Skip to Main Content
HBS Home
  • About
  • Academic Programs
  • Alumni
  • Faculty & Research
  • Baker Library
  • Giving
  • Harvard Business Review
  • Initiatives
  • News
  • Recruit
  • Map / Directions
Faculty & Research
  • Faculty
  • Research
  • Featured Topics
  • Academic Units
  • …→
  • Harvard Business School→
  • Faculty & Research→
Publications
Publications
  • 2010
  • Chapter
  • Handbook of Leadership Theory and Practice

Women and Leadership: Defining the Challenges

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

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

More from the Authors

    • October 2024
    • Academy of Management Review

    Racial Inequality in Organizations: A Systems Psychodynamic Perspective

    By: Sanaz Mobasseri, William A. Kahn and Robin J. Ely
    • 2024
    • Faculty Research

    Defending White Hegemonic Masculinity

    By: R. Ely, Sanaz Mobasseri and I. Oneyador
    • 2023
    • Faculty Research

    Defending White Hegemonic Masculinity: A Test of the Projective Identification Hypothesis

    By: R. Ely, Sanaz Mobasseri and C. Chu
More from the Authors
  • Racial Inequality in Organizations: A Systems Psychodynamic Perspective By: Sanaz Mobasseri, William A. Kahn and Robin J. Ely
  • Defending White Hegemonic Masculinity By: R. Ely, Sanaz Mobasseri and I. Oneyador
  • Defending White Hegemonic Masculinity: A Test of the Projective Identification Hypothesis By: R. Ely, Sanaz Mobasseri and C. Chu
ǁ
Campus Map
Harvard Business School
Soldiers Field
Boston, MA 02163
→Map & Directions
→More Contact Information
  • Make a Gift
  • Site Map
  • Jobs
  • Harvard University
  • Trademarks
  • Policies
  • Accessibility
  • Digital Accessibility
Copyright © President & Fellows of Harvard College.