Upon reading about the Trait Approach in leadership, one theme seemed to dominate the traits described as favorable in a leader: hegemonic masculine traits. In fact, three separate studies by Stogdill, Lord, DeVander, and Alliger, and Mann all found that masculinity was a trait that “significantly related to how individuals perceived leaders” (Northouse, 2019). Traits that are thought of as adjacent to masculinity are also included in some of these trait studies as positive correlatives to leadership abilities. For example, dominance, emotional stability, and influence are noted by several studies as positive traits of leadership (Northouse, 2019). These traits, although not exactly the trait of masculinity, are thought of as part of hegemonic masculinity. Men are traditionally expected to be emotionally restricted, dominant, and influential in professional and personal settings. It’s important to note that these stereotypes are damaging to all people, including men.
This brings me to question, why are these studies highlighting traits mainly stereotypically male? Do we see leadership as inherently male? Obviously, there are significantly more men in leadership positions than women. According to a New York Times analysis of sexism in leadership, Fortune 500 CEOs consist of more men named John than women in total (Miller et al., 2018). How society views good, effective leadership is reflected in who has those leadership positions. This is related to a concept called vertical sex segregation, in which more men are likely to be employed at a higher level than women on average. These statistics vary by extremity in different fields. According to a study on sex segregation in academic science and engineering, neither vertical nor horizontal sex segregation is declining in the past 28 years (Frehill, 2006). This implies that the issue is not temporary and society has not simply progressed beyond sexism in the workplace.
This brings me to the issue of benevolent sexism and its relationship with leadership. Benevolent sexism is a type of sexism in which women are praised for upholding stereotypical and traditional femininity. For example, a woman may be praised for staying home and raising her children, cooking, cleaning, and being conventionally attractive because “that is her role as a woman”. A study on benevolent sexism shows that it can impact women’s advancement potential in the workplace. The study says that “benevolent sexism may undermine their provision of the needed career support to advance in leadership positions” (Hideg and Shen, 2019). The study goes on to say that some women themselves do not recognize benevolent sexism as a type of sexism and endorse it themselves, thus causing them to lack the career support they need to advance into a leadership position (Hideg and Shen, 2019). Both external and internal issues are at play here.
In my own leadership experience, I find that contrary to what might be expected as a young woman in the STEM field, my leadership is not often questioned. When it is, I never assume it is because of my gender. I typically assume this person has issues with authority or does not respect me for whatever reason it may be. I hope that I continue to think critically about this relationship between sexism and our perception of good leadership. I look forward to reading more about women like Mary Barra, Indra Nooyi, and Ginni Rometty who are all CEOs of Fortune 500 companies and their experiences with leadership.
References:
Frehill, L.M. (2006). Measuring occupational sex segregation of academic science and engineering. The Journal of Technology Transfer, 31, 345-354. doi: 10.1007/s10961-006-7206-0
Hideg, I. & Shen, W. (2019). Why still so few? A theoretical model of the role of benevolent sexism and career support in the continued underrepresentation of women in leadership positions. Journal of Leadership and Organizational Studies, 26(3), 287-303. doi:10.1177/1548051819849006
Miller, C.C., Quealy, K., & Sanger-Katz, M. (2018). The Top Jobs Where Women are Outnumbered by Men Named John. Retrieved January 27, 2021, from https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/04/24/upshot/women-and-men-named-john.html?auth=login-email
Northouse, P.G. (2013). Leadership: Theory and Practice. Los Angeles: Sage Publications.
Hi! I’m so glad you connected to my post!
I feel that my leadership is not questioned because of my gender because I really have no evidence for that being the case. However, it absolutely could be the reason I feel disrespected or ignored at times. I can definitely relate to being passed over in a more scientific conversation or ignored when I feel that I have something to add. I tend to assume this is because people may think I’m less intelligent than I actually am. Perhaps they don’t know me that well and assume what I say isn’t of value. This may be the result of sexism of course, but I never assumed that was the case.
I come off as quite goofy and friendly when people first meet me so my intelligence is definitely not the first thing people notice about me. This is why I tend to assume when people underestimate me, its not because of my gender but because they don’t know me that well or what I’ve accomplished.
Hi!
The title of your post really caught my eye. As a woman, I have experienced people ignoring what I have to say because there is a man next to me that can perhaps explain it better than me. I believe benevolent sexism was also at hand here in these situations. It is quite discouraging and I feel like I have to assert myself in unnatural ways to make people listen to me.
You said that when you are questioned, you don’t believe it is because of your gender. Can you expand on that a little more? If not because of your gender, what other factors do you feel like contribute to people questioning your leadership?