Critical analysis of Article on Gender and Leadership

Running Head: Critical analysis of Article on Gender and Leadership
Gender and leadership ? Leadership and gender? A journey through the landscapeof theories
Name
Affiliation
March 31 2011
Contents TOC \o "1-3" \h \z \u Introduction PAGEREF _Toc289381036 \h 3Summary PAGEREF _Toc289381037 \h 3Key Assertions PAGEREF _Toc289381038 \h 4Identifiable bias PAGEREF _Toc289381040 \h 6Conclusion PAGEREF _Toc289381041 \h 6References PAGEREF _Toc289381042 \h 8
Introduction
The article discusses two of the most controversial topics in corporate history, gender differences and leadership. The introduction to leadership studies always starts with the question of whether leadership traits are innate or whether they can be developed. Theorists have argues time and again that leaders can be developed, but the studies keep on revealing that skills can be groomed and leaders can be made only if they possess certain inborn characteristics that are developed in light of a stable and learning environment. The paper: "Gender and leadership? Leadership and gender? A journey through the landscape of theories" delves into the factors that are attributed to there being a very few women being present in the top organizational positions. CITATION Ste03 \l 1033 (Appelbaum, Audet, & Miller, 2003)
Summary
The paper is a review of various researches and is a compilation of the conclusions that various studies on leadership in women and leadership traits have drawn. Gender and leadership? Leadership and gender? A journey through the landscape of theories is an appropriate heading to the paper which seeks to ascertain what factors are present predominantly in leaders, and which attributes are preferred from the view of the organization. Given the various ups and downs that the industry in recent times has gone through and the latest spurs of acquisitions and mergers, the dynamic commands a leaner structure with more emphasis on soft skills that are the domain of women primarily.
Four key schools of thought are mentioned which include: biology and sex, gender role, causal factors, and attitudinal drivers. Each of these is discussed in the light of why there are so few women in leadership positions in organization. The first school of thought of biology and sex is primarily ruled out. However that of general roles identifies that while there are the traditional male and female traits of assertive, technical skills and softer communication skills, people who are identified as having a combination of both, called the androgynous role is seen to be the most successful. The key assertions of this paper are discussed as follows.
Key Assertions
Biology and Sex does not determine leadership:
The study negates the fact that biology has any role to play in leadership potential. In fact it asserts that such a belief that females cannot be leaders can only be chauvinistic opinions and that they have been frequently negated by studies. The key assertion h...