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The purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of shared leadership on the gap between male and female leadership influence in groups.

The leadership influence of 231 members from 28 committees was studied using a social networks methodology. Gender differences in committee members’ directive and supportive leadership influence were analyzed through two ANCOVA tests.

Results confirm significant differences between men and women’s leadership influence, as rated by their peers, using directive and supportive leader behaviors. Surprisingly, shared leadership has no significant effect on reducing this gender gap.

Results cannot be extrapolated to all other types of groups, since the committees studied have very unique characteristics due to their low typical mutual interaction.

Organizations may need to consider complementary strategies in their group leadership design to prevent the emergence of strong gender gaps when leadership is shared. These strategies could involve training members to recognize gender inequalities in leadership status and assigning leadership roles formally to ensure more equal participation in leadership.

This paper examines the promise of gender equality in shared leadership and provides empirical data that shows that this promise is not being realized.

This paper aims to critically reflect on current leadership development programmes (LDPs) and their potential in addressing the issue of women’s under-representation in leadership positions. To this end, this paper queries the current processes through which employees are selected to participate in LDPs as well as how these programmes are designed.

Drawing on Martha Nussbaum’s capabilities approach, this conceptual paper draws attention to the pitfalls of current organisational practices aimed at women’s leadership development.

The introduction of gender quotas and the implementation of women-only LDPs are unlikely to address the persistent gender leadership gap. Instead, these practices are likely to intensify the negative effects of second-generation gender bias and perpetuate the issue of gender inequality and inequity in the workplace.

This paper critiques contemporary organisational practices aimed at women’s leadership development and suggests alternative practices which are more likely to respond to the issue of women’s under-representation in leadership positions.

As organizations aim to become increasingly diverse, it is important to understand how perspectives of potential future leaders vary across culture and gender. This study aims to advance the understanding of the persistent gender gap in management.

Samples from the gender-segregated Qatar and the co-ed Denmark present a unique opportunity to investigate the potential effects of gender. Here, 115 Middle Easterners and 121 Scandinavians rated perceived importance of job-related skills, networking upward and serendipity in leadership acquisition.

Effects of gender showed that compared to men, women across cultures expected that serendipity has less to do with leadership acquisition. Middle Eastern women also showed low expectations regarding networking with people in powerful positions. Nevertheless, both genders showed conviction of meritocracy by rating job-related skills as the most important factor in leadership acquisition. Cross-culturally, Scandinavians presumed job-related skills to be more important than Middle Easterners.

Despite meritocracy beliefs, it appears that gender differences in perceived possibility of leadership acquisition contribute to the gender gap in management. Scandinavian women relied more on networking than Middle Eastern women, but still lacked faith in serendipitous opportunities compared to male peers. Perceived luck enhances achievement motivation. If men rely more on luck than women, then they are more confident in succeeding and more ambitious about pursuit of leadership. Women’s lack of faith in serendipity might affect their career ambitions negatively even in societies emphasizing equality.

This is the first study that directly focuses on gender differences in perception of opportunities for leadership acquisition through serendipity.

The eradication of gender discrimination at work has been a prominent feature of the UK political and business agenda for decades; however, the persistent business gender leadership gap remains. The concept of second-generation gender bias has recently been proposed as the primary cause. This paper aims to evaluate how women experience second-generation gender bias in construction organisations. It examines key manifestations of second-generation gender bias and how it impacts women’s career progression into leadership positions in the UK construction industry.

This paper adopts a broad feminist interpretative lens aligned with the general aims of feminist critical inquiry through semi-structured interviews with 12 women experiencing career journeys of at least five years in the construction industry.

This paper reveals that second-generation gender bias hinders the career development and leadership identity of some women and the persistent business gender leadership gap is unlikely to change without addressing it.

There is little or no research that speaks exclusively to the experience of second-generation gender bias and female managers working within the UK construction. This paper provides further insight into the barriers women face when attempting to progress into senior management roles, particularly in construction.

Women continue to be disproportionately represented in top leadership positions. Leadership development programs typically focus on skills attainment. The purpose of this paper is to explore the perceptions and experiences of academic leaders in order to inform how leadership development programs may more effectively address the gender gap in leadership.

A sequential mixed methods study design was used. Participants completed the Leadership Practice Inventory ®(LPI) survey followed by individual interviews of a subset of participants. The survey results were analyzed and compared by gender using the t-test. Thematic analysis was used to compare themes across and between genders. Quantitative and qualitative findings were integrated in the final analysis.

In total, 65 leaders (38 women; 27 men) (37.7 percent response rate) participated in the survey. There were no significant demographic or statistical differences between women and men on any of the LPI® components. Five women and five men were interviewed. Thematic analysis revealed common leadership aspirations and values. Gender differences were noted in leadership attainment, mentorship and the influence of gender on leadership. While the male narratives reflected cognitive awareness of gender inequities, the female narratives also included lived experiences. Male participants focused on the importance of meritocracy whereas the female participants emphasized the gendered social and structural influences on leadership attainment.

Leadership development programs need go beyond generic “skills-building” in order to conceptualize leadership within a gendered social context. This framework will enable critical awareness and tools for developing both women and men’s fullest leadership potential.

This study was conducted in order to better understand how academic health leaders experience the intersection of gender and leadership. The findings contribute to the current literature by providing insight into perceptual gaps that exist at the level of practice between women and men leaders. In doing so, the authors discuss how leadership development programs may play a more effective role in addressing gender equity in leadership.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the experiences of gender bias among women hospital CEOs and explore to what these female leaders attribute their success within a male-dominated hospital executive leadership milieu.

This qualitative study involved 12 women hospital CEOs from across Ontario, Canada. Purposeful sampling techniques and in-depth qualitative interview methods were used to facilitate discussion around experiences of gender and leadership.

Responses fell into two groups: the first group represented the statement “Gender inequality is alive and well”. The second group reflected the statement “Gender inequity is not significant, did not happen to me, and things are better now”. This group contained a sub-group with no consciousness of systemic discrimination and that claimed having no gendered experiences in their leadership journey. The first group described gender issues in various contexts, from the individual to the systemic. The second group was ambivalent about gender as a factor impacting leadership trajectories.

Representations of women’s leadership have become detached from feminism, with major consequences for women. This study reveals how difficult it is for some women CEOs to identify gender bias. The subtle everyday norms and practices within the workplace make it difficult to name and explain gender bias explicitly and may explain the challenges in understanding how it might affect a woman’s career path.

This paper examines gender diversity in the Australian valuation industry from the perspective of valuers in senior management and leadership roles and discusses gender diversity policies and practices in their organisations. Then, it explores the initiatives that can be implemented to improve gender diversity in the Australian valuation industry.

A focus group discussion was conducted with valuers in senior management and leadership roles from selected large valuation firms and government valuation agencies in Melbourne, Australia. Data collected through the focus group discussion was combined with secondary data sourced from journals, online articles and archival materials.

The findings reveal that whilst gender diversity in the Australian valuation industry has improved over the years, females remain underrepresented. Nonetheless, whilst some valuation companies have recognised the need to address the underrepresentation of women and introduced specific gender-focussed human resource policies and practices, these initiatives are not streamlined and implemented across the industry.

The study highlights the need for closer collaboration between key stakeholders such as universities, professional associations, valuation companies and government agencies in devising strategies to attract female talents into the valuation industry.

The paper is the first empirical study to assess gender diversity in the Australian valuation industry from the perspective of valuers in management and leadership roles. The proposed policies can inform future initiatives to improve gender diversity in the valuation industry.

The purpose of this paper is to present multiple case studies of women in leadership roles in India with a view to identifying inhibitors, facilitators and the strategies adopted by them to mitigate the challenges in their odyssey to these positions. The paper contributes to the pivotal subject of under-representation of women in apex positions, which has garnered the attention of researchers in recent years grappling with the identification of the underlying causes. Thus, with a view to narrowing the gender gap in leadership positions, a greater understanding of this phenomenon is called for.

The paper adopts exploratory case study method using multiple case studies. Empirical data were gathered using in-depth semi-structured interviews and personality test (NEO FFI) from women in leadership positions. The qualitative data were analysed using thematic analysis.

The analysis of data has led to the identification of challenges faced by the women that were categorised as personal, professional, organisational and social issues. Further, six themes emerged as the strategies adopted by the women leaders to overcome the challenges. The paper also highlights the critical social, behavioural and organisational facilitators that played an important role in their leadership journey. The paper also includes context-specific findings of women leaders from Indian industry.

The paper would have relevance for researchers and practitioners in the field of gender diversity, leadership, organisational behaviour and human resource management. The findings of this paper can be leveraged by organisations to retain and manage female talent, which is a focal area in the present dynamic business environment, when a need for gender diversity is widely acknowledged by the top management in organisations. The exploratory case studies provide vistas for gender-based context-specific and cross-cultural research on the challenges faced by women executives in their leadership journey and the strategies adopted to mitigate these.

Though a great deal has been written about the barriers to women’s career advancement, less is known about the facilitators of women’s advancement. Also, women in the Asian context face unique challenges which present a major problem for multinational companies whose hopes for growth are pinned on emerging markets. The paper has identified new emergent themes, which have not been mentioned in the extant literature nationally or globally. The findings provide inputs to companies to adopt policies and practices to facilitate gender equality in leadership. The paper bridges the knowledge gap and makes conceptual contributions for future research.

The purpose of this study was to examine whether middle-level female administrators (particularly women of color) in the California Community College system were being mentored to higher-level positions and whether the retention of leaders in higher-level positions was influenced by mentoring. Specifically, this study examined the mobility and retention of female administrators through a web-based survey that was completed by 156 females currently working in administrative positions at the dean's level or higher in California Community Colleges. Data were also collected through face-to-face interviews with 11 female administrators, 5 of whom were women of color, in senior-level positions from vice president to chancellor. These interviews reflected a range of demographics and were located in Northern, Central, and Southern California. The focus of this chapter is on the responses of the respondents who were women of color.

The study addressed two questions: (1) What effect did mentoring, if any, have on a person's ability to achieve higher-level leadership positions? and (2) What relationship does mentorship have on the retention of women of color in leadership? Findings reported that mentoring was having a positive and often significant influence on women of color administrators and leaders in the California Community College System.

The purpose of the study is to examine how women become leaders in the Security Services in Ghana and the challenges they face in the discharge of their responsibilities.

A qualitative phenomenological approach was adopted to explore the intentions and opinions of the participants, interpret their worlds through their lived experiences and present a clearer understanding of their stories.

The study revealed that women deliberately positioned themselves to be considered for leadership placements in their male-dominated professions. The study’s findings also suggest that although both men and women are considered equal in the service, women were faced with challenges in their daily experiences as leaders due to their gender. The gender barriers created a strenuous situation for women to rise to top leadership placements in the Security Services.

This research is one of the first studies that explored the experiences of women in middle and top leadership positions in the national Security Services in Ghana. It contributes to the literature by presenting how female leaders in the Security Services successfully navigate into leadership placements, the challenges and their strategies in excelling in their duties. The study is important in bridging the gender gap in leadership positions in the Security Services.