Patriarchal Culture\u27s Influence on Women’s Leadership Ascendancy

Biblical interpretations (hermeneutic) have influenced women’s ascension to leadership positions. A patriarchal societal framework that most Judeo-Christians have accepted as a norm often includes biased biblical interpretations regarding women. These interpretations are taken out of context, which reinforces old patterns that are incompatible with true leadership. This paper provides a literature review on women and leadership, with the literature indicating that a prevalent patriarchal perspective has influenced the portrayal of leadership roles in society. The literature on women leadership shows that many women might not be becoming CEOs or ascending to other high positions because of gender inequality in the workplace, a lack of sponsors, a lack of leadership-career aspirations, and companies’ preference for leadership styles based on masculine characteristics. The literature also reveals that women feel forced to assume masculine leadership styles, even though their preferences differ—an injustice to their leadership aptitude. In other words, the literature suggests there are more suitable leadership styles for women. Moreover, leadership styles based on context are more effective, and changing these biases and misapplications are critical to ensuring women ascend to leadership positions. This paper concludes with an analysis of the cognitive bias on women, which contributes to the lack of empathy for women ascending to leadership positions. In addition, future research suggestions and methods aimed at decreasing the inequalities women experience are provided

Third culture young women: Understanding their life experiences and leadership perspectives : A thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirement for the degree of Master of Business Studies (Management) at Massey University, New Zealand

Globalisation influences how leadership is understood and practiced and impacts on culturally diverse interactions in New Zealand communities. Examining leadership and intersecting diversity with regards to culture, gender and age could provide a richer understanding of how identity impacts on leadership. Youth are increasingly growing up in multicultural communities, giving rise to a phenomenon widely referred to as Third Culture Kids (TCKs) – adolescents who grow up in cultures outside of their home culture. To date there is no research on the leadership perspectives and development needs of TCKs, and although there are programmes and studies focusing on leadership development for young women, very few of these initiatives focus on culturally diverse young women. This research focused on examining the diverse lifeworlds of third culture young women to appreciate how their intersecting experiences and perspectives influenced their leadership understanding. Using an interpretive phenomenological approach, four third culture young women, selected from a leadership programme for Year 13 (16 year old) young women, were interviewed and asked questions that explored their experiences and perspectives regarding being third culture individuals, young women, and leaders. The responses were analysed using a modified version of Ashworth’s (2003) phenomenological framework to reveal that diverse young women have an awareness of the gendered expectations that society constructs, have an ability to navigate cultural differences, and are able to strategize how to interact with various social groups as a result of their diverse life experiences and intersecting identities. Ultimately, their core values, life experiences, and diverse perspectives as culturally distinct adolescent women shape their leadership understanding and practice. This study concludes that third culture young women are embodying values, perspectives, skills and strategies that suggest their potential as emerging leaders in their communities and future aspirations aligned with their leadership purpose of achieving personal success and helping others. In conclusion there is a need for greater application from academics and practitioners of intersectionality into leadership studies and practice. Recommendations were made with regards to leadership research and development programmes in the future and how these can explore the leadership potential of young, culturally diverse women like young TCK women

Do women really make better leaders than men? : an update

Women are continuing to make a major impact through their participation in organizations and their ownership of businesses and it is reasonable to assume that the number of women taking up significant roles in society will increase in the future. The growing impact of women in the workforce has kept the leadership style of women on the research agenda. Within the leadership literature, writers lamenting the lack of women in senior management positions do so primarily on the basis that modern organizations need the very style of leadership that comes naturally to women. By contrast, a number of studies have highlighted a generally held negative perception of women as leaders that could account for the dearth of female managers at the top. Against this background, this paper revisits the study of women and leadership given that leadership style remains a central theme in management literature and continues to be viewed as a critical factor in effective organizational performance

Women and Union Leadership in the UK and USA: First Findings From a Cross-National Research Project

This is a report prepared for Cornell Conference on Women and Union Leadership held at Cornell University, New York City on May 8th 2010 and for Queen Mary/SERTUC Workshop on Women and Union Leadership held at Congress House, London on 11th September 2010. The project was funded by the Leverhulme Trust. [Excerpt] This report offers the first findings of a unique comparative research project on women in union leadership in the UK and the USA. It is the first study that seeks to systematically investigate the experiences of women in union leadership in two countries using the same research methodologies and carried out by an American/British research team

Malaysian and Australian male and female middle managers : a cross-cultural comparison of workplace attitudes, aspirations for promotion, and self-rated leadership styles

This paper outlines the rise of women in management worldwide, and considers why so few women achieve senior or executive management positions. This slow advance of women into senior roles is unexpected given that the changes in organisations today are believed to require more &lsquo;feminine leadership&rsquo;. A decrease in the emphasis on masculine characteristics for managers is reported, and a requirement that more &lsquo;feminine leadership&rsquo; needs to be adopted by organisations in order to ensure their survival in the future (Powell, Butterfield &amp; Parent, 2002, p.189). Recent empirical research reports that there are differences in leadership style between male and female managers, and the findings suggest that women exhibit more transformational leadership than their male counterparts, with this style being strongly equated with effective leadership (Eagly, Johannesen-Schmidt, van Engen, 2003). However, these findings are based on western research, and it may be that cross cultural research will yield a different picture (House, Hanges, Javidan, Dorfman, &amp; Gupta, 2004). Leadership and leadership styles may be conceptualised differently in a more paternalistic society. To explore this possibility, a cross cultural study was conducted in Malaysia and Australia. It is hypothesised that countries that are paternalistic in cultural values will exhibit a stronger constraint on women in management roles, which may impact on workplace attitudes, aspirations for promotion and style of leadership exhibited. Therefore, it is possible that the career advancement of women may be more problematic for Malaysian managerial women than their Australian counterparts. Results from an initial pilot study in Malaysia and Australia are outlined, and highlight some interesting similarities and differences to what are reported in the western literature.<br /

A gender perspective on entrepreneurial leadership:female leaders in Kazakhstan

The paper proposes a conceptual model to understand female entrepreneurial leadership through an exploration of the perceptions and experiences of women entrepreneurs within their leadership roles. The paper addresses an existing knowledge gap on entrepreneurial leadership by bringing together three key constructs of gender, leadership and entrepreneurship. We apply Stewart's model of role demands-constraints-choices (DCC) to women entrepreneurs in Kazakhstan in order to understand their perceptions of the demands, constraints and choices they experience within their leadership roles. The results of in-depth interviews with women entrepreneurs present deeper conceptualization of their leadership enactment as a co-developing, co-constructed relational activity between leaders and others in their wider business environments and context

Women in Union Leadership Roles

[Excerpt] Progress has been slower at the policy making level, as illustrated by the report that in these same unions with 45% or more female membership, women hold less than 10% of .the executive board positions. While the percentages are higher in professional unions - for example, 32% in the American Federation of Teachers which has a 60% female membership - in almost all cases, representation on executive boards falls far below that of local membership. Few of the more than 90 AFL-CIO unions are headed by women: only the Association of Flight Attendants, which has a predominantly female membership, and the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union and Actors\u27 Equity have women presidents. Women are rarely represented at the top. Is there a glass ceiling? Can women look up but not rise up? If so, why

Diversity in leadership: Australian women, past and present

This book provides a new understanding of the historical and contemporary aspects of Indigenous and non-Indigenous women’s leadership in a range of local, national and international contexts. Overview While leadership is an over-used term today, how it is defined for women and the contexts in which it emerges remains elusive. Moreover, women are exhorted to exercise leadership, but occupying leadership positions has its challenges. Issues of access, acceptable behaviour and the development of skills to be successful leaders are just some of them. Diversity in Leadership: Australian women, past and present provides a new understanding of the historical and contemporary aspects of Indigenous and non-Indigenous women’s leadership in a range of local, national and international contexts. It brings interdisciplinary expertise to the topic from leading scholars in a range of fields and diverse backgrounds. The aims of the essays in the collection document the extent and diverse nature of women’s social and political leadership across various pursuits and endeavours within democratic political structures

Women Leadership: an Opportunity and Challenge in Religious and Cultural Perspective

Saat ini kita sedang hidup di suatu abad di mana kesetaraan hak menjadi “talk” atau pembicaraan semua orang. Lebih jauh lagi, “talk” itu sudah meningkat menjadi gerakan sipil untuk menuntut kesamaan hak bagi semua kelompok, tidak peduli agama, ras, atau sejenisnya. Salah satu masalah yang terkait dengan hal di atas adalah isu tentang kepemimpinan perempuan diberbagai bidang kehidupan terutama bidang politik. Peran publik perempuan khususnya aksesnya dalam dunia politik di berbagai belahan dunia, dan Indonesia khususnya ternyata tetap menghadapi berbagai kendala. Dunia masih saja menganggap bahwa politik dan kepemimpinan adalah wilayah laki-laki, sehingga jika perempuan terjun ke politik atau parlemen tetap dipandang sebelah mata juga hanya penggembira saja. Mayoritas pendapat mengatakan bahwa hal tersebut memang terjadi sebagai akibat faktor ideologi yang ada. Pengaruh bangunan ideologi yang sarat nilai agama dan budaya tentu tampak jelas dalam konstelasi politik di Indonesia. Penafsiran sumber-sumber hukum dalam agama yang kadang tidak di telaah lebih komprehensif dan budaya patriarkhi menjadi kendala yang luar biasa besar bagi upaya-upaya perempuan Indonesia untuk mencapai sebuah kesetaraan

Confronting barriers to women in leadership positions: A study on construction industry

In the modern era, the awakening social development of women in society has increased the scope of their participation in the development of the economy to widen from homes to the work place. However women are under-represented in the construction industry and the percentage of women leaders in senior management remains minimal. A substantial body of opinion within the research on women leadership reflects that modern organisations require a non-coercive leadership based on teamwork and building relationships. Furthermore it states, that this is the very style of leadership that is naturally employed by women. However, the generally held negative perception of women as leaders could be an obstacle to women leadership in construction. This study examines the barriers to women in leadership positions in senior management of the construction organisations, and the initiatives committed to promote women to senior level of management