Impact of Leadership Style by the Gender Role Orientationof Female Entrepreneurs

Abstract

Abstract:

The objective of this research is to explore how gender role clarification influences female entrepreneurs’ leadership style. Early research thinks that the leadership style of females have different of males, females is more effective than males. Subsequent research finds that sex has no significant relation with leadership style. However, gender role orientation has impact on leadership style. The past research targets contain both males and females, whom are mainly MBA trainees and senior managers of business. The targets of this research are just female entrepreneurs. The objective is to discuss the characteristics of the gender role orientation of female entrepreneurs and whether these characteristics have impact on leadership style. The research targets are female entrepreneurs. Questionnaires are sent out in following ways. First is through the female entrepreneurs of one university EMBA trainees. Second is through the female entrepreneurs known by me or introduced by my friends or relations. Third is through the female entrepreneurs whose children are under the class sponsors of two primary schools in Zhejiang Province. Finally I get 225 effective questionnaires. The research uses Bem’s Sex Role Inventory (BSRI, of which both the male inventory and the female one have 20 items) and The Leader Behavior Deseription Questionnaire (LBDQ) used by HemPhin & Coon (Ohio university ). The result showed that over 30% of them were androgyny, 21% were masculinity, only 22% were femininity. 64.4% female entrepreneurs employed achievement-orientation style (high initiatingstructure, high conseration). The results also showed that gender orientation had significant difference on leadership style, and bigender employed high initiatingstructure, high conseration style, and femininity people employed high conseration style, and masculinity employed high initiatingstructure. Some characteristics of masculinity, such as competition, strength and autonomy, and some ones of femininity, such as friendship and empathy influenced leadership style positively significant, and femininity had stronger influence.

Key words: Women Entrepreneurship, Gender Role Orientation, Leadership Style, female entrepreneurs

摘要：

领导风格的性别差异一直受到关注。以往的研究有两种观点：领导风格存在性别差异，女性的领导风格更有效；领导风格不存在性别差异。而最新研究认为领导风格差异源于社会性别角色，探讨女性创业者的性别角色认定特征及其对领导风格的影响十分必要。实证结果显示，不同性别角色认定的女性创业者在领导风格上存在差异，双性化者多采用高定规、高关怀的领导方式，女性化者多采用高关怀的方式，而男性化者则多采用高定规的方式。影响领导风格的并不是个体的性别本身，而是其对性别角色的认定。

关键词: 女性创业, 性别角色认定, 领导风格, 女性创业者

李成彦王重鸣蒋强. 性别角色认定对领导风格的影响：以女性创业者为例[J]. 心理科学, 2012, 35(5): 1169-1174.

References

李乐．（2010）．女性企业家的社会性别角色、领导风格与主观效能关系研究．上海：复旦大学，p38．
梁巧转、杨林、狄桂芳．（2006）．社会性别特征与领导风格性别差异实证研究．妇女研究论丛，3（72），72—76．
林雁铭．（2008）．我国女性领导风格研究．上海：复旦大学，p33．
刘静．（2009）．领导风格的性别角色及性别差异的实证研究[D]．北京：首都经济贸易大学， 5，42—44.
王登峰、崔红．（2007）．中国人性别角色量表的建构及其与心理社会适应的关系．西南大学学报（社会科学版），7，1—8．
Bass, B. M, & Stogdi, L. L.(1990). Handbook of leadership: Theory, research and managerial applications . New York: free Press (third edition).
Bem, S. L. (1974). The measurement of psychological androgyny. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 42, 155—162.
Bem, S. L. (1981). Gender schema theory: A cognitive account of sex typing. Psychological review, 88, 369—371.
Constantinople, A. (1973). Masculinity-femininity: An exception to the famous dictum. Psychological Bulletin, 80, 389—407.
Epstein, C. F., & Olivares, F. (1991). Ways men and women lead. Harvard business Review, 69(1), p150.
Gardiner, M., & tiggemann, M. (1999). Gender differences in leadership style, job stress, and mental health in male- and female-dominated industries. Electronic version. Journal of occupational and organizational psychology, 72(3), 301—316.
Guido-DiBrito, F., Noteboom, R., Nathan, L., & Fenty, J. (1995). Traditional and new paradigm leadership. The Gerder Link. Initiatives, 58, 21—37.
Helgesen. S.(1990). The female advantage. New Youk: doubleday.
Marloes L. E., Rien L., & Tineke, M. W.(2001). Gender, context and leadership styles: A field study. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 74, 581—598.
Alvesson, M. & Yvonne, D. B. (1997). Understanding gender and organization. London: sage publications, p248.
Rojahn, K. & willemsen, T. M. (1994). The evaluation of effectiveness and likeability of gender role congruent and gender role incongruent leaders. Sex Roles, 30, 109—119.
Rosener, J. B. (1990). ways women Lead. Harvard business Review, 6, 119—125.
Sagrnet, A. G.. & Stupak, R. J. (1989). Managing in the 1990s: the androgynous manager. Training and Development Journal, 43 (12), 29—35.
Spence J. T, & Helmreich R. L. (1982). Andronyny versus gender schema: A comment on Bem’s gender schema theory. Psychological Review, 88 (3), 65—68.
Mueller, S. L., & Conway, M. Dato-On. (2008). Gender-role orientation as a determinant of Entrepreneurial Self-efficacy. Journal of Developmental Entrepreneurship; Mar; 13 (1), 3—20.
Toren, N. K., Alison, M.; Yoshioka, I., & Kashlak, R. (1997). A cross-national cross-Gender Study of Managerial Task Preferences and Evaluation of work characteristics. Women in Management Review, 12 (6), 234—243.