ExchangeEveryDay Past Issues

It amazes me that these leadership lists are polar opposites. I personally find it insulting to label people by gender. Men and women are different certainly but they are not opposites. I think this list is built on stereotypes that were current at the time. I find it useful to remember that any "general" statement about a group (men) applies to 80% of the group at most. There will always be 20% of any group which will not fit a general characterization.

I recently read a book on this topic that I would highly recommend: "Through the Labyrinth: The Truth about How Women Become Leaders." It is a recent (2007), very thorough review of the last two decades of research on how gender affects leadership. The authors, Dr. Alice Eagly and Dr. Linda Carli, take a careful, scholarly approach to analyzing and interpreting the studies that have looked at the topic from every angle. I appreciated the broad perspective that they took, taking into consideration contextual factors such as historical and cultural context. The authors' work provides a more accurate understanding of the complexity of the issue of gender and leadership than any individual study could. "Through the Labyrinth" is essential reading, in my opinion, for anyone who truly wants to understand the factors influencing women's leadership experiences and how they have changed over time.

I note that the source for this 2003 article is a book published in 1990 which is nearly 20 years ago.
As we look at gender role expressions I think we create a problem and foster continuation of stereotypes when we do not recognise that constructed gender roles in this culture have undergone significant shift in the past few decades. My 26 year old PHD candidate daughter and her contemporaries have very diffrent approaches to work and patterns of leadership than do those who were the source for the observations reported in 1990 when she was 6 years old. So do does her younger brother who at 20 may not have been concieved when Mintzberg and helgesen were doing their research.
We do have along way to go demonstrated in part by the fact that we still only have 4% male participation in Early Childhood Education but there has been much progress taht benefits both genders.

I have been following the past articles related to the topic of leadership. It has been interesting to me as a woman of color in a leadership role that looks different depending upon the people involved. Defining leadership and the qualities or characteristics relevant are varied depending upon the communities asked. It would seem to me that there is an assumption there is a "right way" of leadership that has been defined as a foundation that as a bicultural person I know how to operate within while bring my cultural self and ways of knowing and being to the leadership table....

Some controversy here. Good that you present opposing arguments. Intelligent thinking people can come to their own conclusions.