Female Leaders Research Articles

Female directors and CSR: Does the presence of female directors affect CSR focus?

This study examines the impact of female directors on CSR by drawing on social role theory and literature about female leadership style. Using a sample of Chinese firms from 2007 to 2021, we show a strong correlation between female directors and an enhancement in aggregate and particularly, internal CSR engagement. The relationship between female director and external CSR is negative but not significant. Further analysis reveals that in regions with stronger societal expectations towards females, the contributions of female directors to CSR activities become more pronounced. Our findings further demonstrate that a critical mass of female directors on the board is necessary to exert substantial influence on internal CSR initiatives. Notably, we find that female directors in independent and monitoring roles particularly effective in advancing internal CSR initiatives.

Board gender diversity and ESG performance: The mediating role of temporal orientation in South Africa context

Prevailing research on the interaction between board gender diversity (BGD) and Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) performance presents equivocal findings, particularly in the context of developing countries. This study ventures into an exploratory examination of this association, situated in the socio-cultural milieu of South Africa, a region where the lower social status of women often leads to a bias towards short-term perspectives. Drawing on the role congruity theory of prejudice toward female leaders, this study aims to investigate the mediating role of short-term orientation (SHRT) in the BGD-ESG relationship. We further explore how the preference of female directors toward SHRT varies depending on their tenure on the board and across family and non-family firms. The empirical findings, drawn from an examination of publicly listed non-financial firms on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) from 2015 to 2020, indicate a negative relationship between BGD and ESG, with SHRT predominantly mediating this association. Additionally, the tenure of female directors attenuates their preference for SHRT. Notably, we found the effect of BGD on SHRT is less pronounced in family firms, where the choices of female directors are more aligned with the family firm's long-term orientation. Our findings contribute to both theory and practice by advancing our understanding of the BGD-ESG relationship and providing practical implications for organizations, leaders, and policymakers.

The Whole Picture of Female Nurse Faculty Leaders: A Systematic Review of Qualitative Studies

Background: Gender stereotypes influence women and men who work as nurses. In education setting, the dominance of female nurses has been challenging given their respective roles in management and leadership, both professionally and personally.Objective: To explore the experience and synthesise available literature on female nurse leaders in the academic settings.Methods: Systematic review of qualitative study on any type of qualitative from academic database: ProQuest, PubMed, CINAHL, and MEDLINE was conducted. Starting from 1st January 1990 to 31 December 2021. The criteria; freely accessible, complete in terms of content, authored, published in the English language, and combination of keywords including nurse, nursing, faculty, dean, head, and director were applied. The review was reported following PRISMA format. The studies included were assessed using the Critical Appraisal Skills Program tool (CASP) 2017.Results: The screening process resulted in the selection of fourteen (14) studies from the USA, Canada, UK, and Australia that used a range of qualitative methodologies, including descriptive explorative, phenomenology, grounded theory, feminist research, case studies, and a number of data collection techniques, including open-surveys, interviews, field notes, campus observations, document analysis, and analytic memos. Thematic analyses were applied and yielded six main themes: dealing with power imbalance and gender discrimination; addressing problems related to people; disruption in fulfilling leadership roles; leadership personalities; people-oriented leadership quality; and change-oriented leadership quality.Conclusion: Female faculty leaders in nursing reported a variety of personal and professional challenges. The existing literature scarcely captured the gender-specific challenges encountered, including gender stereotyping, and struggle to balance their personal and professional life. Therefore, it is crucial that nurses provide chances for the following leaders in order to enhance nursing education, support the process of leadership regeneration, and develop the profession.

Predicting cause-related marketing patronage intentions based on Schwartz's theory of human values: a large-scale sample study anchored on female fashion leadership

PurposeBusinesses embark on cause-related marketing (CRM) initiatives as a marketing strategy to fortify consumers' behavioural intentions. Prior research indicates that human values could be tapped to understand the consumers' responses to perceived organizational motives behind undertaking social cause initiatives. This research employs Schwartz's theory of human values to examine consumers' patronage intentions towards CRM-linked fashion products. Moreover, fashion leaders play a crucial role in the diffusion of the latest fashion and fashion trends. This research investigates by integrating human values and fashion leadership, offering insights into CRM-linked fashion consumption motives.Design/methodology/approachThe overarching goal was to investigate the complex interplay between human values and female fashion leadership to predict CRM patronage intention (CPI). Hence, a large-scale research study on 2,050 samples was undertaken by adopting threefold partial least squares–multigroup analysis–artificial neural network (PLS-MGA-ANN) to establish and empirically test a comprehensive model.FindingsThis study is unique as it establishes and validates the relative or normalized importance placed on human values by fashion leaders, thereby predicting CPIs. The results revealed that women with high-fashion leadership and specific value types (benevolence, universalism, self-direction) are more likely to patronize CRM-linked fashion retailers. In addition, the findings validated that women with low-fashion leadership and specific value types (tradition, security, conformity) are more likely to patronize CRM-linked fashion stores.Originality/valueThe findings provide a valuable rationale to non-profit marketers, fashion marketing experts and practitioners to design customer value-based profiling and manage crucial CRM decisions.

Breaking the e-waste stigma: how corporate gender diversity drives sustainable change in the UK

Purpose This study aims to investigate the relationship between female leaders at board and executive levels and e-waste reduction in firms listed on the FTSE All-Share Index. Design/methodology/approach The study uses a sample of nonfinancial firms listed in the FTSE All-Share Index between 2004 and 2021, comprising 2,523 firm observations. The primary technique used is ordinary least squares, with subsample analysis and the two-stage least squares method used to address endogeneity concerns. Findings This study suggests that the presence of female directors and executives can bring a more comprehensive and diverse approach to e-waste management, which can contribute to improved e-waste reduction initiatives. However, the study also highlights that the impact of female leadership on e-waste reduction may vary based on factors such as the size of the firm and the industry’s carbon footprint. Practical implications The practical implications of this research have noteworthy implications for companies and policymakers alike. By placing importance on gender diversity, companies can reap the benefits of diverse perspectives and approaches when addressing environmental challenges. Policymakers, on the other hand, can contribute to positive environmental outcomes by advocating for gender diversity in corporate leadership. Originality/value The novelty of this research stems from its discovery that having female directors and executives in a firm leads to a broader and more varied approach to managing e-waste, ultimately enhancing efforts to reduce it. This underscores the significance of gender diversity in advancing sustainable practices within organizations. The study highlights the distinct viewpoints and experiences that women offer when tackling environmental issues in the corporate sphere.

Brave Priestesses of Philippi: The Cultic Role of Euodia and Syntyche (Phil 4:2)

When Paul, in Phil 4:2, “pleads” with Euodia and Syntyche to “agree with one another in the Lord”, he is both commending them for their priestly role as gospel workers among his group of converts and at the same time calling them back to a single-minded focus on gospel mission. Throughout the letter, the apostle has forged a link between gospel mission and cultic imagery, depicting himself and his gospel co-workers as priestly agents accomplishing sacrificial service. Thus, when he comes to this climactic exhortation at the letter’s close, he deploys this imagery as a way both to commend and correct these female leaders within the Philippian community of Christ-believers.

Employer-provided childcare across the 50 United States: the normative importance of public childcare and female leadership – ERRATUM

Employer-provided childcare across the 50 United States: the normative importance of public childcare and female leadership – ERRATUM

She’s worth IT: challenges for female CIOs in ensuring IT security compliance

PurposeIT security compliance is critical to the organization’s success, and such compliance depends largely on IT leadership. Considering the prevalence of unconscious gender biases and stereotyping at the workplace and growing female leadership in IT, the authors examine how the internalization of stereotype beliefs, in the form of the employee’s gender, impacts the relationships between leadership characteristics and IT security compliance intentions.Design/methodology/approachA controlled experiment using eight different vignettes manipulating Chief Information Officer (CIO) gender (male/female), Information Technology (IT) expertise (low/high) and leadership style (transactional/transformational) was designed in Qualtrics. Data were gathered from MTurk workers from all over the US.FindingsThe findings suggest that both CIOs' and employees' gender play an important role in how IT leadership characteristics – perceived expertise and leadership style – influence the employees' intentions and reactance to comply with CIO security recommendations.Research limitations/implicationsThis study's findings enrich the security literature by examining the role of leadership styles on reactance and compliance intentions. They also provide important theoretical implications based on gender stereotype theory alone: First, the glass ceiling effects can be witnessed in how men and women employees demonstrate prejudice against women CIO leaders through their reliance on perceived quadratic CIO IT expertise in forming compliance intentions. Secondly, this study's findings related to gender role internalization show men and women have a prejudice against gender-incongruent roles wherein women employees are least resistive to transactional male CIOs, and men employees are less inclined to comply with transactional female CIOs confirm the findings related to gender internationalization from Hentschel et al. (2019).Practical implicationsThis study highlights the significance of organizations and individuals actively promoting gender equality and fostering environments that recognize women's achievements. It also underscores the importance of educating men and women about the societal implications of stereotyping gender roles that go beyond the organizational setting. This research demonstrates that a continued effort is required to eradicate biases stemming from gender stereotypes and foster social inclusion. Such efforts can positively influence how upcoming IT leaders and employees internalize gender-related factors when shaping their identities.Social implicationsThis study shows that more work needs to be done to eliminate gender stereotype biases and promote social inclusion to positively impact how future IT leaders and employees shape their identities through internalization.Originality/valueThis study redefines the concept of “sticky floors” to explain how subordinates can hinder and undermine female leaders, thereby contributing to the glass ceiling effect. In addition, the study elucidates how gender roles shape employees' responses to different leadership styles through gender stereotyping and internalization.

An interaction of patriarchy and female leadership: A synthesis of literature on women leadership in Eswatini

AbstractThis paper presents results of a systematic research synthesis of 23 studies on female leadership in Eswatini. The review aimed to present conclusions drawn from synthesising findings from studies on women's participation in leadership in Eswatini. Systematic methods were used in the review to identify the 23 research studies focusing on female leadership across sectors in Eswatini. Since the reviewed studies were qualitative, research synthesis methods were used, and three main themes were identified across the excavated studies. The three main themes are: (1) gender inequality, (2) challenges for women leadership, and (3) women empowerment. Sub‐themes relating to the main themes also emerged. Challenges highlighted were categorised into two: those inhibiting access to leadership for women, and those affecting women who are already in leadership. Forms of women empowerment discussed in the studies are: in‐service training, networking and mentoring. The analysis contributed to knowledge on female leadership in Eswatini by highlighting contributions and limitations of these studies, and further provides a base for future conceptual analysis.Context and implicationsRationale for the studyThe main purpose for undertaking the synthesis of literature on women leadership in Eswatini was to add a voice in the leadership discourse using Eswatini's context.Why the new findings matterThe review on women leadership in Eswatini contributes to the knowledge on African women leadership, and further act as a signpost for future research.Implications for practionersThe synthesis revealed the dearth of literature on female leadership in Eswatini, thus highlighting the need for scholars and feminist researchers to prioritise documenting the voices of women leaders that remains undocumented, so that upcoming young leaders can learn from the great works done by those who have walked uncharted paths before them.

Successful return to work in anaesthesia after maternity leave: a qualitative study.

Returning to work after maternity leave poses significant challenges, with potential long-term implications including decreased engagement or attrition of clinicians. Many quantitative studies have identified challenges and supports for women during pregnancy, maternity leave and re-entry to clinical practice. This qualitative study explored the experiences of anaesthetists returning to clinical work after maternity leave, to identify influential factors with the aim of providing a framework to assist planning re-entry. We conducted semi-structured interviews with 15 anaesthetists. Attendees of a re-entry programme were invited to participate, with purposive sampling and snowball recruitment to provide diversity of location and training stage, until data saturation was reached at 13 interviews. Five themes were identified: leave duration; planning re-entry; workplace culture; career impact and emotional impact. Leave duration was influenced by concerns about deskilling, but shorter periods of leave had logistical challenges, including fatigue. Most participants started planning to return to work with few or no formal processes in the workplace. Workplace culture, including support for breastfeeding, was identified as valuable, but variable. Participants also experienced negative attitudes on re-entry, including difficulty accessing permanent work, with potential career impacts. Many participants identified changes to professional and personal identity influencing the experience with emotional sequelae. This research describes factors which may be considered to assist clinicians returning to work after maternity leave and identifies challenges, including negative attitudes, which may pose significant barriers to women practising in anaesthesia and may contribute to lack of female leadership in some workplaces.

Female Leadership in Shia Islam: Women on the Way from Mujtahid to Marja’

Marja’ al-taqlid are Shia religious scholars of the highest level, something which takes decades to achieve. At present, most Shia scholars agree that women cannot be Marja’, i.e., create religious rulings for other people. But there is a space for discourse, and there are even a few scholars who disagree with the mainstream narrative. In this paper, I argue that, with time, the number of these scholars will increase, since Shia Islamic thought is ‘live’ and flexible, and adapts to the changing social conditions. The main obstacles that prevented women from reaching this level were the conservative views of some scholars and the lack of access to education. As the number of women with religious education constantly increases, the appearance of a female Marja’ will be a matter of time, but will still cause some resistance from some patriarchal members of society.

Who wreaks more havoc? Gender and the detrimental effect of abusive supervision on interpersonal deviance

Purpose Abusive supervision provokes subordinates’ interpersonal deviant behavior. It is, therefore, essential to explore the contingent factors of this relationship. Drawing upon gender role theory, this study aims to explore how subordinate and leader genders moderate the relationship between abusive supervision and subordinate interpersonal deviance. Furthermore, this study posits a three-way interaction effect of abusive supervision with leader and subordinate genders on interpersonal deviance. Design/methodology/approach Multisource survey data were collected from 45 supervisors and 170 subordinates in eight companies in China. The data were analyzed using the PROCESS macro in SPSS. Findings The results showed that the positive relationship between abusive supervision and interpersonal deviance was stronger among female leaders than male leaders. Furthermore, the authors found a three-way interaction effect between abusive supervision and leader and subordinate genders on subordinates’ interpersonal deviance. Compared with female subordinates, male subordinates engaged in significantly more interpersonal deviance when experiencing abusive supervision from a female leader than from a male leader. Originality/value The authors reveal that gender differences exist in the effect of abusive supervision on subordinates’ interpersonal deviant behavior. Furthermore, the authors demonstrate that subordinate and leader genders jointly influence the effect of abusive supervision. Finally, the findings extend the literature on gender’s moderating effects from constructive and neutral leader behaviors to destructive leader behaviors.

The impact of intersectional racial and gender biases on minority female leadership over two centuries

This study scrutinizes the enduring effects of racial and gender biases that contribute to the consistent underrepresentation of minority women in leadership roles within American private, public, and third sector organizations. We adopt a behavioural data science approach, merging psychological schema theory with sociological intersectionality theory, to evaluate the enduring implications of these biases on female leadership development using mixed methods including machine learning and econometric analysis. Our examination is concentrated on Black female leaders, employing an extensive analysis of leadership rhetoric data spanning 200 years across the aforementioned sectors. We shed light on the continued scarcity of minority female representation in leadership roles, highlighting the role of intersectionality dynamics. Despite Black female leaders frequently embracing higher risks to counter intersectional invisibility compared to their White counterparts, their aspirations are not realized and problems not solved generation after generation, forcing Black female leaders to concentrate on the same issues for dozens and, sometimes, hundreds of years. Our findings suggest that the compound influence of racial and gender biases hinders the advancement of minority female leadership by perpetuating stereotypical behavioral schemas, leading to persistent discriminatory outcomes. We argue for the necessity of organizations to initiate a cultural transformation that fosters positive experiences for future generations of female leaders, recommending a shift in focus from improving outcomes for specific groups to creating an inclusive leadership culture.

Effective Leadership Amidst Crises: A Critical Review of Leadership Role During COVID 19 Pandemic

This review examines whether a particular type of leadership is more effective in containing critical crises situation like the COVID-19 Pandemic that affected the world a few years ago. An x-ray of the peaceful business life of various countries, communities and organizations and the sudden attack of the pandemic was reviewed. A critical look at the way leaders took decisions to enable them cope with the pandemic and the manner in which its devastating effect was curtailed was considered. In addition, an attempt at conceptualization of leadership that can best be prescribed during crises was reviewed. It was realized that the world is yet to get a one fit leadership approach that can handle crises of this magnitude. It also became clear that at least early decisive decisions and policies helped many countries such as in Africa and Asia in spite of their lack of preparedness compared to America and Europe. It was also realized that gender sensitivity can be a solution to leadership, as female leaders were seen more apt to deal with the matter than their male counterparts. (Luoto & Varella, 2021) An area recommended for more studies to establish if gender sensitivity can be developed into a theory in leadership to mitigate crises. In conclusion of the critical review, it was realized that, no any single leadership style was viewed as sufficient in handling COVID 19 Pandemic.

What will change with female leaders?

Üsküdar University, Department of Political Science and International Relations, Asst. Prof. Selin Karana evaluated the election of women mayors in 11 provinces in the March 31 local elections.

Gender Politics in the Roe vs. Wade Era: Female Leaders and the Prevalence of Abortions

Gender Politics in the Roe vs. Wade Era: Female Leaders and the Prevalence of Abortions

Attitudes towards women in the military and their relation to both quantity and quality contact with female leaders.

Contact experiences with women in senior leadership roles are important for creating acceptance of women in organizations dominated by men, such as the military, as leadership roles are considered demanding, requiring numerous agentic qualities that are often ascribed to men. The military lacks women in leadership levels within its organization. We wished to determine whether quality and quantity contact with women in leadership positions reduces intergroup anxiety, increases empathy and perspective-taking, and subsequently creates more favorable attitudes toward women in the military. This was examined in three studies, one with a military sample consisting of men (n = 95), another with a civilian sample of men (n = 367), and a third study with a civilian sample of women (n = 374). Our findings revealed that quality contact was related to attitudes toward women in the military for all three samples. Results from the indirect effects tests conducted for the civilian male and female samples revealed that for civilian men, intergroup anxiety demonstrated a significant indirect effect between quantity contact and attitudes toward women in the military, while both intergroup anxiety and perspective-taking demonstrated significant indirect effects between quality contact and attitudes toward women in the military. Furthermore, both quantity and quality contact demonstrated significant direct effects. On the other hand, results revealed that for civilian women the only significant relation was the direct effect between quality contact and attitudes toward women in the military. Intergroup anxiety, perspective-taking, and empathy did not demonstrate any indirect effects for the civilian women sample. Thus, given that interactions with women in leadership positions are related to views of women in the military, research should further explore the role of contact for women in non-traditional work roles.

Looking for a Third Way. Tsai Ing-wen and the Taiwanese Nation-Building

Tsai Ing-wen, the president of the Republic of China (Taiwan) in 2016–2024, is one of Asia’s most extraordinary female political leaders. A self-made woman who managed to enter politics independently – she was not born into a political family as is usually the case in East Asia, Southeast Asia, and South Asia – and who succeeded in her presidency. Tsai has enhanced the global profile of her country and impressed the world by combating the COVID-19 pandemic in a model way. She has also skillfully handled delicate cross-strait relations despite Beijing’s growing assertiveness. Tsai and her presidency are important for several reasons; the one highlighted here is her role in enhancing and trying to modify Taiwanese nation-building. During her presidency, Tsai Ing-wen advocated a “Third Way,” officially called “21st Century Taiwan’s Overall Cultural Construction”, based on accepting both the Taiwaneseness and the heritage of the Republic of China and merging both of these features. In other words, it emphasizes Taiwaneseness while not rejecting Chineseness. This is an interesting and bold attempt to forge a compromised identity, but one with an uncertain future due to domestic and international variables.

Female managers' organizational leadership during telework: experiences of job demands, control and support.

The frequent use of telework during the COVID -19 pandemic has created a more challenging work situation for managers who need to lead effectively in the virtual space, this especially concerns female managers. Therefor it is of importance to investigate female managers' experiences of job related demands, control and support within this work context. Accordingly, we investigated female managers' experiences of demands, control and support in their organizational leadership during telework. The present study used a deductive, theory-driven, qualitative approach with predetermined themes defined within the demand-control-support model. Data were collected by semi-structured interviews. The female managers had at least 50% of their working hours as telework. The results showed that the female managers experienced demands in terms of hard, fast or even excessive work in order to be available and solve complex problems, and control as varied work content, new learning, planning and decision freedom. Support was experienced in terms of attentive superior manager, good cooperation and helpfulness among colleagues. Theoretical and practical implications of the results are discussed in terms of telework situation for female managers.

Gendered perceptions of career advancement barriers: Unveiling challenges to female corporate leadership development

This study highlights gender-based disparities in perceived barriers to female career advancement in decision-making. Despite more women entering the workforce, their leadership representation remains low, partly due to differing perceptions of barriers by gender (van’t Foort-Diepeveen et al., 2021). Involving 236 executives and utilizing social identity and homosocial theories, the study employs a one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and qualitative comments from voluntary respondents. The findings reveal that while both genders acknowledge corporate barriers, they interpret education, experience, and personal life barriers differently. Women often view these as interconnected with corporate challenges, reflecting broader systemic issues (Taparia & Lenka, 2022). The study also highlights the persistence of traditional male networks in corporations, which maintain existing leadership models and hinder change. This insight enhances our understanding of gender disparities in the workplace, particularly in Spanish-listed companies. Academically, it enriches gender studies and corporate leadership discourse by revealing the subtleties in barrier perception and their implications. Practically, it suggests that recognizing and addressing these differences can lead to more effective interventions to promote gender equality in leadership positions. This research urges a reevaluation of barrier perceptions and emphasizes the importance of inclusive strategies to bridge the gender gap in leadership