Gender Differences in Leadership Styles as a Function of Leader and Subordinates' Sex and Type of Organization

The main purpose of this study is to investigate gender differences in leadership styles and in organizational outcome variables, together with the influence of organizational/contextual variables on leadership styles in female and male participants in Spain. The sample comprised 226 participants (35 leaders and 191 subordinates) belonging to 35 work teams. The general findings show that only 2 of the 10 tested leadership styles are different for female and male leaders. Specifically, subordinates rate female leaders as more autocratic and negotiating than men, and this evaluation varies according to the subordinates' sex. We also found that some differences in the rating of female and male leaders depend on whether the organization is stereotypically feminine or masculine. In spite of the progress in the last few years, statistics clearly show that the presence of women in managerial positions is still far from equaling that of men. This increases progressively the highest when going up in the hierarchy of the organizational pyramid. In 2009, women accounted for an average of just 3% of the presidents of the largest companies in each of the European Union States members and less than 11% of board members (European Commission, 2010). The term "glass ceiling" was coined at the end of the 1980s to describe the existence of a set of invisible barriers that impede many qualified women from reaching positions of responsibility in organization