This paper examines the meanings of womanhood as part of female leaders' social identities in relation to the different socio-cultural contexts of Poland and the Netherlands. The empirical study consists of interviews about gender and leadership with 25 female leaders in each country. A combination of content analysis and discourse analysis techniques was used in order to interpret the interviews. The results show both similarities and differences between the two samples in approaching the relevance of womanhood in the context of leadership. The interviewees' reactions are discussed from the perspective of the different inter-gender relationships in each country.
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