Gender and the Effectiveness of Leadership - Research Paper Example

Gender and the effectiveness of leadership Table of Contents Table of Contents 2 3 Introduction 4 Literature review 4 Females as Effective Leaders 4 Male and Female Leaders: A Comparison 7 Specific Research Question 8 Method Section 9 Participants 9 Research strategy 9 Research objectives 9 Research questions 9 Hypothesis 9 Measures 10 Abilities Required for Effective Leadership 10 Variables 10 Data Collection and Target Population 11 Research Methodology 11 Data Analysis and Results 12 Result section 12 Research objectives 12 Result Discussion 12 Discussion /Conclusion section 14 Discussion 14 Limitation 15 Conclusion 15 Future research 15 References 16 Appendix 17 Abstract This paper has been written in order to measure the difference in the ability to exercise leadership in males and females. The method of measuring and comparing descriptive statistics was used to attain the research objectives. This is a topic that has been studied by many researchers; however, they have concentrated on the conventional leadership styles in the world. This essay is to analyze gender and effective leadership regarding female and male capabilities in leaderships. In conclusion, it is found that there is no statistically significant difference in the ability of leadership in respondents from both genders. Key words: Gender, effective leadership, female and male capabilities Introduction Leadership is defined as an art and science of influence (Emmerik, 2010). In the past, males were believed that they were blessed with the ability to practice leadership and females were considered ideal for occupying the subordinate roles in the organizations (Jogulu, 2006). Nevertheless, with the passage of time, females’ ability to practice leadership grew and therefore, many of them managed to break the so-called glass ceiling in the organizations that are operating in a vast range of industry (Kolb, 2013). The basic and fundamental purpose of the study is to run a descriptive investigation with reference to males and females’ capability of practicing leadership. The study will be conducted in order to evaluate the presence of the glass ceiling in the local corporate market (Mavin, 2012). Following are the research question and hypotheses respectively (Maleki, 2011). The character of the study will be experimental in nature Literature review Females as Effective Leaders Reports show that male and female leadership styles get influenced for their tasks and considerations based upon the organizational-structure (Maleki, 2011). This structure puts that one’s position in the hierarchy, rather than the gender influences the leadership style. The gender-organization and the gender-organization system develop that gender and organization system combine to influence the leadership behavior in an independent and interactive method (Jogulu, 2006). Major research in the area of gender and leadership stereo typicality show that the workplace is either self -perception centered or subordinate centered, based upon the female or male leadership behavior. In most of the cases, gender differentiation has been more frequently reported by their subordinates rather than by the leaders themselves (Mavin, 2012). Marissa Mayer who is a CEO of Yahoo proved herself as the effective leader as she successfully managed to stimulate growth in the company by taking bold and concrete measures. The removal of policy supporting telecommuting is the most risky decision she took after becoming a leader. The featured lady challenged and nullified the presumption that under her command people can manage to take things easy because female leaders are weak when it comes to implementing discipline. The featured leader proved the common belief wrong by tightening the strings. The females that are leading the show for famous companies are known for their dedication towards discipline whereas; they tend to follow mechanistic philosophy in terms of organizational management. Elena Ford who is Vice President of Consumer Experience at Ford played a vital role in forging the effective and efficient international dealership network of the company. The Vice President has to pay very detailed and close attention towards discipline by activating and making new office rules so that people should take her directives more seriously. The female leaders are not taken seriously until and unless they take support from organizational rules and regulations. Furthermore, it is customary for them to take strict disciplinary and regulatory actions in order to set an example for others before they can fall in line. Studies have equally shown that women leaders are better suited when it comes to creativity, change management and dominance (Kolb, 2013). Some studies have shown that the women leaders from countries in the Far East and the United States believe that task-oriented discussion and needed to focus on the issues rather than the persons involved. They believe dominating strategies are the best as leaders when the issue handling or task managing team consists of people from a diverse background (Emmerik, 2010). Negotiations are however, more operative in the leadership styles when it gets about gender discrimination (Muchiri, 2011). Laboratory research about gender behaviors pertaining to negotiation, one of the major contents of leadership, clearly shows that organization discussions are very important to yield desired productivity. It has been observed that womens leadership in an organization is more focused on the propensity to ask and motivation whereas mostly male leadership negotiates with high thought, style and appetite for risk (Schyns, 2008).Equally, the context of negotiation for a woman leader is more important to serve as a background against which negotiations should occur rather than in the case of mans leadership (Sikdar, 2012). In an organizational structure, women leaders with children are offered less timely assignments or negotiation challenges as compared to women with no children (Thompson, 2000). The different contrasts of modes, individuals and social status anticipated from females lead to unjust prejudice in individuals’ minds and subsequently in their behavior in organizations about the female leadership (Vermeir, 2008). The past 20 years’ statistics show that women, due to improvement in social life and prevalence in improvement of industries, have been largely involved in initiating businesses and assuming managerial posts in large corporations alongside male counterparts and even at times above men, has increased by 20% in the USA and Europe and initiation of their own businesses have increased by 30% (Schyns, 2008). The masculine characteristics are more focused upon the task and they are believed to be more capable of meeting effective leadership’s requirements as compared to women (Mavin, 2012). As per the very traditional approach, it is believed that female leaders employ a highly versatile strategy to lay out and employee objectives are scientifically very converse in nature when it comes to coalition of goals (Vermeir, 2008). Given the above scenario, many of researchers have concluded that female leadership style is at times much more advantageous and effective as compared to the masculine trends, pertaining to the new world changes, where globalization has marked its deep footings, and calm and friendly aspects are more in demand than masculine assertiveness and aggressive behaviors (Emmerik, 2010). Both of the quoted examples are famous for their soft personalities in the private lives. However, they had to mould their personalities in order to fit in the new roles. The subordinates in both of the cases had to be informed that who was the boss and then, things initiated to look smoother for the two ladies. Nevertheless, it is valuable to note that females are required to use a firm hand over their employees in opening days so that they can understand that the new boss is capable of doing her job well. Male and Female Leaders: A Comparison Leadership comes in trading with traits personality (Kolb, 2013). To that effect, it requires traits like strong ambition where clear path attitude is very important to show the followers where to go; confidence, that shows the leader has the ability to take up challenges; sense of humor, to tackle situations and convey undesirable news or fight unwanted situations with a pleasant attitude and above all the ability to trust the team members. Female Leaders are high on ambition. The male leaders such as Bill Gates and Steve Jobs revolutionized the world of technology with the help of their creative and innovative ideas. They did not find it hard to gather followers. The followers readily followed both gentlemen due to their gender and therefore, telecommuting, participative management and delegation became the defining attributes of Microsoft and Apple. Marissaand Elena was not so lucky and therefore, they have to make it clear that who is the boss? Yahoo and Ford’s consumer department have to adopt traditional organizational ideas and concepts of centralization of authority and formalization. Researches show that they have a strong ambition as compared to men, they are equally high on confidence as men, and however, they are low on tackling sense of humor since female leaders get easily fed up and they lack the ability to trust the team workers. They could either overestimate some average or weak team member, showing undesirable favoritism or underestimate some capable team members (Vermeir, 2008). Female Leaders need assistance from male leadership to effectively lead team members (Kolb, 2013). Some researchers have evenly concluded that the coming ages would be far off from gender brassiness, success and leading might be more dependent upon energy and drive than even the intelligence (Mavin, 2012). With the invasion of 20th century’s freedom and the introduction of women to the Army and other forces in many parts of the world, women have earned to leave it out, survive and sustain the command and control culture that once was considered too difficult for women to go through (Kolb, 2013). The rule of three that talked about taking in at least 3 members of minority, and which subsequently applied to women pertaining to their low level management roles in the past years, introduced their talent and abilities to lead. That brought out the brighter side of their leadership skills. Transformational leadership has bridged the relationships, focusing on the better good (Vermeir, 2008). The economic and social ramifications of growing female leadership are negligible because the corporate world is focusing on one’s competencies and abilities to perform the roles and gender is being considered as a secondary issue. The companies then, evaluate the performance of their leaders in monetary terms regardless of gender and the effective ones keep their posts while the ineffective ones are removed or asked to continue on probation. The companies’ growing dedication towards job performance has successfully managed to minimize social and economic costs of selecting females as leaders. Specific Research Question Does gender affect people’s job satisfaction? Method Section Participants This is a research paper that entails sampling a total of 40 (n=40) professionals in various fields to test their perception on gender influence in leaderships. Demographic involve age group of 18 to 60 years of age and an equal number of genders such as 20 males and 20 females. Research strategy The literature claims that the phenomenon of the glass ceiling is melting down in the developed parts of the world (Muchiri, 2011). The proposed study will allow the investigator to empirically test the above-mentioned claim. Research objectives 1. To determine how gender disparity affect leadership 2. To determine why there is more males in leaderships than females and why 3. To assess if gender affect people’s job satisfaction. Research questions Research Question 1: Which gender is perceived to be more effective in leadership? In answering this research question the objective of gender disparity effect would be dealt with. Research question 2: Why are there more males in leadership position than women? Objective 2 of the research seek to determine why men are dominant in leadership than women; so by answering this research question this would be addressed. Hypothesis Ho: There is no feasible statistical difference between the ability to demonstrate effective leadership in males and females. Hi: There is a feasible statistical difference between the ability to demonstrate effective leadership in males and females Measures The scale developed by Northouse, (2011) in order to measure the effectiveness of leadership. The proposed measure consists 14 items, and it has the following dimensions:- Abilities Required for Effective Leadership Administrative Skills: This dimension of the construct is specifically concerned with measuring the ability of the leader to make things done within the deadlines whereas his or her ability to push employees towards the specific objectives and goals is also an integral part of this subcategory (Schyns, 2008). Interpersonal Skills: This measures leader’s ability to build social relations with his or her colleagues and subordinates (Thompson, 2000). Conceptual Skills: This measures the influences ability to set and establish SMART goals and desired strategic objectives. This dimension is believed to be the heart and soul of the art and science of leadership (Thompson, 2000). Variables The key variable of the study are effective leadership the main dimensions of both the variables are as follows: Leadership is serving others Gender or no gender the role of a leader is to fulfill the mandate Impartiality is an attribute of a good leader Data Collection and Target Population The data is gathered with the help of using simple random sampling and 40 respondents (20 Males, 20 Females) will be selected from the target population living in the local state. This is carried out with the use of structured Questionnaires that is emailed to respective participants. The questionnaires can be presented in person of use of email. Apart from questionnaires, interviews are used as a survey tool to collect data from participants with no internet access. The researcher will inform the respondents about the purpose of the study. The target population of the study will be local employees working in the indigenous industrial areas. Additionally, researcher will tell them that the data will be used for academic purposes only. Finally, the respondents will be informed about their rights to privacy and withdrawal during the course of the survey. Furthermore, respondents will be contacted with the help of an email survey questionnaire. The electronic version of the survey will be deployed so that investigations cost dimension can be minimized. Every respondent will be asked to rate his or her boss’s ability to demonstrate effective leadership. Research Methodology The data will be analyzed with the help of measuring descriptive statistics from both of gender-based groups. While the group that will demonstrate the highest level of the mean and lower degree of standard deviation will be considered more prominent on the concerned scale. The method of descriptive statistical analysis is ideal for measuring differences in two groups. Therefore, it will be used to scale differences in leadership effectiveness amongst female and male leaders in the local setting. Data Analysis and Results Data analysis is undertaken to interpret the data collected. This is possible by the use of computer application such as Microsoft Excel or equivalent software, which has the statistical functionalities. Following is the analysis of data that was collected by conducting a survey of 40 (20 males, 20 females) employees that were selected from the target population by using questionnaires and interviews. The male and female respondents scored a mean score of 3.53 and 3.39 with standard deviations of 1.09 and 1.03 respectively. The results of the study show that there are no statistically significant differences between the male and female ability to exercise leadership in the modern era of the 21st century. Result section Research objectives 1. To determine how gender disparity affect leadership 2. To determine why there is more males in leaderships than females and why 3. To assess if job gender affect people’s satisfaction. Result Discussion In research objective 1: The participant was asked to give their opinion in closed ended question (Yes or No) to test whether gender disparity had effect on leadership. The result differed slightly since more female 80% agreed that gender disparity affect leadership while 60% male think it does not. Table 1 Fig. 1 This can be attributed to the fact that more women feel they are denied chances. However, more males believe leadership is a quality and men exhibit aggressiveness than women. So according to majority of men gender disparity does not affect leadership, on the other hand, women think otherwise. The research objective 2: To answer the objective 2, why male are more dominant in work places than female. Structured question with four options was devised comprising of option Strongly Agree, Agree, Neutral, Disagree, Strong Disagree abbreviated as (SA, A, N, D, SD). Table 2 This result has most of the participants strongly agreeing on the first the determinants and on equal measure disagreeing on the last one because women believe biasness and prejudice are factors affecting their chances in leadership position. While equal measure from male disagrees. The third objective was to assess whether gender affect people job’s satisfaction. The result obtained indicated that jobs satisfaction does not depend on gender but fulfillment of requirement. Does gender affect people’s satisfaction? Yes No Female 4 (20%) 16 (80%) Male 6 (30%) 14 (70%) Table 3 Fig 2 Table 3 and fig 2 provides confirmation that most of participant does not agree with assumption that gender affect people’ job satisfaction. Discussion /Conclusion section Discussion The figures and table above provide the findings of the research. It is evident that the research’s outcomes have fulfilled the null hypothesis of the study. It is clear perception differs but in general outcome gender is not a measurement in leadership traits in current world. In the modern era of the 21st century, the gender differences are getting less and less important in terms of predicting organizational leadership roles. The results show that females are equally capable of exercising leadership as their male colleagues. Limitation The research was limited to 40 participants which is not a big sample for such a big research topic. However, this was due to constraint of finances and time frame to conduct a conclusive research. Participants were mainly those in leadership or professional, this is restrictive thus does not allow extensive opinion on the matter. Conclusion This paper concludes in the light of statistical evidence that there is no difference in the ability to practice leadership between both the genders. The difference is however, present in the organizational structures when males and females become leaders. The males are culturally and socially more popular as leaders and therefore, they can afford to follow organic chain of command. But, in case of female leaders, the organizational structure and culture must be tightened in order make the subordinates understand and respect the authoritative position of the females. However, both of the genders are known to perform corporate leadership roles adequately well in the modern period of the 21stcentury. Future research Future research should strive to involve big participants from professionals to non-professionals. Adequate financial preparation to limit financial constraints would ensure research is adequately done. The topic should entails various factors that make leadership seem gender based. References Emmerik, H. (2010). Gender ratio, societal culture, and male . Journal of occupational and organizational psychology, 895-914 Jogulu, U. (2006). The role of leadership theory in raising the profile of. Equal opportunities international, 236-250. Kolb, K. (2013). Negotiating in the shadows of organization:gender, negotiation and change. Journal on dispute resolution, 241 – 262 Maleki. N. (2011). Designing an effective leadership. Journal of knowledge management, economics and information technology, 493 - 514. Mavin, S. (2012). Doing gender well and differently in management, gender in management. an international journal, 218-231. Muchiri, M. (2011). Gender and managerial level. Leadership & organization development journal, 462 - 492. Schyns, B. (2008). Is there a male advantage in the effects of feedback and leadership on leaders’ occupational self-efficacy? Equal opportunities international, 596 - 612. Sikdar, A. (2012). Gender-role stereotypes: perception and practice of leadership in Middle East. Contemporary Middle Eastern Issues, 146 - 162. Thompson, M. (2000). Gender, leadership orientation, and effectiveness: testing the. sex roles, 169 - 192. Vermeir, I. (2008). Gender differences in double standards. Journal of business ethics, 281 - 295. Appendix Appendix 1: MRP 4 AND MRP 5 comments MRP 4 comments and corrections Comment [RW1]: (Your running head should follow APA style. On the first page it should include “Running head: title in 60 characters or less”. After the first page it should only include the title.) Corrected other titles as GENDER AND THE EFFECTIVENESS OF LEADERSHIP without running head Comment [RW2]: Female Leadership Effectiveness: (Your headings should fairly closely mirror the headings in your outline. From your outline, it appears you are using 4 levels. From what you have included in your lit review, you are only using 1 level. Regardless, you need to follow APA style for headings. The handout provided by Katherine Farmer at the beginning of the semester (or any other APA style guide) shows you the format for headings. ) I have corrected the subheading by giving it subheading 2 Comment [RW3]: Is this the author’s name? APA in-text citation format followed in correction Comment [RW4]: sentence restructured Comment [RW5]: sentence restructured MRP 5 comments and corrections Comment [RW1]: Correct Title used Comment [RW2]: (If this is the emphasis of the study it should probably take a more prominent role in research questions and title. If not, consider rephrasing here.)Rephrasing done Comment [RW3]: (Null would be there is no statistical difference.) Question changed to match the null hypothesis Comment [RW4]: (Level 3 heading. Use APA style for headings.) Level 2 heading used as per APA style Comment [RW5]: (This section seems incomplete.) Additional points added to complete the section Appendix 2: Questionnaire Section I: Personal Information 1. In what age group are you? Read More