Leadership theories through the eyes of she: a gendered and feminist analysis of the development of leadership theories

Abstract

Over the last century, the number of women in traditionally male dominated leadership positions has increased, generating interest in the role of gender and leadership in organizational contexts (Klenke, 1996). Yet, women are still widely underrepresented in leadership positions (Thomas et al., 2021). The goal of the chapter is to discuss the development of leadership theories through the lens of feminist thoeries. Our aim is threefold: First, we organize leadership theories along three major feminist perspectives and examine the implications these theories have for women and men in leadership positions. Second, we bolster this theory-guided classification by presenting research regarding how women and men are perceived and evaluated when using the respective leadership style. Third, we map directions for future research through the lens of feminist theories. We provide an outlook of and how shifts in leadership theories influenced women’s rise as leaders and the evaluation of their leadership styles.