Gender, Sex, and Leadership Emergence: Roles and Theories

Introduction

A vast number of studies have been dedicated to understanding the factors linked to the emergence of individuals as group leaders. Two characteristics consistently identified are gender role and gender. Previous studies have proven that males typically assume the leadership position. This trend has been ascribed to external and internal obstacles that limit the emergence of women as leaders. However, recent studies indicate that a shift has occurred in society's acceptance of females in leadership positions; some obstacles that historically kept women from assuming such roles have, perhaps, already been surmounted (Kent & Moss, 1994).

Further, changes seem to be taking place in societal views regarding the significance of stereotypically feminine and masculine leadership characteristics. Prior studies have overwhelmingly linked masculine characteristics to leader emergence. However, more recent studies exhibit slightly divergent views. According to researchers, female managers are now considered successful middle managers when they possess both stereotypically feminine and masculine characteristics. Additionally, studies indicate that adopting an androgynous style of leadership can help females overcome stereotypes that previously prevented others from viewing them as leaders (Kent & Moss, 1994).

The American military is witnessing an ever-growing number of female employees. Previously, women's functions and roles were largely limited. However, improved military opportunities for women, together with the demands of a decade of conflict, have led to historic growth in the proportional representation and absolute number of females across all U.S. services. Similarly, females in private-sector jobs have witnessed a growth of opportunities over the past forty years. Women now head the top management teams of as many as twenty-six Fortune 500 firms, compared to just one firm in 1972. Furthermore, the number of women in executive posts — once an area reserved exclusively for males — continues to rise (Catalyst, 2016).

Just as with females in military organizations, women in business have encountered considerable challenges when advancing to top private-sector ranks and continue to be underrepresented there, despite gradual improvements. Of late, appreciable focus has been given to gender dynamics in corporate America. However, a significant gap exists in the literature regarding women's experiences in military organizations. A majority of female leadership scholarship has concentrated on gender issues or workforce integration; this paper concentrates on females in leadership roles. It builds on available literature to close the gap between civilian professional and military women's experiences, and integrates findings from individual and group interviews of females in military and private-sector organizations at all career stages.

Literature Review

Despite a recent growth in the number of females holding leadership and managerial posts, women continue to be underrepresented at the highest military and business levels. The genders of both the leader and the evaluator are typically related to recommendations for leadership. A 2004 study by Looney and colleagues at the U.S. Naval Academy examined whether an evaluator's gender and attitudes pertaining to gender roles had any relationship with recommendations for promoting female or male naval lieutenants. Participants comprised 39 female and 69 male midshipmen, who completed a "Male Masculinity Role Norm Scale" and an "Attitudes toward Women Scale" several weeks before the experimental intervention began.

During the intervention, participating naval officers were assigned — on the basis of gender — to review either a female or male lieutenant's fitness report and rate the officer for leadership qualities and suitability for promotion. Compared to female leaders, males reportedly possessed fewer leadership traits with an associated emotional element. Regardless of the evaluator's gender, support for officer promotion was positively linked to emotional traits and leadership attributes, and negatively linked to perceived negative leadership traits.

Gender-Role Effects

Owing to conventional gender stereotypes, possessing feminine traits is apparently detrimental to leadership emergence, while possession of masculine traits is considered beneficial. However, with the recent female movement, the increase in women managers, mass entry of females into the labor market, and a shift in society's perceptions of gender roles, the previously unambiguous definitions of gender roles have become increasingly blurred. In principle, femininity and masculinity do not necessarily denote exact correlates of biological sex. Hence, people can possess feminine traits, masculine traits, or both. Considering changes in society's attitude toward women's roles and their advancement into leadership positions, it is reasonable to state that modern women possess more stereotypically male characteristics than their counterparts of previous generations (Kent & Moss, 1994).

A large body of research corroborates this argument. Studies have revealed that female students in MBA programs self-reported higher masculine traits than feminine traits. Moreover, females who have opted for managerial or traditionally masculine careers have quite likely rejected conventional gender stereotypes, are more likely to have grown up in households where their mothers held full-time jobs, and possess attitudes not associated with interest in traditionally feminine professions.

Numerous studies have demonstrated that masculinity is linked to leader emergence. A semester-long study of college students carrying out gender-neutral activities assessed the impacts of gender role and biological sex on leadership emergence. Outcomes indicated that biological sex did not affect leader emergence, whereas gender roles did. Specifically, regardless of their sex, masculine participants were more likely to become leaders than undifferentiated, feminine, or androgynous individuals. A field study produced similar results: female and male participants who held senior positions in an organization scored substantially higher on masculinity measures than lower-level employees — findings that held after controlling for numerous key demographic variables.

Conclusion

The impact of gender role on emerging leadership — as distinct from the effect of biological sex alone — was examined through the lens of role congruity model predictions. The model predicts that males will more likely become leaders than females or feminine personalities on gender-neutral and masculine tasks, due to congruence between the leader role and masculine gender roles. By contrast, individuals displaying feminine qualities will more likely emerge in leadership roles when tasks are stereotypically feminine, due to congruence between expected leader role and feminine gender roles. Androgynous individuals will likely emerge as leaders across a range of tasks, owing to their ability to adapt behaviors to task demands.

Research has confirmed that people with an overall androgynous or masculine personality will most frequently be selected for leadership roles, consistent with these predictions. However, femininity failed to predict higher leader emergence on feminine tasks. It is possible that feminine traits such as nurturance and a preference for harmony become more valued and apparent over time, as these traits are essential for ensuring group cohesiveness and maintenance. For short-duration groups, androgynous and masculine traits may prove more immediately beneficial.

Further research into leadership emergence should integrate both gender role and biological sex in order to examine which variable represents the more powerful predictor. The distinction matters not only for theoretical development but also for practical understanding of how leadership dynamics operate across diverse organizational contexts, including both military and corporate settings.