Gender Differences in Leadership Role Occupancy: The Mediating Role of Power Motivation
Sebastian C. Schuh, Alina S. Hernandez Bark, Niels Van Quaquebeke, Rüdiger Hossiep, Philip Frieg & Rolf Van Dick
Journal of Business Ethics 120 (3):363-379 (2014)
Abstract
Although the proportion of women in leadership positions has grown over the past decades, women are still underrepresented in leadership roles, which poses an ethical challenge to society at large but business in particular. Accordingly, a growing body of research has attempted to unravel the reasons for this inequality. Besides theoretical progress, a central goal of these studies is to inform measures targeted at increasing the share of women in leadership positions. Striving to contribute to these efforts and drawing on several theoretical approaches, the present study provides a contemporary examination of whether women and men differ in their levels of power motivation and whether potential gender differences in this motivation contribute to the unequal distribution of women and men in leadership positions. Results from four studies provide converging support for these assumptions. Specifically, we found that women consistently reported lower power motivation than men. This in turn mediated the link between gender and leadership role occupancy. These results were robust to several methodological variations including samples from different populations, diverse operationalizations of power motivation and leadership role occupancy, and study design. Implications for theory and practice, including ways to contribute to a more equal gender distribution in leadership positions, are discussed.DOI
10.1007/s10551-013-1663-9
My notes
Similar books and articles
New Research, Old Problems: Methodological and Ethical Issues in fMRI Research Examining Sex/Gender Differences in Emotion Processing.Robyn Bluhm - 2011 - Neuroethics 6 (2):319-330.
Gender, Sexuality, and Meaning: Linguistic Practice and Politics.Sally McConnell-Ginet - 2010 - Oxford University Press.
Gender-based barriers to senior management positions: Understanding the scarcity of female CEOs. [REVIEW]Judith G. Oakley - 2000 - Journal of Business Ethics 27 (4):321 - 334.
Discrimination, harassment, and the glass ceiling: Women executives as change agents. [REVIEW]Myrtle P. Bell, Mary E. Mclaughlin & Jennifer M. Sequeira - 2002 - Journal of Business Ethics 37 (1):65 - 76.
Unconscious responses to "mommy and I are one": Does gender matter?Staffan Sohlberg & Billy Jansson - 2002 - In Robert F. Bornstein & Joseph M. Masling (eds.), The Psychodynamics of Gender and Gender Role. Empirical Studies in Psychoanalytic Theories, Vol. 10. American Psychological Association. pp. 165-201.
Gender‐Role Preference, Gender Identity, and Gender Socialization among Contemporary Inuit Youth.Richard G. Condon & Pamela R. Stern - 1993 - Ethos: Journal of the Society for Psychological Anthropology 21 (4):384-416.
Gender Issues in Corporate Leadership.Devora Shapiro & Marilea Bramer - 2013 - Handbook of the Philosophical Foundations of Business Ethics:1177-1189.
Foucault and Feminism: Power, Gender, and the Self.Lois McNay - 1992 - Northeastern University Press.
Managers, values, and executive decisions: An exploration of the role of gender, career stage, organizational level, function, and the importance of ethics, relationships and results in managerial decision-making. [REVIEW]John H. Barnett & Marvin J. Karson - 1989 - Journal of Business Ethics 8 (10):747 - 771.
For the Good or the Bad? Interactive Effects of Transformational Leadership with Moral and Authoritarian Leadership Behaviors.Sebastian C. Schuh, Xin-an Zhang & Peng Tian - 2013 - Journal of Business Ethics 116 (3):629-640.
The business of ethics and gender.A. Catherine McCabe, Rhea Ingram & Mary Conway Dato-on - 2006 - Journal of Business Ethics 64 (2):101 - 116.
Do Role Models Matter? An Investigation of Role Modeling as an Antecedent of Perceived Ethical Leadership.Michael E. Brown & Linda K. Treviño - 2014 - Journal of Business Ethics 122 (4):1-12.
Analytics
Added to PP
2014-01-16
Downloads
44 (#267,872)
6 months
4 (#184,953)
2014-01-16
Downloads
44 (#267,872)
6 months
4 (#184,953)
Historical graph of downloads
Citations of this work
Who Leads More and Why? A Mediation Model from Gender to Leadership Role Occupancy.Alina S. Hernandez Bark, Jordi Escartín, Sebastian C. Schuh & Rolf van Dick - 2016 - Journal of Business Ethics 139 (3):473-483.
Managing Organizational Gender Diversity Images: A Content Analysis of German Corporate Websites.Leon Windscheid, Lynn Bowes-Sperry, Karsten Jonsen & Michèle Morner - 2018 - Journal of Business Ethics 152 (4):997-1013.
The Synergistic Effect of Prototypicality and Authenticity in the Relation Between Leaders’ Biological Gender and Their Organizational Identification.Lucas Monzani, Alina S. Hernandez Bark, Rolf van Dick & José María Peiró - 2015 - Journal of Business Ethics 132 (4):737-752.
Gender, Management Styles, and Forms of Capital.Salvador Carmona, Mahmoud Ezzamel & Claudia Mogotocoro - 2018 - Journal of Business Ethics 153 (2):357-373.
Women Directors and Corporate Social Performance: An Integrative Review of the Literature and a Future Research Agenda.Giovanna Campopiano, Patricia Gabaldón & Daniela Gimenez-Jimenez - forthcoming - Journal of Business Ethics.
References found in this work
The Adapted Mind: Evolutionary Psychology and the Generation of Culture.Jerome H. Barkow, Leda Cosmides & John Tooby - 1992 - Oxford University Press.
Role congruity theory of prejudice toward female leaders.Alice H. Eagly & Steven J. Karau - 2002 - Psychological Review 109 (3):573-598.
Gender-based barriers to senior management positions: Understanding the scarcity of female CEOs. [REVIEW]Judith G. Oakley - 2000 - Journal of Business Ethics 27 (4):321 - 334.
Women’s Careers at the Start of the 21st Century: Patterns and Paradoxes.Deborah A. O’Neil, Margaret M. Hopkins & Diana Bilimoria - 2008 - Journal of Business Ethics 80 (4):727-743.