Expository Writing - Background and Analysis, Part 1

In their review of leadership research, Alice Eagly and Linda Carli, psychology professors whose research is based on gender differences, examined the stereotypic expectations of male and female leaders in organizational settings. Using large numbers of studies, they focused on findings of prejudice and discrimination directed against women as leaders. When people expect women to possess female-stereotypic attributes, they perceive individual women to be warm and selfless, which is a divergent from leadership qualities of decisiveness and instrumentality (Eagly and Carley 2003). Incongruity between expectations about women and expectations about leaders underlie prejudice against female leaders (Eagly and Carley 2003). Inconsistencies between the demands of leadership roles and the perceived female gender role produce disadvantages that women have “from prejudicial evaluations of their competence as leaders” (Eagly and Carley 2003, 807).

To explore this “role incongruity principle,” Eagly and Carley (2003, 823) consider previously conducted meta-analysis of stereotype research that compared the performance ratings of effectiveness for male and female leaders. They looked at studies where men and women held the leadership roles that were defined in especially masculine terms (Eagly and Carley 2003, 823). The results of these studies proved that there are biases against women in performance evaluations. Women were less effective compared to men in extremely male-dominated positions – roles that require the ability to direct and control people (Eagly and Carley 2003, 823). Since the desirable leader characteristics are aligned with stereotypically masculine qualities of dominance, women who demonstrate leadership ability may be perceived as “insufficiently feminine” (Eagly and Carley 2003, 820). They encounter more dislike than men for showing dominance or being highly assertive (Eagly and Carley 2003, 820).

This double bind is a dilemma in which women receive conflicting messages, with one message negating the other. Female professionals are held to these conflicting standards because the norm for professional managerial style is aligned with masculinity and associated with authority. Using authority wisely is an important aspect of leadership. Certain concepts of leadership, however, are perceived as acceptable to be applied by men, but are considered unacceptable when applied by women. This creates a situation in which a successful response to one message results in a failed response to the other. When female leaders exhibit stereotypically masculine qualities, they encounter judgment and resistance.

The “negatively bias judgments” of women’s performance as leaders constrains their chances of becoming business executives (Eagly and Carley 2003, 823). The findings on leadership research show that the masculinity of leader roles affects women’s rise in organizations. In view of the results produced by these studies, Eagly and Carley (2003, 823) conclude that the success of women in leadership roles depends on context. In male contexts, prejudicial reactions restrict women’s access to leadership roles and reduce the effectiveness of women who attain these roles (Eagly and Carley 2003, 823).