International Journal on Leadership

Open Access Open Access  Restricted Access Subscription Access
Open Access Open Access Open Access  Restricted Access Restricted Access Subscription Access

Gender Differences in Leadership Style:A Study on Graduate Students’ Task and Relationship Orientations


Affiliations
1 Texas A&M University, United States
     

   Subscribe/Renew Journal


The purposes of this mixed sequential-explanatory study were: (a) to investigate the leadership behaviour difference between male and female graduate students in terms of task and relationship orientations and (b) to explore the reasons why they demonstrate these differences. There were quantitative and qualitative phases. In the quantitative phase, we collected data from 37 graduate students who enrolled in a leadership course. Due to small sample size, a non-parametric test was utilized to analyse the quantitative data. We surprisingly found that: (a) there is no difference between male and female students in terms of leadership behaviours and (b) graduate students tend to be more likely to adopt relationship orientation in their leadership positions. In the qualitative phase, we extracted three main themes: (a) similar leadership orientations between male and female students; (b) situation-dependent leadership; and (d) shift toward balanced behaviour. These themes supported and complemented the findings in the quantitative stage.

Keywords

Graduate Students, Gender Differences, Leadership Behaviour, Task and Relationship Orientations.
Subscription Login to verify subscription
User
Notifications
Font Size


  • Andersen, J. A., & Hansson, P. H. (2011). At the end of the road? On differences between women and men in leadership behavior. Leadership and Organization Development Journal, 32(5), 428-441. doi:10.1108/01437731111146550

  • Ayman, R., & Korabik, K. (2010). Leadership: why gender and culture matter. American Psychologist, 65(3), 158-170.

  • Bass, B. M. (1981). Stogdills handbook of leadership: A survey of theory and research. New York: Free Press.

  • Bertocci, I. D. (2009). Leadership in organizations: There is a difference between leaders and managers. New York: University Press of America, INC.

  • Blake, R., & Mouton, J. (1964). The managerial grid: The key to leadership excellence. Houston: Gulf.

  • Cliff, J. E. (2005). Walking the talk? Gendered rhetoric vs. action in small firms. Organization Studies, 26, 63-91. doi:10.1177/0170840605046490

  • Creswell, J. W. (2014). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches. London: Sage Publications.

  • Creswell, J. W., & Plano Clark, V. L. (2011). Designing and conducting mixed methods research. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

  • Cuadrado I., Navas M., Molero F., Ferrer E., Morales J. F. (2012). Gender differences in leadership styles as a function of leader and subordinates’ sex and type of organization: Gender differences in leadership styles. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 42, 3083-3113.

  • Deal, J. J. (2007). Retiring the generation gap: How employees young and old can find common ground. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

  • Eagly, A. H. (1987). Sex differences in social behavior: A social-role interpretation. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

  • Eagly, A. H., & Carli, L. (2003). The female leadership advantage: An evaluation of the evidence. The Leadership Quarterly, 14(6), 807-834.

  • Eagly, A. H., & Heilman, M. E. (2016). Gender and leadership: Introduction to the special issue. The Leadership Quarterly, 27(3), 349-353. doi: j.leaqua.2016.04.002

  • Eagly, A. H., Johnson, B. T. (1990). Gender and leadership style: A meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 108, 233-56.

  • Eagly, A. H., & Johannesen-Schmidt, M. C. (2001). The leadership styles of women and men. The Journal of Social Issues, 57, 781-797.

  • Eagly, A. H., & Karau, S. J. (2002). Role congruity theory of prejudice toward female leaders. Psychological Review, 109, 573-598.

  • Fiedler, F. E. (1967). A theory of leadership effectiveness. New York: McGraw-Hill.

  • Gilbert, R. G., Burnett, M.F., Phau, I., & Haar, J. (2010). Does gender matter? A review of work related gender commonalities. Gender in Management: An International Journal, 25(8), 676-699.

  • Grant, J. (1988). Women as managers: What they can offer to organizations. Organizational Dynamics, 16(3), 56-63.

  • Hemphill, J. K., & Coons, A. E. (1957). Development of the leader behavior description questionnaire. In R. M. Stodgill and A. E. Coons (Eds.), Leader behavior: Its description and measurement (pp. 6-38). Columbus, Ohio: Bureau of Business Research, Ohio State University.

  • Hennig, M., & Jardin, A. (1977). The managerial woman. New York: Anchor Press.

  • Hersey, P., & Blanchard, K.H. (1969). Life-cyle theory of leadership. Training and Development Quarterly, 8(2), 153-170.

  • Hyde, J. S. (2014). Gender similarities and differences. Annual Review of Psychology, 65, 373-398.

  • Kanter, R. M. (1977). Men and women of the corporation. New York: Basic Books.

  • Klenke, K. (1993) Meta-analytic studies of leadership: Added insights or added paradoxes. Current Psychology: Developmental, Learning Personality, Social, 12, 326-343.

  • Koenig, A. M., Eagly, A. H., Mitchell, A. A., & Ristikari, T. (2011). Are leader stereotypes masculine? A metaanalysis of three research paradigms. Psychological Bulletin, 137(4), 616-642.

  • Likert, R. (1961). New patterns of management. New York: McGraw-Hill.

  • Loden, M. (1985). Feminine leadership or how to succeed in business without being one of the boys. New York: Times Books.

  • Minichiello, V., Aroni, R., Timewell, E., & Alexander, L. (1990). In-depth interviewing: Researching people. Hong Kong: Longman Cheshire.

  • Morgan, B. (1992). Gender differences in leadership. Library Trends, 40(3), 475-91.

  • Northouse, P. G. (2015). Leadership: Theory and practice (7th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Nunnally, J. C. (1978). Psychometric theory. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.

  • Patton, M. Q. (2002). Qualitative research and evaluation methods. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

  • Powell, G. N. (1999) Handbook of gender and work. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

  • Riggio, R. E. (2013). Introduction to industrial/ organizational psychology (6th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

  • Ritter, B. A., & Yoder, J. D. (2004). Gender differences in leader emergence persist even for dominant women: An updated confirmation of role congruity theory. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 28, 187-193.

  • Robbins, S. P., & Judge,T. A. (2012). Essentials of organizational behavior (11th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

  • Sargent. A. G. (1981). The androgynous manager. New York: Amacom.

  • Sessa, V. I., Kabacoff, R. I., Deal, J., & Brown, H. (2007). Generational differences in leader values and leadership behaviors. The Psychologist-Manager Journal, 10, 47-74.

  • Stogdill, R. M. (1963). Manual for the leader behavior description questionnaire-form XJL Columbus, OH: Bureau of Business Research, Ohio State University.

  • Tashakkori, A., & Teddlie, C. (1998). Mixed methodology: Combining qualitative and quantitative approaches. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

  • Tashakkori, A., & Teddlie, C. (2003). Handbook of mixed methods in social and behavioral research. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

  • Tourigny, L., Han, J., & Baba, V. V. (2017). Does gender matter?: A study of trust and its outcomes in the manufacturing sector in mainland China. Gender in Management: An International Journal, 32(8), 554577. Doi: GM-05-2016-0106

  • Vecchio, R. P. (2002). Leadership and gender advantage. The Leadership Quarterly, 13(6), 643-71.

  • Yukl, G. (2010). Leadership in organization (7th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

  • Zhang, Y., & Wildemuth, B. M. (2005). Qualitative analysis of content. Analysis, 1(2), 1-12.


Abstract Views: 307

PDF Views: 0




  • Gender Differences in Leadership Style:A Study on Graduate Students’ Task and Relationship Orientations

Abstract Views: 307  |  PDF Views: 0

Authors

Shaoping Qiu
Texas A&M University, United States
Larry Dooley
Texas A&M University, United States

Abstract


The purposes of this mixed sequential-explanatory study were: (a) to investigate the leadership behaviour difference between male and female graduate students in terms of task and relationship orientations and (b) to explore the reasons why they demonstrate these differences. There were quantitative and qualitative phases. In the quantitative phase, we collected data from 37 graduate students who enrolled in a leadership course. Due to small sample size, a non-parametric test was utilized to analyse the quantitative data. We surprisingly found that: (a) there is no difference between male and female students in terms of leadership behaviours and (b) graduate students tend to be more likely to adopt relationship orientation in their leadership positions. In the qualitative phase, we extracted three main themes: (a) similar leadership orientations between male and female students; (b) situation-dependent leadership; and (d) shift toward balanced behaviour. These themes supported and complemented the findings in the quantitative stage.

Keywords


Graduate Students, Gender Differences, Leadership Behaviour, Task and Relationship Orientations.

References