This article uses meta-analytic methods to review 50 studies that compared the leader-ship styles of principals of public schools and finds some evidence for differences between the sexes. In general, female principals scored somewhat higher than male principals on measures of task-oriented style, but there was less evidence for a sex difference on measures of interpersonally oriented style. A third aspect of leadership style, the tendency to lead democratically or autocratically, produced the largest sex difference, with female principals adopting a more democratic or participative style and a less autocratic or directive style than male principals. The implications of the findings for school administration and their consistency with research conducted in other organizational settings are discussed.
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