Gender diversity and Leadership

Diversity and Leadership
Leadership Theories 2FE017
Fall 2014
Yuliya Ponomareva
yuliya.ponomareva@lnu.se

Organizational Diversity - “any significant difference that
distinguishes one individual from another” (Williams and
O’Reilly, 1998 p. 102).
2FE017 Yuliya Ponomareva

Multiple Forms of Diversity
- Ethnic diversity
- Gender
- Age
- Education
- Sexual orientation
- Socioeconomic level

Relative Depth of Diversity Characteristics
Surface level elements of diversity
(demographic diversity) tend to
become less influential over time

Deeper level elements of diversity
- Socio-economic background
- World view
- Values

How do we react on diversity?
- Social Identity theory
- Self-categorization theory
- Similarity attraction theory
- Opposites attract?

Social attributions – a potential reason for
discrimination
• Organizations consist of groups with different power,
status and prestige (Hogg, Terry, 2000)
• Ingroup – outgroup bias
• Dispersonification

Empirical evidence (Park and Westphal,
2013):
Demographic minority CEOs are especially likely to receive
blame from the media and other CEOs for poor
performance of their firms.
“Matthew effect” – individuals with higher social status are
able to derive greater benefits for their achievements than
individuals with lower social status.
“Attribution error” – a tendency to evaluate in-group
members more positively than the out-group members.
Conclusions: Minority CEOs are not only disadvantaged in
terms of access to the corporate elite, they continue to be
disadvantaged during their careers as CEOs.

“DOUBLE-EDGED SWORD” of Diversity
Team diversity Studies:
Creativity vs. Conflict

© X96lee15/https://colleges.niche.com/ CC-BY-SA-3.0
Demographic Faultlines

Interaction effects of diversity characteristics
Increased Alienation from the society

Practical implications
Managing diversity in organizations:
Multicultural organizations: good, bad, or just not managed
effectively?

Law on discrimination in Sweden: 7 criteria
(Diskrimineringslagen (2008:567)
Gender
• Ethnicity
• Transgender expression
Age
• Disability
• Sexual orientation
• Religion or view of belief

Leader’s role in managing diversity
“It is based on the articulation and implementation of
explicit values that promote an agenda of equality,
fairness and respect.” (Walker et al., 2005: 3)
• Recognition: job selection, equal treatment
• Conflict suppression
• Avoiding biases: breaking the currently dominating
”white, male, hetherosexual, middle class, middle aged”
view on leadership (Coleman, 2012).

What is Gender?
Gender is a social phenomenon that includes social, psychological, cultural, and
behavioral aspects of being a man or a woman (Prasad, 2005).
Sex is a biological criteria applied to classify people as males or females (West
and Zimmerman, 1987)
“No country in the world has achieved gender
equality.” (Global Gender Gap Report, 2010)

Causes of Gender Inequality
- Implicit theories about gender
- Gender stereotypes
- Role expectations
Culture and traditions

Long history of “gender-neutral” view on organization
Hegemony of heterosexual male values and male monopoly
on agenda setting (Hearn and Parkin, 1987)
Gender research started to develop along the areas where
women were persistently excluded: art, literature, history

Ontario Chamber of Commerce
https://www.flickr.com/CC BY-ND 2.0
The Rise of Gender Research
Labour market shortage
Women’s access to education
Improved childcare
Feminist movement

Feminist Perspective
The research within feministic tradition is largely concerned
with the issues of inequality and exploitation of women.
Different research streams in feminism (Prasad, 2005):
liberal feminism
experience feminism
radical feminism
poststructural feminism.

Some Statistics
21.8 % female representation in parliment
9 female heads of the state, 15 the heads fo the goverment
(unwomen.org)
Gender Gap Index 2012 (World Bank, 2012)

Salary Gap Index (Catalys,2006)

Why so few women reach the top?
(Catalyst, 2006)

Sex-based Discrimination
Glass Ceiling is the invisible barrier preventing women from
achieving high positions within an organization.
Main Reasons:
 Social Stigma
 Higher standards of performance
 Limited access to social and professional networks
 Work-Family conflict

Path dependence of Gender Issues
Gender issues tend to be persistent over time.

Change in Male roles
- New occupations
- Child care obligations
- Clothing, perfume
- Toys for children

Effective leadership

Differences between male and female leadership
styles
Mixed and inconsistent results
No evidence that leaders of one gender are more effective than leaders of another one
(Eagly, Karau, & Makhijani, 1995)

“there are likely to be excellent, average, and poor managerial performers
within each sex.” (Powell, 1990, p.74)

Research Indications
Women are more prone to practice democratic, participative
leadership styles
Women are more strictly evaluated in a male-dominated
environment
(Eagly and Johnson, 1995)

TEDtalk on Gender Diversity
http://www.ted.com/talks/sheryl_sandberg_why_we_have_too_More TEDtalks on Diversity:
http://www.ted.com/talks/thandie_newton_embracing_otherness_

Diversity issues must be recognized and cared for (Billing and Sundin, 2006)
Legal support for victims of discrimination has to be developed
and enforced
Policies and institutions of gender equality which would help
women to balance their professional and family life must be
enforced and monitored
Equal employment opportunities
Simple inclusion of diversity in the workforce is not a
solution by itself!

Conclusions
The concept of diversity is multidimensional
Gender is a socially constructed phenomenon
Gender is an important factor within organizations
Gender inequality remains to be persistent within social structure:
unequal pay distribution, companies are not fully capitalizing on
women's’ potential, few women in leadership positions.
Effective Leadership incorporates both traditionally viewed as masculine
and feminine characteristics

References:
Billing, Y.D. & Sundin, E. (2006). From managing equality to managing diversity: a critical Scandinavian perspective on gender and workplace
diversity, Handbook of Workplace Diversity, 95-120, Eds. Konrad, A.M., Prasad, P., & Pringle, J.K., London: Sage Publications.
Bryans, P. & Mavin, S. (2003).Women learning to become managers: Learning to fit or playing a different game? Management Learning 34(1),
111-134.
Byrne, D. (1971). The attraction paradigm. New York: Academic Press.
Coleman, M. (2012). Leadership and diversity, Educational Management Administration and Leadership, 40: 592.
Eagly, A. H., Karau, S., & Makhijani, M. (1995). Gender and the effectiveness of leaders: A meta-analysis. Journal of Personality and Social
Psychology, 117, 125-145.
Hambrick, D.C. & Mason, P.A. (1984). Upper echelons: The organization as a reflection of its top managers. Academy of Management Review,
9(2), 193-206.
Pelled, L. H., Eisenhardt, K. M., & Xin, K. (1999). Exploring the black box: An analysis of work group diversity, conflict, and performance.
Administrative Science Quarterly, 44, 1–28.
Powell, G.N. (1990). One more time: Do female and male managers differ? Academy of Management Executive, 4, 68-75.
Prasad, P. (2005). Crafting Qualitative Research: Working in the Post-Positivist Tradition, New York: M.E. Sharpe Inc.
Tjafel, H. (1982). Social psychology of intergroup relations. Annual Review of Psychology, 33, 1-39.
Turner, J.C. (1987). Rediscovering the Social Group: a Self-categorization Theory. Oxford: Basil Blackwell.
West, C., & Zimmerman, D. (1987). Doing Gender, Gender and Society, 1, 125-151.
Williams K. Y., O Reilly A.C., (1998). Demography and diversity in organizations: a review ‟ of 40 years of research. Research in Organizational
Behavior, (20), 77–140

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