Chapter 12- Women and Men as Leaders
This chapter discusses the underrepresentation of women in leadership roles compared to men. There are four explanations the book explores for why this occurs- sex differences in human capital investments, the leadership styles of women and men, men are naturally dominant, and the discrimination against female leaders.
The first explanation, sex differences in human capital investments, explains that it is possible that women are underrepresented in leadership roles because women’s human capital investments in education, training, and work experiences are lower than men’s. However, the section goes on to explain that in most cases this might not be true. For example, women now are attending college more than men and women possess 51% of bachelor’s degrees. When women change jobs, they often do so for family obligations so they are willing to take a less prestigious position or a pay cut, while men often change jobs for a promotion or increase in pay. Another argument for this explanation is the “female choice” proposition that employed women do not seek leadership positions because they worry that the demands of such a job would take them away from their family. What is your opinion on this explanation? Are there other differences in responsibilities or interests of men and women that could explain this gender gap? Where have you seen any of these differences in human capital investments in either your own experiences or observations of others?
The next explanation looks at differences in leadership styles of men and women, and suggests that it is possible that a man’s leadership style is more effective than a woman’s. Leadership style is defined as stable patterns of behavior of leaders. Women are more interpersonally oriented than task oriented, which men are more likely to focus on. Women use more of a transformational leadership style, while men are more transactional or laissez-faire. According to the text, a women’s style, in theory, should be more effective than a typical man’s leadership style. What do you believe is more effective in a leader- focus on interpersonal relationships or tasks? Transformational or transactional leadership?
To review, the chapter covers the four major reasons explored for the inequality of leadership positions among men and women- sex differences in human capital investments, differences in leadership styles, men are naturally dominant, and discrimination against female leaders. Can you think of any other possible reasons for this underrepresentation of women in leadership positions? What is your opinion on the issue? Do you believe this issue will change at all in the future, or do you believe women will always be underrepresented in leadership roles because of these four reasons?
