Gender and leadership: A criterion-focused review and research agenda

• Published in: Human resource management review 2021-06, Vol.31 (2), p.100765, Article 100765
• Main Authors: Shen, Winny, Joseph, Dana L.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Gender; Gender differences; Gender equity; Human resource management; Leader effectiveness; Leader emergence; Leadership; Leadership behaviors; Sex differences
• ISSN: 1053-4822; 1873-7889
• DOI: 10.1016/j.hrmr.2020.100765

There is a large and growing body of work on gender on leadership, but this literature remains fragmented and incomplete, due in part to insufficient attention paid to nuances of the criterion variable of leadership. To provide a broader perspective on this literature, we draw upon Campbell, McCloy, Oppler, and Sager's (1993) theory of job performance as a framework to organize our review. First, we position gender as an indirect determinant of leadership and summarize prior work on (a) gender differences in leadership outcomes (i.e., emergence and effectiveness), (b) gender differences in leader behaviors, (c) gender differences in direct determinants of leader behaviors (i.e., declarative knowledge, skill, and motivation), and (d) potential mediated or indirect relationships between gender and these leadership criteria. Second, we explore gender as a moderator of both interpersonal (i.e., leader behaviors → leadership outcomes) and intrapersonal (i.e., direct determinants → leader behaviors) leadership processes. Throughout our review, we highlight new directions for future research to advance the study of gender and leadership. •Gender differences in leader effectiveness tend to be null or small.•Gender differences in leadership behaviors tend to favor female leaders.•Unclear whether there are gender differences on leadership knowledge or skill.•Gender impacts interpersonal processes, which may indicate bias against women.•Gender may influence intrapersonal processes due to risk tolerance or backlash.