Gendered Leadership as a Key to Business Success

Author(s):  
Evangelia Marinakou ◽  
Charalampos Giousmpasoglou

Although there is clear evidence of the importance of women in leadership positions, research still shows that women are still underrepresented in management and leadership roles. The percentage of women directors in Fortune 500 companies has been between 16% and 17% since 2011. This lack of women in senior management positions demonstrates that organizations still fail to notice that leadership nowadays has new requirements. Today's organizations are facing a turbulent constantly changing environment, in an open, social and interdependent economy, which requires specific skills and competencies for leading the change. Hence companies should value women's talent. The purpose of this chapter is to present gender issues in leadership and management with a focus on the Arab context and the position of women in the Middle East (ME). Finally, it discusses the most effective leadership style exhibited by male and female managers in the ME for inclusion in HR practices and strategies for the new millennia workforce. The main concerns are HR practices and examples in the ME.

2017 ◽  
pp. 1806-1836
Author(s):  
Evangelia Marinakou ◽  
Charalampos Giousmpasoglou

Although there is clear evidence of the importance of women in leadership positions, research still shows that women are still underrepresented in management and leadership roles. The percentage of women directors in Fortune 500 companies has been between 16% and 17% since 2011. This lack of women in senior management positions demonstrates that organizations still fail to notice that leadership nowadays has new requirements. Today's organizations are facing a turbulent constantly changing environment, in an open, social and interdependent economy, which requires specific skills and competencies for leading the change. Hence companies should value women's talent. The purpose of this chapter is to present gender issues in leadership and management with a focus on the Arab context and the position of women in the Middle East (ME). Finally, it discusses the most effective leadership style exhibited by male and female managers in the ME for inclusion in HR practices and strategies for the new millennia workforce. The main concerns are HR practices and examples in the ME.


Author(s):  
Karen P. Burke ◽  
Lori E. Ciccomascolo

The lack of women in leadership roles is a systemic problem in the United States and is not unique to the field of education; however, it is important to continue to challenge the status quo and provide a path for women to achieve equality and equity in the workplace. The following chapter will identify and discuss the importance of mentoring and sponsorship so that women pursuing education careers, novice women teachers, and women college, and university faculty and staff can actively and better position themselves to move into leadership positions and/or ensure a “seat at the table” in situations where decisions are made that affect their personal and professional lives.


Author(s):  
Nermin Kişi

Although major steps have been taken to increase inclusive representation of women in the workforce, there is a significant gender gap in achieving leadership roles in both developed and developing regions. In particular, many women around the world face serious challenges that prevent them from moving to leadership positions. Women's empowerment approaches are needed in order to have equal access to resources, to participate in decision-making processes, and to support career advancement. Within this context, interim management strategies can be considered as one of the empowering opportunities for women leadership. The purpose of this chapter is to explore the role of interim management on women leaders' empowerment. This is the first attempt that evaluates the notion of interim management as part of empowerment of women's leadership. It is expected to add value to literature on women in leadership positions and corporate decision-making.


Author(s):  
Cynthia B. Bragg

This chapter examines the lived experiences of women in the Church of God in Christ (COGIC) and presents a model for partnership in leadership with clerics and churchwomen. The model is based on the premise of the visionary founder and “Chief Apostle” of this denomination. Histories of churchwomen in this organization portray them as staunch supporters of ministries in the church. Women in leadership roles were defined by the founder as overseers—a term suggesting honorary prestige to women that was equal to clerical positions in the church. Following the death of the founder, however, churchwomen encountered barriers to leadership positions which lowered their status and authority thus impacting their inclusion, agency, and voice in matters of church leadership and governance.


Author(s):  
Nermin Kişi

Although major steps have been taken to increase inclusive representation of women in the workforce, there is a significant gender gap in achieving leadership roles in both developed and developing regions. In particular, many women around the world face serious challenges that prevent them from moving to leadership positions. Women's empowerment approaches are needed in order to have equal access to resources, to participate in decision-making processes, and to support career advancement. Within this context, interim management strategies can be considered as one of the empowering opportunities for women leadership. The purpose of this chapter is to explore the role of interim management on women leaders' empowerment. This is the first attempt that evaluates the notion of interim management as part of empowerment of women's leadership. It is expected to add value to literature on women in leadership positions and corporate decision-making.


1994 ◽  
Vol 75 (3) ◽  
pp. 1307-1312 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kenneth S. Shultz

Attributions for the success and failure of men and women in leadership positions were examined as a function of the subjects' attitudes towards women in leadership roles (as measured by the Women As Managers Scale of Peters, Terborg, and Taynor. 80 men and 80 women were randomly assigned to one of four conditions in which a leader's performance was described, i.e., male leader—success, male leader—failure, female leader—success, female leader—failure. Subjects then rated the importance they believed each of four factors had in determining the leader's performance (ability, effort, task difficulty, and luck). A general reluctance of subjects to make external attributions and to distinguish between male and female leaders was found.


2014 ◽  
Vol 46 (6) ◽  
pp. 332-337 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cortney Baker

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide a literature review of current trends with regard to women in leadership positions. Women are increasingly reported as having excellent leadership skills. In fact, women, more than men, are praised for having traits and styles that are associated with effective leadership performance. Design/methodology/approach – The design of this paper was a literature review of current research on gender differences in men and women in top leadership roles. Findings – Despite the evidence that women are capable of being top performers, women are still not attaining top-level leadership positions in comparison to their male peers. This paper will consider some of the reasons that women have difficulty in climbing the corporate ladder as well as discuss stereotyping and gender as it relates to leadership traits. Social implications – As a result of this paper, employers are encouraged to hire and promote women into their corporations top leadership positions. Originality/value – This paper further contributes to the discussion of women in leadership and the disparity that continues in having women employed in the upper echelons of corporations. The value of this paper is to provide employers further evidence that women comprise skillsets that necessary for company advancement.


2021 ◽  
Vol 19 (4) ◽  
pp. 508-518
Author(s):  
Nokwanda Jali ◽  
Sachin Suknunan ◽  
Anrusha Bhana

The study shows that a patriarchal society where women are still in the minority when it comes to leadership positions is still dominating. A few studies are exploring the role of women in leadership in government and industry, and very little focus is paid on higher education institutions and more especially – from a female leadership perspective. Therefore, this paper aims to determine the factors that hindered female students from attaining leadership positions and simultaneously make recommendations to create more leadership opportunities in a nationally recognized student-led organization known as the Student Representative Council at a large public South African higher education institution – the University of KwaZulu-Natal. The target population was 16 female leaders who served in the University’s Student Representative Council from 2019 to 2020 of which 13 had responded. A qualitative approach was followed and interviews were conducted. The study employed inductive qualitative thematic analysis using NVIVO 12. Findings revealed that the Student Representative Council structure at the university was patriarchal with little commitment to gender equality. Males outnumbered women in leadership roles. Portfolios assigned to women were mainly administrative rather than leadership. Females were subjected to stereotypical behavior. The study recommended ways to promote female student leadership whereby policy and constitution change is required to facilitate gender equality and the implementation of quotas. Women should be empowered to enhance their leadership skills via effective leadership development programs specifically designed for females to address the leadership gap between males and females.


Author(s):  
Laura McCullough

A considerable body of research exists on women in leadership and likewise on women in STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) fields. However, the intersection of the two is terra incognita: women in leadership in STEM. At the most fundamental level, we don’t even have a solid idea of how many women hold leadership positions in STEM. This study determined the proportion of women in leadership positions in several academic STEM areas via a sampling of institutions across the United States and other countries. In every area studied, women held fewer leadership positions than the proportion of female PhDs in those fields. The proportion of women in non-STEM specific top academic leadership roles was also examined to see what proportion of those individuals leading academic institutions might have background in a STEM discipline and how that compares to men in the same positions. This study opens the door to exploring the experiences of women who lead in STEM, which is likely to promote women’s participation in these fields.


2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (Winter) ◽  
pp. 192-195
Author(s):  
Jamie Storey

Despite women’s aspirations to obtain formal leadership positions within institutions of higher education in South Africa, they continue to face barriers that impede their ability to achieve senior management positions. The purpose of this phenomenological study is to explore the meaning women ascribe to the experience of seeking formal leadership positions within the field of student affairs in South Africa.


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