders such as Mary Kay, Condalisa Rice, and Irene Rosenfied have been

Gender stereotyping can advocate prejudice and discrimination and can place constraints on people 's lives. Stereotyping can pressure individuals to make choices that conform to society 's definition of normal (Jennett, 2013). From birth, children are exposed to gender stereotypes, such as pink is for girls and blue is for boys (Peters, 2014). As children grow, society as well at consumerism, dictate which toys, games, books and clothes are appropriate gender representations. By the time children start to make their choices, most will realise what is expected of them, and act accordingly. Other children will defy these constraints, and in turn may feel as though, not conforming to these expectations, is wrong (Jennett, 2013). According to O 'Brien (2013), children as young as three years old can anticipate their parent 's ideas on gender appropriate toys, and have the ability to choose accordingly. McNaughton (2000) argues that children obtain an identity on a social basis, through a course of observation and engagement. Children injudiciously absorb what is presented to them. In the case of equality in schooling, children uncritically learn understandings of gender, race and class that teachers, peers and parents offer them. Siraj-Blatchford & Clarke (2004) argue that children can only learn to be accepting, and challenge prejudicial generalisations, acquire inclusiveness and

When you hear about most leadership roles majority of the time it’s a man in that position. From researching different points about women in leadership it has opened my eyes to multiple subjects in the today world. It shows many ways of how people in the society see women. Enormous amount of women have more than one thing on their plate. But still are complete everything let alone being a mother, great wife to her husband, and be a successful lady. Women can be the most powerful people if they were not judge or not looked at as equal due to their gender. Although women hold almost 52 percent of all professional level job, American women still lag behind men when it comes to their representation in leadership position. These characteristics on what is been seen throughout the media now a days. There are many areas of gender stratification to point out that still happens in present day.

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.

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).