International Journal of Business and Management; Vol. 8, No.

1; 2013
ISSN 1833-3850 E-ISSN 1833-8119
Published by Canadian Center of Science and Education

Gender, Nationality and Leadership Style: A Literature Review

Inga Minelgaite Snaebjornsson1 & Ingi Runar Edvardsson1
1
School of Business, University of Iceland
Correspondence: Inga Minelgaite Snaebjornsson, School of Business, University of Iceland, Gimli
v/Saemundargata, 2nd floor Langalina 34-303, 210 Gardabaer, Iceland. E-mail: [email protected]

Received: November 14, 2012 Accepted: December 4, 2012 Online Published: December 20, 2012
doi:10.5539/ijbm.v8n1p89 URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.5539/ijbm.v8n1p89

Abstract
The aim of this paper is to review research available on gender and nationality as determinants of leadership
style, with special focus on top leaders/managers. The paper is based on a systematic literature review. The
systematic literature search resulted in 27 papers, that were grouped in five categories: 1) Leaders’
characteristics, behavior and style, 2) Perception regarding leaders, their traits and leadership styles, 3)
Women’s barriers towards leader positions, 4) Leadership outcome/results, 5) Effect of research methods on
leader evaluation. Questionnaires were the most used research method in the reviewed studies. Almost half of
the papers focus on the US, while the rest deal with African, Asian, and European countries. In this review, we
found that women and men have a very similar perception of a successful manager. However, women and men
display differences in their leader behavior and characteristics, and way of leading. “Results/outcomes” of such
a leadership can differ. The review shows, furthermore, that a glass ceiling and other barriers for women do still
exist.The paper ends by identifying the needs for further research in the study area.
Keywords: leadership style, gender, nationality, literature review, top leaders/management
1. Introduction
Ever-increasing globalization is a challenge for leadership since it tends to lower prizes, escalate innovation and
improve services. All this contributes to a need for new thinking in leadership. At the same time, leadership and
organizations are rooted in a national context. It is surprising, however, that analysis of the interrelation of
leadership style and nationality –appears to play an insignificant role in the leadership literature. Some scholars
describe leadership in a context of “country” (Bass, 1990). From available data, it can be noted, that nationality
influences leaders, but it is not necessarily the main factor of analysis (Cames, Vinnicombe& Singh, 2001). This
strong social phenomenon is clearly under-researched in the context of leadership, even though it is evident that
people around the globe describe their lives in terms of national culture (Kramer, 2011). This is surprising, as
national features and the importance of nationality become more prominent during crises or conflicts. In the
aftermath of the financial crisis of 2008 and warnings about a “second wave” of global crises, we need more
knowledge on the national effect on leadership styles.
Another vital development of leadership is the growing participation of women in the labor markets, especially
in services. As a consequence of this, more and more women are entering leadership positions in organizations.
What impact does this have on leadership styles? Here, national differences are quite prevalent in the
participation rates of women, and their number in management and on boards of directors. This seems to be an
effect of official policies (maternity leaves; availability of pre-schools, the tax system, gender quotas on
company boards, etc.), as well as the educational system, the national culture and the struggle of feminist
movements.
Few studies have focused on gender, leadership behavior and top management (Eagly & Karau, 2002; Bartol,
Martin, &Kromkowski, 2003). Hence, one of the goals of this systematic review is to retrieve available data
regarding research on top management levels in business in relation to their leadership style, gender and
nationality. Leadership style is a rather constant pattern of behavior (Dubrin, 2010) and behavior is a response of
an organism “which been attributed to a great variety of causes located within and outside of people.” (Reber,
Allen, & Reber, 2009). People tend to have certain a pattern in leadership – a style. But it seems, that how they
respond (behave) depends on various factors such as: culture, gender, nationality, and historical aspects.
The aim of this paper is to review available research on gender and nationality as determinants of leadership

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style, with special focus on top leaders/managers in order to identify gaps in our understanding. The literature
gives us a clear understanding as to differences in gender leadership (Eagly, Johannesen – Schmidt & van Engen,
2003; Gurian & Annis, 2008). It is also evident, that national context and national culture influences a leader’s
behavior (Schein, 2004, House, Hanges, Javidan, Dorfman, & Gupta, 2004). The following research questions
were formulated to guide our search: 1) Which studies have been conducted that focus on gender and nationality
in leadership 2) What were the main findings of the studies 3) Where were these studies conducted 4) Which
methods were used?
The next section of the paper outlines a literature review on gender, nationality and leadership. Then the
methodology of the literature review is presented, followed by a presentation of the findings of reviewed papers.
The paper ends with a discussion and conclusions and guides the way towards further research in the study area.
2. Literature Review
2.1 Leadership Style and Gender
In general, researchers have focused on three topics in relation to gender and leadership. First, scholars have
paid attention to whether there is a difference in the leadership styles of men and women? Second, the attention
has been on gender and leadership effectiveness (are men better leaders that women or vice versa). Third, the
focus has been on the glass ceiling, or the obstacles that prevent women from reaching top management
positions in organizations (Northouse, 2007).
It should be mentioned, that there is considerable confusion in the literature regarding the terminology used:
concepts like “gender”, “sex”, “women”, “men”, “feminine”, and “masculine” are frequent when discussing
leadership style. Some sources define basic terms in a precise manner (Cames, et al, 2001), while others use the
terms interchangeably (Northouse, 2007). This may, at times, obstruct an interpretation of study results.
Regarding the gender differences in leadership styles, findings are contradictory. Some papers do support the
evidence of differences among genders in leadership style. Even though Eagly and Johnson (1990) came to the
conclusion that there were only small differences in leadership styles, they stress that female leaders in
organizational settings tend to be more democratic and participative than men, who tend to lean more towards
autocratic behavior. Rosener (1990) also found that males adopted a more “transactional” leadership style
whereas women rather leaned towards a “transformational” leadership style. This was also confirmed by a
meta–analysis done by Eagly, Johannesen – Schmidt, and van Engen (2003). Helgesen (1990) concluded that
women prefer a “web”-organization instead of the hierarchical structure of the company. Some studies have also
shown a difference in the self-perception of male and female managers (Vinnicombe&Cames, 1998).
Other studies do present little or no differences in leadership style among men and women. For instance the
study by Bartol (1978), the meta-analysis by Dobbins and Platz (1986), as well as findings by Powell (1990)
found few, if any arguments for differences in gender styles of leadership. However, the industry where leaders
work can have an impact here. In male-dominated industries, women tend to show leadership styles in ways
similar to men in those industries, even to demonstrate a more stereotypically masculine style of leadership than
males (Gardiner & Tiggemann, 1990, Eagly & Johnson, 1990, Ferrario & Davidson, 1991). These findings
support Kanter’s (1977) conclusions were he states that when in a minority women alter their management style,
in order to lessen perceived differences by men.
Gender behavior seems to have changed in time. Evidence shows that women have changed; they have become
more androgynous, whereas men have changed very little (Twenge, 2001; Konrad, Ritchie, Lieb&Corrigall,
2000). This fact suggests the need of continuous longitudinal approach to gender – leadership research, in order
to grasp the changes in this field and attain more accuracy.
Studies on effectiveness of leadership style revealed that women and men are equally effective leaders.
Differences merely appeared in gender evaluation; men and women were more effective in roles that were
appropriate to their gender (Eagly, Karau & Makhijani, 1995).
Glass ceiling is a widely discussed phenomenon in leadership literature. The existence of this invisible barrier
which prevents women from attaining leader positions is explained by lack of human capital, as well as by
gender differences and prejudice. The reasons mentioned for the limited numbers of women in top management
positions are among others that they take on significantly more domestic responsibilities, have less work
experience, show different leadership styles, they more often assume informal leadership roles, and
self-promotion among women is judged more harshly than among men (Northouse, 2007). The glass ceiling has
been slowly changing in recent years due to adjustments in values with the increased labor force participation of
women, altered legislation, changes in organizations, business culture, and among women themselves (Goethals,

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Sorenson & Burns, 2004, Northouse, 2007).

2.2 Leadership Style, Culture and Nationality
There is no doubt that culture influences leaders (Hofstede, 1996, Schein, 2004, House, et al., 2004). Even
though definitions of culture vary a lot, in general it has been understood as the way of life, customs, and script
of a group of people (Gudykunst & Ting–Toomey, 1988).
Three different research traditions have studied the effect of culture and societal institutions on leadership and
corporate organization. On the one hand, sociologists are looking at societal institutions, such as industrial
relations, the education system, labor markets, career systems of managers, culture etc. and their effect on
behavior in firms (Gallie, 1978, Lane, 1989, Maurice et al., 1986). On the other hand, it is the approach of
Hofstede (1996) and the GLOBE-research group (House et al. 2004) focusing on how cultural values have an
impact on behavior, and how people view leadership. Finally, there is research on ethnicity in multicultural
societies.
Scholars of the institutional approach (Gallie, 1978; Lane, 1989; Maurice et al., 1986; Dore, 1973) stress the
historical evolvement of societal institutions and consider crucial differences in the way in which different
nations come to industrialization. Contingency scholars reduce the importance of culture, but institutional
writers point out that differences in organizations and work relationship are rooted in differences in national
institutions and cultures, timing of industrialization, national institutions, etc. One consequence of this is a
national variance in career paths to leadership positions, as well as in the relations between managers and their
subordinates (Edvardsson, 1992).
Leadership and culture has been described in a number of iconic books: Hofstede (1996), House et al. (2004),
Bass and Bass (2008), etc. All of them identify differences in leadership styles in relation to culture: attitudes,
perception, societal effects, etc. The majority of works in this field focus on categorizing countries, in order to
help business function in a globalizing world. As a result of his multi-nation study Hofstede (1996) devised four
dimensions (power distance, individualism, masculinity, and uncertainty avoidance) to characterize
cross-cultural differences. GLOBE research had focused on leadership worldwide, analyzing different cultures,
in order to come up with “universal” attributes of leadership (House et al., 2004, Hofstede, 1996).
Ethnicity has received rather limited attention in relation to leadership style (Butterfield & Grinnell, 1999;
Cleveland, Stockdale, & Murphy, 2000). It is noted that research on ethnicity in leadership is particularly
applicable in multicultural societies (Selvarajah & Meyer, 2006). Research suggests ethnic differences in
leadership are likely to exist (Kanter, 1977; Bartol, 1978) and there is evidence to support it (Selvarajah &
Meyer, 2006).
In order to understand cultural and national impacts on leadership we need a synthesis of former research.
Although national culture has a strong influence on leadership and even gender, national policies have an
influence as well. There we see availability of men and women to participate in the labor market (pre-school
availability, parental leave), educational potential, equal opportunities, as well as the possibilities of ethnic
groups to advance in firms. Here the national entity is the best unit of analysis.
3. Methodology of Systematic Literature Review
In this review process, principles of systematic review were adopted, as recommended by Jesson, Matheson &
Lacey (2011):
1) Mapping the field through a scoping review
2) Comprehensive search
3) Quality assessment
4) Data extraction
5) Synthesis
6) Write up
First, a research plan was developed comprising the research questions of interest, the keywords, and a set of
inclusion and exclusion criteria. Research that would focus on gender and nationality “impact” on leadership
style was of particular interest. Which aspects of this relationship have been researched? Which methods have
been used? In which parts of the world, which countries has this relationship been researched? We had a special
interest in finding out what conclusions from research on leadership style-gender-nationality are available with
the focus on top business leaders?

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After a general literature search and careful consideration, it was early decided to focus on key phrase
“leadership style(s)”, not on “leadership”- as this term is interdisciplinary and can be used in a very broad sense.
This validity of the consideration was checked by conducting a ProQuest search on “leadership AND/OR gender,
nationality”. The search resulted in an unsatisfactory outcome in terms of the number of publications – giving
more than 139 000 hits. Many of those were concerned with the terminology or conceptual/philosophical aspect
of the subject and were not relevant.
Specific search was created by use of inclusion and exclusion search criteria. Inclusion criteria were: ProQuest
data base, publication period 2000 – 2012, English language, and full text, peer reviewed, “ leadership style*”
(truncation character was included in order to eliminate possibility of database excluding articles with word
‘styles’). The key - words were combined using the Boolean operator AND or OR with the second keyword
“gender”, AND or OR “nationality”. At this stage, exclusion criteria for the search were: other than English
language, published prior to the year 2000. It was decided to produce data sheet that would consist of key
aspects of field of interest. In this case it was: author(s), year of publication, place of research, research
aim/objective, research method, main findings.
The reason for starting our search at the year 2000 was two fold: 1) ProQueststatistics shows, that there was a
steep growth in research within leadership field from 2000. 2) Our focus is on the most recent research within
the field.
As the key words/phrases were specified, the search on ProQuest was made. Defined search “Leadership style*”
AND/OR “gender” /”nationality” produced 2622 hits. After reading titles and abstracts, the number of articles
was narrowed, focusing only on those related to top leaders and top management. After this stage, the number of
articles was reduced to 455.
After reading the titles, abstracts and conclusions, a decision was made for further review. The following articles
were included in the review: (i) those related to business leadership. (ii) drew connection between
leadership/leadership style/management and gender/nationality. (iii) were based on empirical research. Figure 1
shows the search process.
After the screening, 27 full text papers were reviewed and analyzed. All the 27 articles were then grouped
according to the focus of their research and findings.

TITLES IDENTIFIED FOR TITLE AND

ABSTRACT REVIEW
Exclusion criteria: n= 2622

Other than top leader/top management

orientation

ABSTRACT AND
CONCLUSION/SUMMARY REVIEW
Exclusion criteria:
n= 455
(i)Abstracts, opinions, theoretical debate,
etc. (ii) not related with business
leadership (iii) no connection between
leadership style/management and
gender/nationality, (iv) focused on politics FULL TEXT ARTICLES REVIEWED AND
or religion INCLUDED
n= 27

Figure 1. Search flow for leadership style vs. gender and/or nationality

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4. Presentation of Findings
The 27 articles cover different aspects of leadership, gender and nationality. The US dominates the research
scene; 46% of the papers deal with an American situation. The other half of the papers is quite diverse
geographically and covers the following countries: Australia, Brazil, China, Egypt, Georgia, India, Lebanon,
Luxemburg, Sweden, Italy, Nigeria, Slovenia, Turkey, and the UK.
4.1 Research Methods
Questionnaires are the most used research methodology in the published papers; 16 papers use this research
method. In other papers the methodology was based on interviews, focus groups, experiments, and analyzing
secondary data.
4.2 Content Analysis
The 27 papers were analyzed in order to find common themes. Six themes were identified, and they are: 1)
Leadership characteristics, behavior and style, 2) Perception regarding leaders, their traits and leadership style, 3)
Women barriers towards leader position, 4) Leadership outcome/results, and 5) The effect of research methods
on leader evaluation.
4.3 Leadership Characteristics, Behavior and Style
Ten papers focused on leadership behavior.

Table 1. Literature on leader characteristics, style and behavior

Research
Author(s) Year Method Main findings
aim/objectives
Males showed less inclination for
consulting employees in their
decision – making process;
To generate new internal regulations and norms
Machado, et knowledge about observation was considered more
2002 Integrated (mixed)
al. Brazilian entrepreneurs fundamental by men; men
(Brazil)  indicated a larger planning
valorization. But in general men
and women run their business in a
very similar way.
Notwithstanding significant
differences between men's and
women's declarative styles, there
are insignificant differences in the
To examine leadership
Questionnaire overall leadership styles of male
Titus, Gill 2003 style and behavior of
(survey) and female managers; generally
UK managers (UK)
there are no significant differences
between the leadership behavior of
men and women managers in the
UK
Women and men who described
themselves as possessing a greater
Powell, To compare differences amount of masculine
Data from a few
Butterfield 2003 in aspiration to top characteristics were more likely to
other surveys
management (USA) aspire to top management; women
were less likely to aspire to top
management than men
To test whether gender Female middle managers and
norms may partially female executives were rated
Bartol, et al. account for the higher in interpersonal, goals and
2003 Questionnaire
leadership behavior of task leader behaviors;female
female leaders; to majority executives seemed to
explore possible ethnic have more in common with male

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influences on minority executives with respect to

leadership behavior this leader behavior
(Context suggests
USA)
Females scored higher on social
To examine and emotional skills, and
relationships among charismatic leadership; leader
leader gender, social tenure predicted leader social skills
Groves
2005 and emotional skills, Questionnaire  but was unrelated to leader
and charismatic emotional skills, which
leadership (Context demonstrated the strongest
suggests USA) relationship to leader gender and
charismatic leadership
Differences in EI scores across
To present an different EI competencies for
exploratory study of EI males and females, with males
in the Lebanese scoring higher on self-regulation
Questionnaire
Jamali, et al. 2008 context, investigating and self-motivation, and females
(survey)
empirically variations scoring higher on self-awareness,
in EI competency empathy and social skills; EI levels
scores (Lebanon) increase significantly with
managerial position
Men and women managers have
To investigate no differences in team-oriented
differences of and participative leadership styles;
Fusun 2010 leadership styles of Questionnaire the pre-managerial and managerial
Turkish men and experiences of women managers
women (Turkey) have a bigger effect on leadership
styles than those of men managers
Found gender differences in 12 out
of 14 behaviors. All groups rated
To test for gender women as behaving in more active
effects in conflict Analyses of constructive ways, and men
Davis, et al. behaviors by examining database (data behaving in more active
2010
the ratings made by the collected in destructive ways. Women exceed
bosses, peers, and previous research) men on avoiding and
subordinates (USA) self-criticizing. There was no
difference between genders
regarding hiding emotions.
Female leaders in non-profit
organizations primarily
To identify common incorporate
leadership themes collaborative leadership and
Lansford, et
among female leaders servant leadership; the leaders
al. 2010 Interview
in non-profit value the use of a distinctly
organizations (Context feminine style and approach to
suggests USA) leadership, and are very
comfortable in utilizing their
gender differences in their roles
To answer what the
personality Woman managers are better able
characteristics of to control their emotions and do
Bostjancic successful managers Questionnaire not react to conflict or emotional
2010
are and what role (Survey) situations as sharply as men,
emotional intelligence although they are affected by
plays in them stronger feelings
(Slovenia)

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Only one research project in this section presents findings related to national differences: Bartol et al. (2003)
look into differences depending on ethnicity. Bartolet et al. (2003) findings show that majority (dominating
ethnicity) managers were rated higher than minority ones, and majority female managers were rated higher than
majority males.
The other paper in this section deals with gender differences. They show gender differences regarding leadership
style (Hilka et al., 2002; Titus & Gill, 2003; Lansford et al., 2010), leader behavior (Bartol et al., 2003; Davis et
al., 2010; Groves, 2005), and other behavior characteristics (Fusun, 2010; Powell & Butterfield, 2003; Jamali et
al., 2008; Bostjancic, 2010). Conclusions from this section suggest that women are less likely to advance to top
management positions. Women managers tend to control their emotions and do not react to conflict or emotional
situations as sharply as men. Women rated higher on interpersonal-, goal- and task- leader behaviors; they avoid
self-criticism and score higher on social and emotional skills, and charismatic leadership, compared to men. This
seems to be the case in all the countries studied, so nationality appears to have little effect here. Although five of
the papers report on studies in the US, we even find studies from Brazil, Lebanon, Slovenia, UK, and Turkey.
4.4 Perception Regarding Leaders, Their Traits and Leadership Styles
This group of articles presents research regarding perception of leadership styles, traits, etc. An attempt was
made to identify whether there is an interrelation between existing perceptions towards leaders, depending on
gender or/and nationality.

Table 2. Literature on perception regarding leaders, their traits, leadership style

Author(s) Year Research aim/objectives Method Main findings
To investigate profiles of
"successful managers" held
by male and female managers Mixed method
Gender differences more
working in ten European (Personality
significant than nationality of
banks operating in attribute
Cames, et al. 2001 the bank in determining
Luxembourg, see whether questionnaire +
perceptions of "the successful
differences in perceived semi structured
manager"
successful leadership styles interview)
exist between the banks
(Luxemburg)
Women are less likely to
identify with, and be seen as
To identify the managers' own
identifying with the current
management styles, and their
model of leadership in their
perceptions of the style of
Vinnicombe, Questionnaire organization; they see
2002 "the successful manager" who
Singh (postal survey) themselves as androgynous or
had reached the top team in
feminine, but they see top
their organization
managers as significantly
(British/Australian)
more masculine than
themselves
To assess whether similarity Employees who report to
in national culture between managers from the same
Testa service leaders and Questionnaire country report higher levels of
2004
subordinates impacted (survey) consideration behaviors on the
perceived leadership style, part of their manager and
goal clarity and organizational higher overall organizational

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satisfaction (USA) satisfaction

To investigate the extent to Men and women gender-type
which sub roles inherent in some managerial sub roles as
managerial positions are feminine and other sub roles
Questionnaire
Atwater, et al. 2004 gender-typed and whether as masculine in nature; men
(survey)
men or women engage in and women differ in their
relatively more gender typing propensity to see roles as
of managerial roles (USA) either masculine or feminine
Adjectives for a successful
middle manager:
relationship-orientation,
To explore the dimensionality task-orientation, and
Survey (Schein
of the ratings made for a emotional stability; women
Sümer 2006 Descriptive Index
successful middle manager perceived to be relatively high
used)
(Turkey) in relationship-orientation,
relatively low in
task-orientation, and relatively
low in emotional stability
Perceived importance of
To compare perceptions of
specific leadership traits is
the importance of 18 traits for
Casimir, determined partly by culturally
2007 effective low level leaders 4 samples used
Waldman endorsed interpersonal norms
and high-level leaders
and partly by the requirements
(Australia/China)
of the leadership role
To experiment and compare
No sensational correlations
judgments of personality traits Experiment+data
Rule, Ambady 2009 between leaders’ looks and
or leadership ability from the from previous
perceived success
faces (USA)

National culture interrelation with leadership perception was noted in three papers. Research by Cames et al.
(2001) showed that national differences in perception do exist, but genders differences are more obvious.
Casimar and Waldman (2007) present opposite findings in research results; they found cultural differences (but
not gender) in terms of which traits are regarded as important for effective leadership. The authors concluded
that culturally endorsed interpersonal norms and the requirements of the leadership role are determinants of
perceived importance of specific leadership traits (Casimar & Waldman, 2007). Testa (2004) concluded that
employees who reported to managers from the same country reported higher levels of consideration behaviors
on part of their manager and higher overall organizational satisfaction.
Regarding leadership perception and gender we find varied conclusions. Cames et al. (2001) for instance,
present a perception towards a “successful manager”. Women are more convinced than men that a successful
manager is male. One third of women and men perceived a successful manager’s leadership style to be
masculine. A high level of agreement between male and female perceptions was noted as to the level of
instrumental traits which successful managers should possess. Interestingly, both male and female managers
tended to use the pronoun "he" when describing a successful manager. It seems, therefore, that females continue
to believe that the successful manager has a masculine or instrumental leadership style. These findings can be
complemented with results from Sumer’s (2006) research, which identified adjectives for a successful middle
manager. From three main adjectives identified, women are perceived to be: relatively high in
relationship-orientation, relatively low in task-orientation, and relatively low in emotional stability. Differences

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in perception are described by Leane et al. (2004) where they write that some managerial sub-roles are
gender-typed as feminine or masculine and there are differences in gender propensity to perceive these roles.
Vinnicombe and Singh (2002) state that the current model of leadership is one which women are less likely to
identify with, and be seen as identifying with; women see themselves as either androgynous or feminine, but
they see top managers as more masculine than themselves. These patterns seem independent of the national
context of study.
Rule and Ambady (2009) brought up an interesting angle towards perceptions of leaders: the relationship
between a leader´s looks and perceived success. Their study did not find any relationship between a leader´s
looks and perceived success.
Here we notice two different patterns: on the one hand, it seems that nationality has an impact on the perception
of successful leadership, and on the relationship between leaders and subordinates. On the other hand, we note
gender differences independent of national culture: men and women identify sub-roles and traits as masculine or
feminine by nature. They describe a successful leadership style as masculine.
4.5 Women Barriers towards Leader Position
Articles in this section cite numerous examples of evidence of the existence of barriers facing women who
aspire to leadership positions; as well as the existence of a glass ceiling.

Table 3. Literature on barriers towards leader position

Author(s) Year Research aim/objectives Method Main findings
Mixed (a
"structured
questionnaire" and All four issues have created a
Research:gender
this was followed barrier to women's development
disparity, pay
up with in the business world; these
Liu, Wilson 2001 differentials, family
semi-structured issues can therefore be deemed
responsibility, and age
"personal endemic to women's lives and
concern (UK)
interviews" and indeed their careers
"focus group
discussions")
Women are more likely to
occupy top management ranks in
establishments that have more
To investigate variables
lower level management
that differentiate work
positions filled by women, have
establishments that have
Goodman, et Data used from a higher management turnover,
2003 women in top
al. other survey have lower average management
management positions
salary levels, place greater
from those that do not
emphasis on development and
(Georgia)
promotion of employees, and
operate in non-manufacturing
industries
To test if gender norms
may partially account for
Organizational and gender norms
the leadership behavior
influence the behavior of
of female leaders; to
Bartol, et al. 2003 Questionnaire upwardly mobile female leaders
explore possible ethnic
in hierarchical business
influences on leadership
organizations
behavior (USA from the
context)
To provide a profile of The majority of female managers
female managers in are not in situations that would
Kattara 2005 Egypt, determining their Interview lead them to the positions of
positions in hotel general managers; factors
departments, and preventing female managers

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investigating the from reaching the glass ceiling:

challenges preventing gender discrimination,
them from reaching top relationships at work, gender
management positions stereotyping and cultural conflict
(Egypt)
A huge gap between objective
To explore if a glass facts and subjective perception:
ceiling really exists in the while Indian men are in denial
Jain,
2010 Indian corporate world, Questionnaire about the existence of a glass
Mukherji
to understand the male ceiling, the underlying
psyche (India) stereotypes are pretty
well-embedded

The barriers identified by research within this group range from perception (Jain & Mukherji, 2010) to cultural
conflict, gender discrimination, and stereotyping (Kattara, 2005; Liu & Wilson, 2001). The geographical
coverage of research in this field is wide: Egypt, Georgia, India, UK, and USA. None of the studies presented in
the papers are of a comparative nature. However, the evidence is clear: the problems and obstacles women face
in leadership are of a similar character independent of country of origin.
4.6 Leadership Outcome/Results
Four articles were indicated in this group. None of the articles had a specific focus on national culture.

Table 4. Literature on outcomes/results of different leadership styles

Author(s) Year Research aim/objectives Method Main findings
To investigate
Male and female subordinates
managers' reports of
reported higher levels of social
their job experiences,
support for work-related problems,
wellbeing, and health
Moore, et al. 2005 Survey less work/family conflict, higher
outcomes as a function
levels of mastery, and lower levels
of whether they had
of depression when their
either a male or female
supervisor was female
supervisor (USA)
To examine the effect of
having women on the The percentage of women on the
top management teams TMT is significantly correlated
of initial public offering with initial valuation of the firm at
Welbourne,
2007 (IPO) firms on the Secondary data the time of the Initial Public
et al.
organizations' short- and Offering (the results are consistent
long-term financial for both short-term and long-term
performance (USA from firm performance)
the context)
To examine the
association between
Firms with female audit committee
female audit committee Cross-sectional
Ittonen, et al. 2010 chairs have significantly lower
representation and audit regressions
audit fees
fees (USA from the
context)
Shadare 2011 To investigate the Survey There was no significant

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influence of relationship between gender and

management style and perceived managerial efficiency.
demographic Gender could not be used to
characteristics on predict the efficiency of managers
managerial efficiency in in selected work organizations
work organizations in
Nigeria (Nigeria) 

There is no difference in gender on perceived managerial efficiency: women and men are equally efficient in
managerial work (Shadare, 2011). Research indicates that for both men and women there are some modest
benefits associated with having a female supervisor and with working in a more female-dominated environment
(Moore et al., 2005). Interesting findings in this category include the fact that firms with female audit committee
chairs have significantly lower audit fees and that the percentage of women in the top management team
positively correlates with the higher initial valuation of the firm (Ittonen et al, 2010; Welbourne, 2007). No
country differences were noted here.
4.7 Effect of Research Methods on Leader Evaluation
This section of articles presents findings of gender effects on research methods or related issues in leader
evaluations.

Table 5. Literature on gender effect on research method and leader evaluation

Author(s) Year Research aim/objectives Method Main findings
Constructs of leadership across
To determine if observed
multiple rating pairs reflect the
ratings on a multi-source Mixed methods
same cognitive constructs of
feedback instrument reflect (1)structural
leadership;  a  multi-source
the same cognitive equation model,
Weyer 2006 feedback instrument has been
constructs of leadership 2) multi – group
shown to be non-discriminatory
across multiple rating pairs structure
based on rater and rate
based on rater and ratee analysis)
gender.MSF does not contribute
gender (USA)
to a glass ceiling
The results suggest a female
advantage in evaluations of
transformational leaders,
To examine gender effects
especially when women are the
in evaluations of
Questionnaire evaluators; results suggest the
Powell, et al. 2008 transformational and
(survey) continued presence of
transactional leaders
gender-related biases in leader
(USA)
evaluations, although
evaluations now favor female
leaders

None of the articles in this section had a specific focus on nationality or national culture.
The two research findings in relation to gender are surprising, as they are both contrary to prior research. Weyer
(2006) was determining whether observed ratings on a multi-source feedback (MSF) instrument reflect the same
cognitive constructs of leadership across multiple rating pairs based on rater and ratee gender. The findings

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showed that MSF is nondiscriminatory based on rater and rate gender – contrary to strong empirical evidence
from other research. Weyer (2006) concludes that MSF does not contribute to the phenomenon of a glass ceiling
that keeps women from entering top-level management positions. Even though the research by Powell et al.
(2008) had a meaningful limitation, the findings of the research are interesting and valuable. Powell et al. (2008)
recorded, that when evaluating leaders, gender effects favor female leaders more than their male counterparts.
He confirms the existence of gender bias in leader evaluation, only in a different direction than shown in prior
research. Results also revealed that more favorable evaluations are received by female-transformational leaders
than male-transformational leaders, especially from female evaluators. It has to be pointed out that both studies
were conducted in the US, and this could impact the results.
Interestingly, these papers indicate that the measurement tools seem to have an impact on the perception of
gender and leadership.
5. Discussion and Conclusion
The aim of this paper was to review available research on gender and nationality as determinants of leadership
style. At the outset, we presented the following research questions: 1) Which studies have been conducted that
focus on gender and nationality in leadership? 2) What were the main findings of the studies? 3) Where were
these studies conducted? 4) Which methods were used?
Our systematic literature search resulted in 27 papers that were analyzed in order to find common themes. Five
themes were identified, as follows: 1) A leader’s characteristics, behavior and style, 2) Perception regarding
leaders, their traits and leadership styles, 3) Women’s barriers towards leader position, 4) Leadership outcomes/
results, 5) Effect of research methods on leader evaluation.
Regarding the methodology used in the reviewed papers, the most popular method is a questionnaire, while
others use interviews, focus groups and secondary data. Half of the papers focus on the US, while the rest deal
with African, Asian and European countries.
Findings from papers suggest that there are gender differences in leadership styles, behavior characteristics, and
other features associated with leaders. These differences were noted in all countries researched. Analyses of
papers on perception showed that that nationality has an impact on the perception of successful leadership, and
on the relationship between leaders and subordinates. But it was also noticed that gender differences exist
independent of national culture. The conclusion can be drawn that women face barriers on their way to leader
positions, and that the problems and obstacles are similar in nature independent of country of origin. There is no
difference in gender with regard to perceived managerial efficiency: women and men are seen as equally
efficient in managerial work. Small gender differences were recorded, however, when evaluating the
outcomes/results of leadership. It was found that the measurement tools can impact the perception of gender and
leadership. From this review we raise the following questions and highlight fields of interest for future research.
1) Research on leadership style and nationality. This review indicated that gender differences in leadership style
exist, and they do exist in the majority of countries studied. But how does nationality influence leadership style?
Nationality as an influencing factor towards leadership style has been researched on a very limited scale. In the
globalization process, national aspect produces a unique outcome (Ritzer, 2011). Consequently, the assumption
can be made that nationality, even in the globalizing world, influences leadership style in a way that creates
unique results. More research is needed in a broader context and using more variables, when evaluating
leadership and gender.
2) Gender and nationality (context approach). We have seen from Hofstede et al.’s (2010) study that one aspect
of national cultures is their level of masculinity and femininity - preferences in society for achievement, heroism,
assertiveness and material reward for success or cooperation; versus modesty, caring for the weak and quality of
life. This, as well as national differences in legislation regarding gender quotas on management boards (as in
Iceland and Norway), labor force participation, etc. has an impact on both the number of women in leadership
and their behavior. Therefore, we need more research on gender and leadership in a national context.
3) Longitudinal studies. Longitudinal studies are needed which would enable research to see changes in time, as
for example how globalization appears to change societal institutions, cultures and traditions. The new
generations have a different “national” imprint, as well as a changed understanding of gender roles. Thus there
is need for research that would help to evaluate the influence of gender and nationality on leaders’ behavior and
style.
4) Top business leaders’ leadership style. Top business leaders are closely connected with future economic
development which is of particular interest in today’s world. Identifying significant differences among business

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leaders can give unique information which may be used for strengthening businesses in certain regions or whole
countries.
5) Cross-institutional/industry research. As papers in this review show, there is but little research which provides
comparative data about the influence of gender and national culture on leadership style in a certain industry or
companies in two or more countries. In some papers in this review the results of research raise a question: is it
the influence of gender or another variable, or is it specifics of the industry? Hence, systematic comparative
industrial studies could help to identify the influence of particular industry.
6) Cross cultural comparative research. The review showed that differences in leadership style exist in a
majority of countries, but are those differences the same in all countries, and are the differences identical? There
seems to be a gap in research that would focus on comparative information relating to the individuality of
countries (but not similarities like in Hofstede or GLOBE research) and would combine more than one variable.
The present study is not without limitations. By only using the ProQuest database this study may not have
achieved complete coverage of all empirical articles in the field. Yet, it seems reasonable to assume that the
review process covered a large share of studies available. In addition, the review of the literature was sometimes
hampered by the fact that so many different words are being used when researching the field: towards leadership
style (leader behavior, leadership, etc.), nationality (culture, ethnicity, etc.), gender (feminine, masculine,
woman, etc.).
In conclusion, our study is a small contribution to the emerging theory of gender, nationality and leadership. We
hope that our findings will encourage other researchers in exploring the dynamics of leadership from a
contextual perspective.
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