Stereotyping leadership: An investigation about leaders' perception

The objective of this study is to evaluate gender and cultural differences in the perception of male and female leaders in a feedback situation. The research is based upon considerations from a literature review in the fields of gender bias and stereotypes previously conducted. Subjects from Spain and Germany were asked to evaluate a director (male or female) in a fictive feedback situation that was described prior to a short questionnaire. The questions of the questionnaire were based on previous research and findings of the literature review. We tested if previous experience with a woman leader was related to a higher evaluation of the female leader and if there was a relationship between the previous experience with a female leader and the preference to work for a certain leader's gender. Results from the study show that gender, culture and previous experience with a female leader had no influence on the leader's evaluation. A discussion with possible interpretations of the findings and implication for further research follows.

Elena Tecchiati is an organizational psychologist who previously studied languages and linguistics in Italy, followed by advertisement and marketing in Germany. Elena is specialized in leadership psychology and interpersonal communication development and has been working as coach and trainer internationally in four languages. She lives in Barcelona, Spain, where she also works as lecturer at different universities and academies. She is also an author of different publications in the fields of communication and leadership.