Preferred leadership styles by gender

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to determine to what extent there were gender differences in leadership styles shown by leaders in mental health organizations (MHOs) in North Carolina, as expressed through transformational, transactional and laissez-faire leadership attributes. Design/methodology/approach The author used a quantitative, causal-comparative analysis to test the hypothesis. Findings A series oft-tests were conducted to determine if significant differences existed between genders and leadership attributes of MHO leaders. The results revealed no significant gender differences in leadership styles of MHO leaders. Research limitations/implications One implication was the convenience nature of this sample affected the internal validity of this study, since these findings may not accurately reflect the leadership styles in the target population. The second implication is the sample size’s effect on the external validity, as the results cannot be extrapolated from a nonrandom sample to the target population. The consequence of using a smaller then necessary convenience sample is decreased analytical power or ability to identify small-size effects of gender that in a larger sample might have been statistically significant. Originality/value Due to the scarcity of studies regarding gender differences in leadership styles in MHOs, this study examined this area to fill the gap in the research field.

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