Rita Chen, Jeannine Xu, Sydney Shi
The study aimed to investigate the differences in leadership styles between male and female undergraduate students in group discussions. Previous research had shown that men are often perceived as more dominant and directive, while women prioritize building connections and understanding. The study focused on an academic setting, with researchers observing 36 UCLA undergraduate students discussing a topic for 10 minutes. Observations were made of both verbal and gestural communication features of each individual, and an observational checklist was used to categorize behaviors into six main traits of authoritative or collaborative leadership style. Results supported the hypothesis that male students displayed more authoritative traits, such as confidence and dominance, while female students displayed more collaborative traits, such as empathy and supportiveness. Interestingly, female participants also displayed the authoritative trait of “clarity” more than their male counterparts. The findings of this study suggest that traditional gender roles continue to influence communication patterns and highlight the importance of advocating for a more inclusive society where all genders have equal opportunities to succeed in leadership roles.
Introduction and Background
Although gender roles are constantly changing and the concept of gender is becoming more fluid, traditional gender roles continue to influence our communication patterns. Starting from childhood, individuals socialized to conform to gender norms, which specifically have a substantial power over decision making and leadership styles in group settings. (Carter et al., 2019) While women prioritize building connections and understanding in their interpersonal relationships, men aim to establish their identity and status through demonstrating independence and control over the conversation.
Such gender differences stemmed our interest in investigating how male and female leadership styles may differ within a group setting. Previous research had investigated different styles of management communication between males and females under a professional setting, suggesting that while females are generally perceived to be more concerned and attentive than males as leaders, male were perceived to be more dominant and directive. (Baird & Bradley, 1979)
Instead of observing different leadership styles within a professional setting, we intended to focus on an academic setting, more specifically we narrowed down our target population to UCLA undergraduate students. We intend to study the differences between male and female leadership styles by observing their gestural and verbal communication features. Specifically, a previous finding shows that men often spread their arms over a chair or lean over the table during discussion to expand their personal space as a symbol of confidence (Greenwood 2017). Conversely, women are more likely to act conservatively in their own personal space, which could be stereotypically viewed as less assertive or less successful than men in group discussions. Therefore, we hypothesized that male students are more likely to be the authoritative leader while female students are more likely to be the collaborative leader in a group discussion in college classrooms. We aim to test this gendered difference in leadership style and advocate for a more inclusive society where all genders have equal opportunities to succeed in leadership roles.
Methods
Our study was conducted at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). We observed 36 UCLA undergraduate junior and senior students to analyze if their behaviors qualify for authoritative or collaborative leadership styles in discussions. Regarding the experiment, we randomly selected 36 students and divided them into 6 groups that each contained 3 females and 3 males. By giving each group the same topic, which was “What is your view on ChatGPT and AI control, we asked each group to discuss and share their thoughts about this question in 10 minutes. During the discussion, each of us researchers observed one group and focused specifically on gestures and verbal expressions of each individual and recorded our observation on an observational list, which allowed us to have a unified interpretation of authoritative and collaborative leadership styles. In this case, we asked 12 questions and categorized them into six main traits with dominance, confidence, and clarity being traits of authoritative style and sympathy, consideration, and supportiveness being traits of collaborative style. For example, we included questions like “Did anyone expand their gestures?” in order to remind ourselves to look for these specific behaviors. After the discussion, each participant also filled out the same observational checklist to evaluate the behaviors of their peers. By collecting 36 responses from the sample and 6 checklists from researchers, we constructed two figures to compare and contrast the variation between different genders regarding their leadership styles in group discussions.
Results and Analysis
According to Figure 1, the results from our study supported our hypothesis that male students are more likely to be the authoritative leader while female students are more likely to be the collaborative leader in a group discussion in college classrooms. Based on 36 responses, we found that in a class discussion setting, more male students display traits of authoritative style such as confidence and dominance, while more female students display traits of collaborative leadership styles like empathy and supportiveness. An interesting finding was that female participants also illustrated a high amount of authoritative leadership style, females even displayed the authoritative trait “clarity” more than their male participants. Figure 2 shows the specific leadership traits performed by male and female participants:
After we obtained the different traits that our female and male participants showed, we summarized these traits into the two big categories: collaborative and authoritative as shown in Figure 2. The authoritative traits are dominance, confidence, and clarity. The collaborative traits are supportiveness, empathy, and consideration. After calculation, we found that 32 female participants portrayed collaborative leadership traits while 26 male participants showed collaborative leadership. On the other hand, 27 female participants showed authoritative leadership style and 31 male participants showed authoritative leadership styles. Looking at this summarized chart, we can see a clearer distinction of the authoritative and collaborative traits females and males utilize as in their leadership.
One limiting aspect of the result is the study’s sampling population. Our study participant population only consisted of full-time UCLA undergraduate students. This is limiting to the external validity of the study’s results, as full-time UCLA undergraduate students are not a good representation of the general population. The study should keep in mind the education level and environment of UCLA students in comparison to the average population in our society.
Discussion and Conclusion
In this study, we have examined the relationship between gender and leadership styles among college students. Our findings support the traditional gender stereotype that males tend to exhibit more authoritative behaviors, while females tend to display more collaborative behaviors. This is likely due to the societal expectations and gender roles that shape individuals’ approach to leadership roles later in life. Our study has revealed that socialization plays a critical role in shaping gender roles and expectations, which in turn influences leadership styles.
However, we also found that our results are not entirely consistent with the traditional gender stereotype. Despite male students exhibiting more authoritative behaviors overall, female students exhibited a higher frequency of “clarity” traits, an authoritative leadership style, than their male counterparts. This could be attributed to the increasing gender equality and social status, which have enabled more women to develop and display leadership qualities, including more assertive and authoritative styles.
Our study’s broader impact lies in its contribution to creating more inclusive classroom environments that value and recognize diverse leadership styles. Educational institutions can use our findings to design more inclusive classroom settings and curriculum and create a more supportive and inclusive learning environment for all students. Furthermore, our study can help students recognize the disparities in leadership styles and work effectively together.
In conclusion, our study highlights the role of socialization in shaping gender roles and expectations and how they influence leadership styles. It also suggests that the increasing gender equality and social status have allowed more females to develop and display authoritative leadership styles. However, effective leadership depends on the context, and both leadership styles can be successful.
In conclusion, our study highlights the role of socialization in shaping gender roles and expectations and how they influence leadership styles. It also suggests that the increasing gender equality and social status have allowed more females to develop and display authoritative leadership styles. However, effective leadership depends on the context, and both leadership styles can be successful.
References
Carter, M. F., Franz, T. M., Gruschow, J. L., & VanRyne, A. M. (2019). The gender conformity conundrum: The effects of irrelevant gender norms on public conformity. The Journal of Social Psychology, 159(6), 761–765. https://doi.org/10.1080/00224545.2019.1586636
Baird, J. E., & Bradley, P. H. (1979). Styles of Management and Communication: A Comparative Study of men and women. Communication Monographs, 46(2), 101–111. https://doi.org/10.1080/03637757909375995
Greenwood, B. (2017, November 21). How can gender affect negotiation? Work. Retrieved February 21, 2023, from https://work.chron.com/can-gender-affect-negotiation-5771.html