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  • 2010
  • Chapter
  • Handbook of Leadership Theory and Practice

Women and Leadership: Defining the Challenges

By: Robin J. Ely and Deborah L. Rhode
  • Format:Print
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Abstract

We use the experience of Carly Fiorina as an introduction to the continued challenges faced by women in top leadership roles. Although Fiorina, on becoming CEO of Hewlett Packard in 1999, asserted that "there is not a glass ceiling," her memoir eight years later acknowledged many encounters with sexist comments and attitudes. We suggest that all female leaders must deal with ambivalent reactions rooted in gender stereotypes. Generally, the assertive, dominant behavior typical among leaders tends to be viewed as atypical and unattractive in women. Studies of attitudes toward women in traditionally male roles show that they effectively trade perceptions of competence for likeability-the more successful they appear, the less positively they are regarded. Such trends affect both organizational openness to female leaders and the conceptions women have about themselves as leaders.

Keywords

Prejudice And Bias; Leadership; Perception; Behavior; Attitudes; Gender

Citation

Ely, Robin J., and Deborah L. Rhode. "Women and Leadership: Defining the Challenges." Chap. 14 in Handbook of Leadership Theory and Practice, edited by Nitin Nohria and Rakesh Khurana. Harvard Business Press, 2010.

About The Author

Robin J. Ely

Organizational Behavior
→More Publications

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    Getting Serious About Diversity: Enough Already with the Business Case

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    My Learning Journey: Seven Turning Points in my Life as a Gender-and-Race Scholar

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    • March 2020
    • Administrative Science Quarterly

    Explaining the Persistence of Gender Inequality: The Work-family Narrative as a Social Defense Against 24/7 Work Culture

    By: Irene Padavic, Robin J. Ely and Erin M. Reid
More from the Authors
  • Getting Serious About Diversity: Enough Already with the Business Case By: R. Ely and David A. Thomas
  • My Learning Journey: Seven Turning Points in my Life as a Gender-and-Race Scholar By: R. Ely
  • Explaining the Persistence of Gender Inequality: The Work-family Narrative as a Social Defense Against 24/7 Work Culture By: Irene Padavic, Robin J. Ely and Erin M. Reid
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