Students’ Perception of the Emergence and Acceptance of Leaders: the Role of Gender

Abstract

This article sets out to examine possible prejudice towards present and potential leaders of a particular gender, according to the perception of young adults. The research sample (265 students) represented the new generation of post-soviet Lithuania. Questionnaires consisting of an evaluation of work-activity fields, a hypothetical situation of job promotion and a revised Leadership Effectiveness Instrument were collected and analysed cross-sectionally. According to the data, students demonstrated a stereotypical distribution of fields of work activity based on leaders' gender. Absence of work experience was the main factor for the existence of different expectations about male and female candidates' possibilities of obtaining promotion. However, ratings of overall leadership effectiveness did not differ by leaders' gender. The article addresses the lack of research on integrated investigation about gender and leadership in the Eastern European context and provides important insights about stereotyping of female and male leadership among Lithuanian students.

http://dx.doi.org/10.5755/j01.ss.71.2.539