Umeå universitets logga

For many years there has been a gap in knowledge about female and male leadership. Although the debate on gender is very tangible, the topic still remains an unfinished debate and challenge. Due to the unequal distribution of power, there is an endeavour to understand the differences between the leadership styles of women and men, but as of yet there are no direct and clear answers to this. The study was conducted due to the fact that women historically have had less access to leadership positions, and to fill the existing knowledge gap in research on this area. The purpose of this study was to examine and compare leadership styles between women and men, and to compare perceived influencing factors on leadership. Data was collected through semi-structured interviews consisting of both competency-based and semi-structured questions. A total of six interviews were conducted, three with women and three with men. The results of the study showed minimal differences in leadership styles, without a specific gender pattern. Instead, it appeared that the differences in leadership styles were individual-based, which raises questions about why there is an overrepresentation of men in leadership positions. However, the image of the stereotypical leader was challenged by the fact that the men in this study tended to adopt more stereotypically feminine characteristics. The results also showed how previous experience and feedback were perceived as important influencing factors by the majority of the respondents. Finally, based on the results of the study, suggestions for future studies were presented in terms of exploring and challenging the image of the stereotypical leader.