The debate over what gender makes the best leader is nothing new. It’s likely that over the course of our careers we will all at one point discuss what gender makes the best leader. However, these debates rarely tell us anything new. Viewpoints are often based on perception, prejudices, and stereotypical gender roles. Even when discussing leadership roles yesterday, I was met with the same stereotypical response that women are more sensitive, less decisive, and unable to gain control of male-dominated fields. While I think the latter is true, it is a result of prejudice, and not a person’s ability to lead. So, in considering
According to the Pew Research Center, the traits that matter most in leadership are being honest, intelligent, decisive, organized, compassionate, innovative, and ambitious. (Pew Research Center, 2015) Anyone has the possibility to exhibit these traits and assuming prejudice, the leader should be successful. But the issue remains and women continue to struggle in attaining high-level leadership positions. “This prejudice against female leaders helps explain the numerous findings indicating less favorable attitudes toward female than male leaders, greater difficulty for women to attain top leadership roles, and greater difficulty for women to be viewed as effective in these roles.” (Eagly & Karau, 2002)
Gender roles, or stereotypes as I like to call them, often becomes a highlight of the leadership debate. Generally speaking, women were/are expected to maintain the home and children, and men were/are expected to work. As a result, strict gender roles were created, but these roles are beginning to become less defined. “Women’s labor force participation has increased substantially in the U.S. over the second half of the 20th century, yet this growth has stagnated and reversed since 2000. Today, large gaps remain between men and women in employment rates, the jobs they hold, the wages they earn, and their overall economic security.” (Burke, 2017) So, for as much progress that has been made in the past fifty years or so in the United States, there is still room for improvement. Despite women being consistently active in the workforce, stereotypes remain and women fail to be considered equivalents of men. How then can we truly tackle the issue of women in leadership when on a basic level, they are not even being paid the same as their counterparts in the same position?
In short, there is no clear solution to prejudice and stereotypes. Unfortunately, many of us who have prejudices will not change our minds until we’ve had a positive association with that prejudice. In male-dominated fields, the stigma will remain until it becomes a more gender balanced field. While extremely frustrating, it is somewhat comforting to know that there is little to no accurate research supportive these thought processes. Hopefully, in time, this will no longer be an issue, and a greater focus can be spent developing those with leadership attributes, regardless of gender.
Works Cited
Burke, A. (2017, 12 5). 10 Facts About American Women in the Workforce. Retrieved from Brookings: https://www.brookings.edu/blog/brookings-now/2017/12/05/10-facts-about-american-women-in-the-workforce/
Eagly, A.H., & Karau S.J. (2002). Role of Congruity theory of prejudice toward female leaders. Psychological Review, 109. 573-598
Pew Research Center. (2015, January 14). Chapter 2: What makes a Good Leader? And Does Gender Matter? Retrieved from Pew Social Trends: http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2015/01/14/chapter-2-what-makes-a-good-leader-and-does-gender-matter/