Women and Leadership

Women have increasingly moved toward greater gender equality at home and in the workplace. Yet, women are still underrepresented in leadership roles and still considered an anomaly compared to men when in high positions of leadership especially within institutions of higher education. In examining differences between how men and women lead, it is often less what they do than in the different experience they face when they lead. Stereotypic gender role expectations can constrain their leadership behaviors. Perceived incongruity between women and leadership roles pose obstacles to leadership and result in double binds, more negative performance appraisals, and different standards compared to those applied to men. It is increasingly clear that a gender neutral view of leadership is insufficient, and that we need to consider the influence of cultural worldviews and socialization on shaping leadership style. There is much to suggest that feminist leadership styles are intentionally different-more collaborative and transformational compared to men. This becomes more complex when we include dimensions of racial and ethnic diversity. We need to transform our views of leadership to promote more robust theories and diverse models of effective leadership. While current leadership theories favor transformational and collaborative leadership styles, organizational cultures often mirror social constructions of gender and ethnicity norms in society. Within the context of higher education institutions, there is often a tension between hierarchical and collaborative forms of leadership reflected in contradictory sets of practices. While women leaders may have an advantage in such contexts, they also face obstacles in needing to change organizational cultures that mirror social biases against women as leaders.