Can Leaders Step Outside of the Gender Box? An Examination of Leadership and Gender Role Stereotypes

Authors

Margaret Y. Padgett, Butler UniversityFollow
Craig B. Caldwell, Butler UniversityFollow
Andrew Embry

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2008

Publication Title

Journal of Leadership and Organizational Studies

First Page

30

Last Page

45

DOI

http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1548051808318412

Abstract

This study examined gender stereotypes for leaders using a more indirect method than is typical in stereotype research. Rather than reveal the leader's gender, this study used vignettes in which the leader's gender was unknown. Consistent with their hypothesis, the authors found that participants were more likely to infer a male (female) gender identity than a female (male) gender identity when presented with a leader using a masculine (feminine) style. They also hypothesized that a leader using a gender-consistent leadership style would be viewed more positively than a leader using a gender-inconsistent style. Contrary to this hypothesis, results revealed that men using a gender-inconsistent (feminine) style were actually evaluated more positively than men using a gender-consistent style. It is interesting that a perceived female leader who used a gender-inconsistent (masculine) style was evaluated more positively than a perceived male leader who used a masculine style, but only by female participants. Possible explanations for these results are discussed.

Rights

This is a pre-print version of this article. The version of record is available at SAGE.

NOTE: this version of the article is pending revision and may not reflect the changes made in the final, peer-reviewed version.

Recommended Citation

Padgett, Margaret Y.; Caldwell, Craig B.; and Embry, Andrew, "Can Leaders Step Outside of the Gender Box? An Examination of Leadership and Gender Role Stereotypes" (2008). Scholarship and Professional Work - Business. 71.
https://digitalcommons.butler.edu/cob_papers/71