Leadership Ability Based on Communication Style: A Quantitative Study of the Effects of Sex and Gender on Perception of Leadership

Work to date on masculine and feminine communication styles in leadership roles is limited. Much of the leadership research reflects an interest in the differences between the styles of men and women, but relatively little has been done focusing on feminine and masculine communication styles. This study seeks to fill in some of the gaps. The quantitative design of this study is based on Goldberg\u27s (1968) experimental paradigm and used an Internet-linked survey consisting of four different sex and gender combinations. The survey included Renzetti\u27s (1987) Sex Role Attitudinal Inventory, a brief description of a leader, and a Likert-type scale with 20 items that rated leaders on five dimensions: task, relationship, organizational identity, qualifications, and dynamism. A factor analysis of these dimensions resulted in combining them into three factors: task/dynamism, relationship/organizational ID/qualifications, and an overall item with the two previous factors combined. Participants were selected using a convenience and a snowball approach. The convenience sample included a community college, resulting in 189 usable surveys, and the snowball sample was a general sample accessed via the Internet by the researcher sending an email to a personal address book and frequently used listservs and asking those recipients to pass it on, resulting in 213 usable surveys. Expectation states theory and role congruity theory were the foundations for this study. Contrary to expectations, males and leaders using a masculine communication style were not rated more positively than females or those using a feminine communication style

Women's Talk about Mentoring and Socialization in Local Policies

Research on mentoring and socialization in organizations determined that there are benefits to mentors, protégés, and organizations derived from these relationships (Burlew, 1991; Kram, 1983). However, previous research largely ignores mentoring and socialization at all levels of politics and political organizations and this study attempts to address this oversight. I pose questions about the extent to which women are mentored in local politics and political organizations. If they are being mentored, who is doing the mentoring? Are they being socialized into politics and political organizations and, if so, by whom? A total of nine women were interviewed and shared their experiences of mentoring and socialization in local politics. Interviewees ranged in age from the early 30s to the late 70s and from School Board to Mayor

The Effect of Sex and Gender on Perceptions of Leaders: Does Situation Make a Difference?

Relatively little research has been done focusing on feminine and masculine communication styles in leadership. This study seeks to fill in some of the gaps. The quantitative design of this study is based on Goldberg's (1968) experimental paradigm and used an Internet-linked survey consisting of Renzetti's (1987) Sex Role Attitudinal Inventory, a brief description of a leader (one of four different sex and gender combinations), and a Likert-type scale with 20 items that rated leaders on several dimensions. A factor analysis resulted in combining these into three factors: task/dynamism, relationship/organizational ID/qualifications, and an overall item. Participants were selected using a snowball approach. Expectation states theory was the foundation for this study. The results suggest that the expectation of leaders is changing with a feminine communication style preferred across the board, regardless of situation or sex of the leade