Leadership training is key to promoting more active leadership, but the effects of leadership training can depend on the gender context. Gender congruence between manager and employee can affect how the manager employs leadership behaviors adapted from training and how employees perceive leadership behavior. Quantitative data on 474 managers’ 4,833 employees before and after a large-scale field experiment with leadership training enable us to examine changes in employee-perceived leadership following training. The results show that gender congruence between manager and employee is associated with stronger leadership training effects on employee-perceived leadership behaviors. Female gender congruence shows the most pronounced effects.
AbramsD.HoggM. A. (1988). Social identifications. Taylor and Francis.
2.
AllportG. W. (1954). The nature of prejudice. Addison-Wesley PubCo.
3.
AnS.-H.MeierK. J. (2020). Gender and the effectiveness of leadership training: Results from a field experiment. Review of Public Personnel Administration, 41, 747–770. https://doi.org/10.1177/0734371x20932989
4.
AnS.-H.MeierK. J.BøllingtoftA.AndersenL. B. (2019). Employee perceived effect of leadership training: Comparing public and private organizations. International Public Management Journal, 22(1), 2–28. https://doi.org/10.1080/10967494.2018.1497739
BearfieldD. A. (2009). Equity at the intersection: Public administration and the study of gender. Public Administration Review, 69(3), 383–386. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-6210.2009.01985.x
7.
BelléN. (2014). Leading to make a difference: A field experiment on the performance effects of transformational leadership, perceived social impact, and public service motivation. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 24(1), 109–136.
8.
BelléN. (2015). Performance-related pay and the crowding out of motivation in the public sector: A randomized field experiment. Public Administration Review, 75(2), 230–241.
9.
BrouckerB. (2015). First things first: Focusing on the obvious for better management and leadership development. Transylvanian Review of Administrative Sciences, 11(46), 53–70.
ByrneD. E. (1971). The attraction paradigm. Academic Press.
12.
CooperV. W. (1997). Homophily or the queen bee syndrome: Female evaluation of female leadership. Small Group Research, 28(4), 483–499. https://doi.org/10.1177/1046496497284001
13.
DvirT.EdenD.AvolioB. J.ShamirB. (2002). Impact of transformational leadership on follower development and performance: A field experiment. Academy of Management Journal, 45(4), 735–744. https://doi.org/10.5465/3069307
14.
EaglyA. H.Johannesen-SchmidtM. C. (2001). The leadership styles of women and men. Journal of Social Issues, 57(4), 781–797. https://doi.org/10.1111/0022-4537.00241
15.
EaglyA. H.Johannesen-SchmidtM. C.van EngenM. L. (2003). Transformational, transactional, and laissez-faire leadership styles: A meta-analysis comparing women and men. Psychological Bulletin, 129(4), 569–591. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.129.4.569
EaglyA. H.WoodW. (2011). Feminism and the evolution of sex differences and similarities. Sex Roles, 64, 758–767.
18.
FaveroN.MeierK. J.O’TooleL. J. (2016). Goals, trust, participation, and feedback: Linking internal management with performance outcomes. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 26(2), 327–343.
19.
FjendboT. H. (2021a). Leading employees of different genders: The importance of gender for the leadership–motivation relationship. Review of Public Personnel Administration, 41, 651–673. https://doi.org/10.1177/0734371X20925520
GiulianoL. M.LeonardJ.LevineD. I. I. (2005). Do race, gender, and age differences affect manager-employee relations? An analysis of quits, dismissals, and promotions at a large retail firm. Center for Responsible Business. http://escholarship.org/uc/item/8k51r4g8
22.
GrissomJ. A.Nicholson-CrottyJ.KeiserL. (2012). Does my boss’s gender matter? Explaining job satisfaction and employee turnover in the public sector. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 22(4), 649–673. https://doi.org/10.1093/jopart/mus004
23.
HoggM. A.TerryD. J.WhiteK. M. (1995). A tale of two theories: A critical comparison of identity theory with social identity theory. Social Psychology Quarterly, 58(4), 255–269. https://doi.org/10.2307/2787127
24.
HoltenA.-L.BøllingtoftA.WilmsI. (2015). Leadership in a changing world: Developing managers through a teaching and learning programme. Management Decision, 53(5), 1107–1124.
25.
HoltonE. F.BatesR. A.RuonaW. E. A. (2000). Development of a generalized learning transfer system inventory. Human Resource Development Quarterly, 11(4), 333–360.
26.
JacobsenC. B.Bøgh AndersenL. (2015). Is leadership in the eye of the beholder? A study of intended and perceived leadership practices and organizational performance. Public Administration Review, 75(6), 829–841. https://doi.org/10.1111/puar.12380
27.
JacobsenC. B.Bøgh AndersenL. (2017). Leading public service organizations: How to obtain high employee self-efficacy and organizational performance. Public Management Review, 19(2), 253–273. https://doi.org/10.1080/14719037.2016.1153705
28.
JensenU. T.AndersenL. B.BroL. L.BøllingtoftA.EriksenT. L. M.HoltenA.-L.JacobsenC. B.LadenburgJ.NielsenP. A.SalomonsenH. H.Westergård-NielsenN.WürtzA. (2019). Conceptualizing and measuring transformational and transactional leadership. Administration & Society, 51(1), 3–33.
29.
LangK. (1986). A language theory of discrimination. The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 101(2), 363–382.
30.
LippaR. A. (2010). Sex differences in personality traits and gender-related occupational preferences across 53 nations: Testing evolutionary and social-environmental theories. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 39(3), 619–636. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-008-9380-7
31.
MoskowitzD. S.SuhE. J.DesaulniersJ. (1994). Situational influences on gender differences in agency and communion. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 66(4), 753–761. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.66.4.753
32.
OberfieldZ. W. (2014). Public management in time: A longitudinal examination of the full range of leadership theory. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 24(2), 407–429.
33.
ParkS. M.RaineyH. G. (2008). Leadership and public service motivation in U.S. Federal agencies. International Public Management Journal, 11(1), 109–142. https://doi.org/10.1080/10967490801887954
34.
PedersenM. J.NielsenV. L. (2016). Manager-employee gender congruence and the bureaucratic accountability of public service employees: Evidence from schools. Public Personnel Management, 45(4), 360–381. https://doi.org/10.1177/0091026016675374
35.
RouillerJ. Z.GoldsteinI. L. (1993). The relationship between organizational transfer climate and positive transfer of training. Human Resource Development Quarterly, 4(4), 377–390.
36.
SchachterH. L. (2017). Women in public administration: Giving gender a place in education for leadership. Administration & Society, 49(1), 143–158. https://doi.org/10.1177/0095399715611173
37.
SchiemanS.McMullenT. (2008). Relational demography in the workplace and health: An analysis of gender and the subordinate–superordinate role-set. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 49(3), 286–300. https://doi.org/10.1177/002214650804900304
38.
SchmittD. P.LongA. E.McPhearsonA.O’BrienK.RemmertB.ShahS. H. (2017). Personality and gender differences in global perspective. International Journal of Psychology, 52(S1), 45–56. https://doi.org/10.1002/ijop.12265
39.
SeidleB.FernandezS.PerryJ. L. (2016). Do leadership training and development make a difference in the public sector? A panel study. Public Administration Review, 76(4), 603–613. https://doi.org/10.1111/puar.12531
40.
TajfelH.TurnerJ. C. (1986). The social identity theory of intergroup behaviour. In WorschelS.AustinW. G. (Eds.), Psychology of intergroup relations (2nd ed.). Taylor and Francis.
41.
TrottierT.Van WartM.WangX. (2008). Examining the nature and significance of leadership in government organizations. Public Administration Review, 68(2), 319–333. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-6210.2007.00865.x
42.
TsuiA. S.O’ReillyC. A. (1989). Beyond simple demographic effects: The importance of relational demography in superior-subordinate dyads. Academy of Management Journal, 32(2), 402–423. https://doi.org/10.5465/256368
43.
TsuiA. S.PorterL. W.EganT. D. (2002). When both similarities and dissimilarities matter: Extending the concept of relational demography. Human Relations, 55(8), 899–929. https://doi.org/10.1177/0018726702055008176
van KnippenbergD.SitkinS. B. (2013). A critical assessment of charismatic—transformational leadership research: Back to the drawing board?The Academy of Management Annals, 7(1), 1–60. https://doi.org/10.5465/19416520.2013.759433
46.
WilleB.WiernikB. M.VergauweJ.VrijdagsA.TrbovicN. (2018). Personality characteristics of male and female executives: Distinct pathways to success?Journal of Vocational Behavior, 106, 220–235. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2018.02.005
47.
WrightB. E.MoynihanD. P.PandeyS. K. (2012). Pulling the levers: Transformational leadership, public service motivation, and mission valence. Public Administration Review, 72(2), 206–215.
48.
YuklG. (1999). An evaluation of conceptual weaknesses in transformational and charismatic leadership theories. The Leadership Quarterly, 10(2), 285–305.
