support the argument
Since the 1970s women in leadership has been a topic on the forefront of the corporate world. The human capital theory emerged during this time and theorists argued that it was an underutilization of resources and a disadvantage to a company’s profitability and competitiveness to promote talent simply because of their sex and that promotions and career advancement should be based on merit alone (Fondas, n.d.).
Many years ago, there were fewer women in leadership because women aspired to be wives and mothers and not executives and were stereotyped to have significant other duties and responsibilities at home that would take away or distract them from their pursuit of leadership positions (Fondas, n.d.). Over the past several decades this trend has shifted and women now hold some of the most prestigious and powerful positions of management and leadership all across the country. (Pew Research Center , 2015).
Men and women undoubtedly have different styles of leadership and management and it has been noted in studies that typically males tend to be more task-orientated and females have a relationship-orientated style. Another notable difference is that men are more autocratic and directive in their leadership approach, whereas women seem to utilize a democratic and participative style. A study conducted in 1990 by a medical science company was able to uncover the biological and cognitive differences between men and women related to the activity of the left brain/right brain integration. This study showed that women were better able to follow several trains of thought at the same time due their ability to integrate the left brain/right brain activities, whereas men appeared better at focusing on one single topic at a time (Fondas, n.d.). This is not to say that one gender is dominate over the other in a leadership position, just that they biologically have different ways of thinking.
According to a study done by Pew Research Center (2015), a large majority of the public reports that they believe men and women leaders generally have equal intelligence and innovative thinking and that they see no differences in ambition, honesty, and decisiveness between men and women in leadership.
Regards,
Liz
References
American Psychological Association . (2006). When the boss is a woman . Retrieved from https://www.apa.org/research/action/boss
Fondas, N. (n.d.). Gender and leadership . Retrieved from https://www.referenceforbusiness.com/encyclopedia/For-Gol/Gender-and-Leadership.html
Pew Research Center . (2015). Chapter 2: What makes a good leader, and does gender matter? Retrieved from http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2015/01/14/chapter-2-what-makes-a-good-leader-and-does-gender-matter/
