Subordinates’ perception of female leaders in the Northern Italian context

The present study is focused on the perception of female leaders in the Northern Italian context. It is a qualitative study and it is intended to comprehend the subordinates’ point of view of their female leaders. The contribution of the following research aims to analyse the employees’ approach and opinions of their female superiors in order to understand which is the best leadership style women should follow. The present research is an exploratory study that is based on qualitative data, collected through in depth individual interviews. It aims to collect as much data as possible in order to not to exclude any information. The target is focused on millennials between twenty and thirty years old. The analysis is Excel based. During the analysis, the data collected have been categorized in themes, codes and sub-codes in order to find common points between the participants’ interviews. The findings show that the majority of the interviewees are satisfied by their relationship with a female leader. There are two main aspects that stand out: the learning factor and the stress level perceived in the work environment. Those two elements can influence the overall satisfaction of the employees in the work place, but there are no math relationship between those variables. The data collected have been compared to theories about the gender gap in Italy, in order to understand if the target is a part of the Italian average. Despite the limited sample size, the following study represents the first step in the research about women leadership style seen by the subordinates’ perspective in Italy