LEADERS AND LEADERSHIP STYLES: IS THERE PREJUDICE AGAINST AGENTIC FEMALE LEADERS AND CAN SOMETHING BE DONE TO REDUCE IT?

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LEADERS AND LEADERSHIP STYLES: IS THERE PREJUDICE AGAINST

AGENTIC FEMALE LEADERS AND CAN SOMETHING BE DONE TO

REDUCE IT?

Master thesis, MscBA, specialization Human Resource Management University of Groningen, Faculty of Economics and Business

October 13, 2009

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ABSTRACT

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INTRODUCTION

Despite efforts, like anti-discrimination legislation, affirmative action and diversity initiatives to minimize the gender gap between females and males, most workplaces are still dominated by men. A report published by the United Nations in 1997 reveals that women hold merely 2-3 percent of top jobs in corporations worldwide (ILO, 1997). Furthermore, the findings from the Grant Thornton International Business Report from 2007 state that 38% of businesses do not have any women in senior management functions and that women hold only 22 % of senior managerial positions globally (Grant Thornton, 2007). In this paper, I will investigate what has been believed to be the reason for the low percentage of top female leaders in organizations worldwide and aim to advance previous research by trying to find a solution to the problem.

According to the gender role, men and women have different personal qualities; men are expected to act masculine or agentic while females are expected to act feminine or communal (Engen, 2001: 13). That is, socialization, the process through which an individual learns and accepts roles, encourages wanted and discourages unwanted behavior (Wikibooks, 2009) and leads individuals to behave according to societal beliefs and expectations about how men and women are or ought to be. This has been referred to as the individual’s gender role. Women and men are expected to dress, talk and behave differently because of societal expectations and therefore their behavior is gendered (Ivarsson, 2000: 8-9). Women are expected to be feminine; to be for example sympathetic, humanitarian, dependent on others, compassionate, nonaggressive and concerned for the welfare of others (Rosen & Jerdee, 1973) while men are expected to be masculine; for example competitive, assertive, independent, rational and competent (Engen, 2001: 13).

Unfavorable evaluation of women´s potential for leadership

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relationships by tending to others´ morale and welfare. A more narrow distinction between agentic and communal approaches to leadership is autocratic style versus democratic style; the extent to which leaders “1) behave autocratically and discourage subordinates from participating in decision making or 2) behave democratically and allow subordinates to participate in decision making “ (Eagly & Johannesen- Schmidt, 2001).

Researchers have shown that the low percentage of female managers has often been attributed to the fact that leadership has been equated with masculinity (Billing & Alvesson, 2000). According to the sociological literature on gender and organizational analysis, organizational cultures are gendered by themselves. Organizations are often gendered because they assign some jobs to men and others to women based on their assumed abilities, characteristics or preferences (Ivarsson, 2000: 8-9). Research findings have shown that both women and men believe that successful managers possess attributes that can rather be ascribed to men in general than to women in general (Denmark, 1977; Rojhan, 2000: 17). Leaders are assumed to have more agentic than communal qualities. Agentic characteristics, which illustrate above all an assertive, controlling and confident tendency, have been associated more strongly with men than women, while communal characteristics, which illustrate first and foremost a concern with the welfare of people, have been associated more strongly with women than men (Eagly & Johannesen- Schmidt, 2001). Women are therefore believed to lack the necessary personal characteristics and skills needed to become good managers (Hearn & Parkin, 1987; Wajcman, 1996), which explains why women tend to occupy lower status (Hearn & Parkin, 1987; Rojahn, 2000: 4), less powerful and lower paid positions than men in organizations (Hearn & Parkin, 1987). Men on the other hand are believed to have what it takes to occupy high status positions and consequently most of the highest level positions, like the position of senior management, are still mainly occupied by men (Grant Thornton, 2007).

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men. And Gilmer (1961) found that over 65% of male managers held the belief that women would be inferior to men in supervisory jobs. They reckoned that women have higher absenteeism than men, are more neurotic than men, and have more work-related problems than men (Rosen & Jerdee, 1973).

Unfavorable evaluation of leadership behavior of women

Importantly, the incongruity between the female gender role and the leader role leads to prejudice towards female leaders in another way. It also results in a less favorable evaluation of leadership behavior of women once they have obtained a leadership position, as agentic behavior is generally not expected from them (Eagly & Johannesen- Schmidt, 2001; Engen, 2001:15-16). Once women have reached the management positions, they are faced with a double-bind; they find themselves in a situation where they cannot win no matter what (Oakley, 2000). According to the female gender role, women are expected to be feminine or communal in their behavior. The qualities associated with high management positions are on the other hand masculine or agentic in nature. Thus, women are expected to be communal because of the expectations inbuilt in the female gender role, but at the same time they are also expected to be agentic because of the expectations inbuilt in most leader roles. This tension often makes women experience disapproval for their more masculine behavior as well as for their more feminine behavior.

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oriented female leaders to be less effective than task-oriented male leaders. Furthermore, the researches of Eagly et al (1991) and Forsyth et al (1997) displayed that men in particular evaluate and judge autocratic female leaders more harshly than autocratic male leaders (Carli, 2006).

It may be concluded that the role congruity theory of prejudice against female managers argues that this incongruity of leader roles and female gender roles leads to prejudice towards female leaders taking two forms: “(1) less favorable evaluation of women’s (than men’s) potential for leadership because leadership ability is more stereotypic of men than women and (2) less favorable evaluation of the actual leadership behavior of women than men because agentic behavior is perceived as less desirable in women than men” (Eagly & Johannesen- Schmidt, 2001). Researchers have for example shown that incongruence of the female gender role and workplace roles can lead to decreased performance expectations, increased expectations of failure and reduced expectations of success for women (Engen, 2001: 14). Many other research findings during the last few centuries have disclosed similar results and revealed one of the two types of prejudice towards female leaders.

In this research, I will start by investigating whether female leaders who use an agentic leadership style are in fact still judged less favorable than male leaders who use this same style and whether male participants indeed evaluate agentic female leaders less favorable than the female participants. Based on the previous findings, I predicted the following:

Female leaders are perceived as less favorable than male leaders when adhering to the agentic leadership style (Hypothesis 1a).

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THE ROLE OF WORK CONTEXT

Importantly, I aim to advance previous research by trying to find a solution to the cultural stereotyping problem of women in management. During the last few years, researchers have reflected upon the possibility whether women and men do actually display different leadership behaviors. While some experts still believe that women and men differ, others believe that similarities exist (Billing & Alvesson, 2000; Eagly & Johannesen-Schmidt, 2001). Social scientists for example have argued that female and male leaders either do not differ in leadership styles or minimize the importance of those differences (Eagly & Johannesen-Schmidt, 2001). Most recent findings have supported their theory and demonstrated that women and men do indeed not have different leadership styles (e.g. Chapman, 1975; Chumsir, Kogberg & Mills, 2001; Eagly, 2007; Engen, Leeden and Willemsen, 2001). Thus, women are as likely as men to act agentic when occupying leadership positions.

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Thus, both female and male managers working in a hierarchical organization or division should act agentic, while managers working in a less hierarchical organization or division should act communal. I believe that lack of knowledge concerning the importance of gender-typing of the work contexts on leadership styles could be a factor leading to the prejudice and bringing forth undervaluation of agentic female leaders. I argue that if people were aware of the fact that leaders should use a leadership style that is harmonious with the gender-typing of the work context and thus in some situations female leaders are expected to act and actually should act agentic, they would be less prejudiced towards agentic female leaders and consequently perceive them in more positive manner. By reducing or eliminating the prejudice towards the female leaders, the percentage of women occupying top management positions could grow higher. As previous work illustrates the importance of the work context in which leaders have to operate when choosing a certain leadership style, I argue that information about the hierarchical structure of an organization plays an important role in the extent to which people are willing to accept an agentic female leader (vs. an agentic male leader). Therefore, I also predict:

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RESEARCH METHOD

Subjects and design

The participants were 80 students from a large northern university in the Netherlands, who were asked to fill out a scenario survey at a library, examine hall or through email. The sample consisted of 40 male students and 40 female students and the mean age was 23, 2 years. Most of the students, or 56, were undergraduate students, 23 were graduated students (21 attending a master degree program and 2 PhD) and one participants did not indicate his educational level. During the experiment, each of the participants were exposed to manipulations of two different levels of two independent variables; the gender of the leader (male or female) and information (hierarchical organizational structure and agentic leadership style vs. no information on organizational structure and leadership style). Participants in each condition reviewed either information explaining that a manager holding a top management position in an organization or division emphasizing a hierarchical structure should act agentic or only general information about leadership styles which does not reveal such information, accompanied by a male or a female target. Twenty participants were randomly assigned to each of the four conditions.

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Gender of the leader. The participants were exposed to either a male or a female target and the information about the gender was manipulated by the names of the leaders on the information sheets about the leader.

Work context information. All participants received information stating that the leader displayed an agentic leadership style and worked in an organization that emphasized a hierarchical structure. On top of that, half of the participants learned from previous researches about leaders and leadership styles that characteristics of the individuals do not determine which of the two leadership styles, agentic or communal, a manager utilizes; instead it is the work context he is engaged in which determines this. The other half of the participants only received general information about organizations and leaders, which was unrelated to the work context and agentic vs. communal leadership styles.

Dependent measure

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RESULTS

Data analysis

A Univariate Analysis of Variances (UNIANOVA) was conducted on the overall leader evaluation scale to uncover the main and interaction effects of the gender of the participants, the gender of the leader and the work context information. The test shows whether the difference in the sample means is sufficient in order to be able to conclude that the real means differ among the groups of participants.

Gender of the leader. An ANOVA of the participants’ ratings revealed no significant main effect for the gender of the leader on the overall leader evaluation (F (1, 78= 2, 29, p = ns.). This indicates that the leader’s gender did not affect their overall evaluation. Accordingly, the agentic female leader was not perceived less favorable than the agentic male leader.

Gender of the participants and gender of the leader. I did obtain a significant interaction effect between the gender of the participants and the gender of the leader on the overall leader evaluation (F (1, 78= 4, 31, p < .04). The average score of the male participants who rated a male leader (M= 5, 00 SD= .25) was considerable higher than the average score of the female participants rating a male leader (M= 4, 26, SD= .20). This indicates that the male participants evaluated the agentic male leader more favorable than the female participants. However, the average score of the male participants who rated a female leader (M= 4, 64, SD= .20) was very similar to the average score of the female participants who rated a female leader (M= 4, 83, SD= .25). In this respect, there was no difference between the outcome how favorable both the male and female participants rated the agentic female leader. These findings indicate that men do not perceive female leaders adhering to the agentic leadership style more negatively than women.

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overall leader evaluation (F (1, 78) = 10, 29, p < .002). In this manner, the effect of information on the overall leader evaluation was different for the male leader than it was for the female leader. Further post hoc analyses revealed that participants who read information about hierarchical organizational structure and agentic leadership style rated the female leader (M= 5, 18, SD= .21) considerably more positively than participants who read no information on structure and leadership style (M= 4, 25, SD= .21, F (1, 38) = 7, 95, p < .008). This outcome indicates that information about hierarchical organizational structure indeed led to more positive evaluation of the agentic female leader.

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DISCUSSION

The goal of this experimental scenario study was to investigate what has been believed to be the reason for the low percentage of top female leaders in organizations worldwide, as well as to advance previous research by trying to find a solution to the problem. Researchers have demonstrated that incongruity between the female gender role and the leader role leads to prejudice towards female leaders. It results in a less favorable evaluation of women’s potential for leadership since leadership ability is more stereotypic for men than women, as well as a less favorable evaluation of the leadership behavior of women than men since agentic behavior is perceived as less desirable in women than men. I therefore predicted that female leaders would be perceived as less favorable than male leaders when adhering to the agentic leadership style. The results of my study however revealed no significant difference between the evaluation of the agentic female leader and the agentic male leader, indicating that female leaders are not perceived as less favorable than male leaders when adhering to the agentic leadership style. Based on previous findings, I furthermore predicted that men would perceive female leaders adhering to the agentic leadership style more negatively than women. However, the results revealed that there was only a significant difference between how the male participants and the female participants evaluated the agentic male leader. According to the results, men evaluated the agentic male leader more favorable than the female participants, but there was no significant difference between how men and women evaluated the agentic female leader. Thus, the results of my research were not consistent with previous findings and my hypothesis.

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work has illustrated the importance of the work context in which leaders have to operate when choosing a certain leadership style, I predicted that information about the hierarchical structure of an organization would play an important role in the extent to which people would be willing to accept an agentic female leader (vs. an agentic male leader). Because stereotypes about leaders generally resemble stereotypes of men, I did not expect the information to affect the evaluation of the agentic male leader. In previous researches, participants did not receive any work context information prior to answering the questions about the leader. However, in my research, half of the students received information explaining that a manager holding a top management position in a hierarchical structured organization should act agentic. Therefore, they were familiar with the fact that the female leader was expected to act agentic when they answered the questions about the leader. By analyzing the interaction effect between the gender of the leader and work context information on the overall leader evaluation, it became clear that the effect of information on the overall leader evaluation was different for the male leader than it was for the female leader. The results revealed that the work context information led to a more positive evaluation of the female leader; participants who read information about the hierarchical structure and the agentic leadership style and rated an agentic female leader, held the opinion that the leader was more competent and motivating than the participants who had not received any information about the structure and the leadership style and rated an agentic female leader. The former group of participants believed that the agentic female leader was moderately competent and motivating, while the second group believed that the agentic female leader was rather competent and motivating. However, no similar effects could be found for the agentic male leader.

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employees´ motivation to work for the leaders and promote a higher evaluation of the leaders´ competence to fill the management positions. If the female managers were believed to be as competent as or even more competent than the male managers, they would be as likely as or even more likely than the male managers to get promoted to top level positions. Consequently, this would increase the percentage of female managers occupying top level management positions in hierarchical organizations.

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REFERENCES

Billing, Y.D & Alvesson, M. 2000. Questioning the Notion of Feminine Leadership: A Critical Perspective on the Gender Labelling of Leadership. Gender, Work and Organization, 7(3): 144-157.

Carli, L.L. 2006. Gender, Communication and Organizational Boundaries: Linkages and Violations. In Barret, M & Davidsson, M.J (Eds). Gender and Communication at Work: 69-74. Hampshire: Ashgate Publishing.

Chapman, J.B. 1975. Comparison of Male and Female Leadership Styles. Academy of Management Journal, 18(3): 645-650.

Chumsir, L.H, Kogberg, C.S & Mills, J.M. 2001. Male- Female Differences in the Association of Managerial Style and Personal Values. The Journal of Social Psychology, 129(1): 65-78.

Denmark, F.L. 1977. Styles of Leadership. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 2(2): 99-113.

Eagly, A.H & Johannesen- Schmidt, M.C. 2001. The Leadership Style of Women and Men. Journal of Social Issues, 57(4): 781-797.

Eagly, A.H. 2007. Female Leadership Advantage and Disadvantage: Resolving the Contradictions. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 31: 1-12.

Engen, M.L. 2001. Gender and leadership: A Contextual Perspective. London: Collins.

Engen, M.L., Leeden, R.V.D & Willemsen, T.M. 2001. Gender, Context and Leadership styles: A Field Study. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 74: 581-598.

Grant Thornton. 2007. Four in Ten Businesses Worldwide have no Women in Senior Management.

http://www.internationalbusinessreport.com/Press-room/2007/women-in-senior-management.asp. May 25th.

Hearn, J & Parkin, W. 1987. Women, Men and Leadership: A Critical Review of Assumptions, Practices, and Change in the Industrialized Nations. International Studies of Management & Organization. 16(4): 33-60.

Ivarsson, S.M. 2000. The Meaning of Gender in Management: Investigating Factors Influencing Women’s and Men’s Entry Into Management From a Social-Psychological Perspective. Uppsala: Acta Universitatis Upsaliensis.

ILO. 1997. Women’s Progress in Workforce Improving Worldwide, but Occupational Segregation Still

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Oakely, J.G. 2000. Gender-based Barriers to Senior Management Positions: Understanding the Scarcity of Female CEOs. Journal of Business Ethics, 27(4): 321-334.

Rosen, B & Jerdee, T.H. 1973. The Influence of Sex-Role Stereotypes on Evaluations of Male and Female Supervisory Behaviour. Journal of Applied Psychology, 57: 44-48.

Rojahn, K. 2000. Gender in the Context of Leadership. Enschede: CopyPrint.

Wajcman, J. 1996. Desperately Seeking Differences: Is Management Style Gendered? British Journal of Industrial Relations, 34(3): 333-349.

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APPENDIX A

Scenarios

Version 1: Information about structure and style, male leader.

Thank you for your participation. The purpose of this survey is to gain a better understanding of the things that influence the success of managers. The survey is anonymous and can therefore NOT be traced back to you.

Please start by reading the following information about research findings on leaders and leadership styles.

Leadership styles are primarily agentic or communal. Agentic characteristics describe above all an assertive, controlling and confident tendency, by illustrating for example independency, self-confidence and competition. Communal characteristics describe first and foremost a concern about the welfare of people, by placing an emphasis on being for example sympathetic and helpful. An agentic leadership style is task oriented (concerned with accomplishing assigned tasks), whereas a communal leadership style is interpersonally oriented (concerned with maintaining interpersonal relationships).

As some managers adhere to the agentic leadership style, others adhere to the communal leadership style. The characteristics of the individuals should not determine which of the two leadership styles a manager utilizes; instead it is the work context he is engaged in that determines it. Thus, particular leader roles demand certain types of leadership and consequently what works out well with one setting may not work well with another.

Managers working in an organization or division that emphasis a hierarchical structure, should adhere to the agentic leadership style, while a manager working in an organization or division that emphasizes a less or no hierarchical structure should adhere to the communal leadership style.

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Now I would like to get your opinion about the appropriateness and effectiveness of a senior accounting manager. Please read the following information about the manager and give your opinion on the scales provided.

Imagine that you are working as an accountant for one of the largest accounting firms in the Netherlands. You have been working for the company for a few years and you are happy with your position there. Your job consists of working in a unit of 20 accountants, with one senior accounting manager supervising your unit.

Your manager´s name is Peter van der Meer. Mr. van der Meer is 35 years old, married and lives in a downtown apartment. He has a master degree in accounting and has acquired significant experience as a senior accounting manager.

In total, there are 12 senior accounting managers working for the company; 10 males and 2 females. The average age of the managers is 37 years. The educational level of the typical job holder is a degree in accounting or finance. All of the managers have knowledge of taxation, financial reporting and accounting systems. Your division stresses a hierarchical structure and each of the accounting managers supervises a unit of 20 accounting staff.

In his job, Mr. van der Meer is very independent and confident about his work. He emphasizes task performance and achievement of organizational goals. Mr. van der Meer has an assertive and controlling attitude towards his subordinates. He puts an emphasis on competition and offers individual rewards to outstanding employees.

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Version 2: No information about structure and style, male leader.

Leadership has been defined in many ways, such as the possession by an individual of personal “leadership” qualities, possession by an individual of the highest level of skill for a given task, possession by an individual of a leadership office within a group, or the performance of leadership function within a group.

They all deal with different aspects of leadership, but they have in common the image of an individual who exerts more influence on the activities and beliefs of a group than any other single member.

Not all leaders have the same kind of leadership style. Thus, they can differ in the manner they manage their followers. Some leaders for example concentrate on getting the job done, others are focused on organizing, supporting and developing the people in their team, while another group of leaders exert high levels of power over his or her employees or team members.

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Your manager´s name is Peter van der Meer. Mr. van der Meer is 35 years old, married and lives in a downtown apartment. He has a master degree in accounting and has acquired significant experience as a senior accounting manager.

In his job, Mr. van der Meer is very independent and confident about his work. He emphasizes task performance and achievement of organizational goals. Mr. van der Meer has an assertive and controlling attitude towards his subordinates. He puts an emphasis on competition and offers individual rewards to outstanding employees.

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Version 3: Information about structure and style, female leader.

Leadership styles are primarily agentic or communal. Agentic characteristics describe above all an assertive, controlling and confident tendency, by illustrating for example independency, self-confidence and competition. Communal characteristics describe first and foremost a concern about the welfare of people, by placing an emphasis on being for example sympathetic and helpful. An agentic leadership style is task oriented (concerned with accomplishing assigned tasks), whereas a communal leadership style is interpersonally oriented (concerned with maintaining interpersonal relationships).

As some managers adhere to the agentic leadership style, others adhere to the communal leadership style. The characteristics of the individuals should not determine which of the two leadership styles a manager utilizes; instead it is the work context he is engaged in that determines it. Thus, particular leader roles demand certain types of leadership and consequently what works out well with one setting may not work well with another.

Managers working in an organization or division that emphasis a hierarchical structure, should adhere to the agentic leadership style, while a manager working in an organization or division that emphasizes a less or no hierarchical structure should adhere to the communal leadership style.

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Your manager´s name is Linda van der Meer. Mrs. van der Meer is 35 years old, married and lives in a downtown apartment. She has a master degree in accounting and has acquired significant experience as a senior accounting manager.

In her job, Mrs. van der Meer is very independent and confident about her work. She emphasizes task performance and achievement of organizational goals. Mrs. van der Meer has an assertive and controlling attitude towards her subordinates. She puts an emphasis on competition and offers individual rewards to outstanding employees.

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Version 4: No information about structure and style, female leader.

Leadership has been defined in many ways, such as the possession by an individual of personal “leadership” qualities, possession by an individual of the highest level of skill for a given task, possession by an individual of a leadership office within a group, or the performance of leadership function within a group.

They all deal with different aspects of leadership, but they have in common the image of an individual who exerts more influence on the activities and beliefs of a group than any other single member.

Not all leaders have the same kind of leadership style. Thus, they can differ in the manner they manage their followers. Some leaders for example concentrate on getting the job done, others are focused on organizing, supporting and developing the people in their team, while another group of leaders exert high levels of power over his or her employees or team members.

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Your manager´s name is Linda van der Meer. Mrs. van der Meer is 35 years old, married and lives in a downtown apartment. She has a master degree in accounting and has acquired significant experience as a senior accounting manager.

In her job, Mrs. van der Meer is very independent and confident about her work. She emphasizes task performance and achievement of organizational goals. Mrs. van der Meer has an assertive and controlling attitude towards her subordinates. She puts an emphasis on competition and offers individual rewards to outstanding employees.

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APPENDIX B

Questionnaire

Please answer the following questions concerning how likable you consider the senior accounting manager to be.

Circle the number that best indicates your response. To what extent do you think that this person is….

Not at all Moderately Very much

1. Friendly? 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 2. Warm/kind? 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 3. Trustworthy? 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 4. Selfish? 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 5. Manipulative? 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

6. How would you feel about working with this person as your manager?

Not pleased Moderately Very

pleased

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

7. How much do you think that you would like this person?

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Please answer the following questions concerning how competent you think the manager is.

Circle the number that best indicates your response. To what extent do you think that this person is….

8. Qualified to hold the position as a senior accounting manager? 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 9. Competent to be a senior accounting manager? 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

10. Effective as a senior accounting manager?

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

11. Overall, how would you rate this person?

Very low Moderately Very high

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

12. How successful do you think this person will be in this organization?

Not at all successful

Moderately Very

successful

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

13. How do you rate this person´s potential as being able to thrive in his/her career?

Very low Moderately Very high

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

14. There is one upper-level position available to the senior accounting managers. To what degree do you recommend this person for the job?

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Finally, please answer the following questions regarding the leadership style of the manager.

Circle the number that best indicates your response. To what extent do you think that….

15. The leadership style is suitable for the manager?

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

16. The manager´s leadership style is appropriate for his/her role?

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

17. The manager´s leadership style is effective?

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

18. The manager´s leadership style has a sense of justice?

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

19. You would be willing to follow his/herleadership?

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

20. The manager´s leadership style style is motivating for his/her

subordinates?

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

21. The manager´s leadership style should be ´softer´?

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Please answer the following questions about yourself.

22. Age: ____________

23. Gender Female Male

24. Educational level Bachelor Master PhD

LEADERS AND LEADERSHIP STYLES: IS THERE PREJUDICE AGAINST AGENTIC FEMALE LEADERS AND CAN SOMETHING BE DONE TO REDUCE IT?