An investigation of female and male constructs of leadership and empowerment

Author(s):

Beverly Alimo‐Metcalfe (Senior Lecturer of Organizational Psychology at the Nuffield Institute for Health, University of Leeds, UK.)

Citation:

Beverly Alimo‐Metcalfe, (1995) "An investigation of female and male constructs of leadership and empowerment", Women in Management Review, Vol. 10 Iss: 2, pp.3 - 8

DOI

http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/09649429510146901

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Acknowledgements:

This article based on a paper presented as part of a symposium entitled: “Innovative research approaches examining the meaning and experience of work in women′s lives: international perespectives” at the 23rd International Congress of Applied Psychology, 17‐22 July 1994, Madrid, Spain.

Abstract:

Describes the findings from two recent UK studies which investigated female and male constructs of leadership qualities. Very different models emerged. The women′s descriptors related directly to notions of transformational leadership, and the men′s to transactional leadership. The implications for assessment practices are considered, as is the concept of empowerment, which is central to the notion of transformational leadership and fast becoming the organizational “buzz” word. Less obvious, and of particular concern, are the observations that empowerment, like so many other values, is a gendered concept, and that beneath its attractive humanistic guise may be hidden a more sinister interpretation.

Keywords:

Assessment, Empowerment, Gender, Leadership, Management, Senior management, Skills

Type:

Research paper

Publisher:

MCB UP Ltd

Copyright:

© MCB UP Limited 1995
Published by MCB UP Ltd