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Does Gender Influence Leadership Styles? A View from the U.S. Nonprofit Sector

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A Correction to this article was published on 17 March 2023

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Abstract

This study explores the predominant leadership styles of nonprofit executives to determine if gender informs their leadership style choices. The authors analyzed over 4,000 pages of transcribed interviews with 137 nonprofit executives. Nonprofit executives identified their predominant leadership styles with approaches categorized in the “feminine” domain of the gendered leadership framework. Although individual differences in leadership styles were explained in part by gender, leaders were most likely to adopt configurations of styles that blend gendered domains of leadership. The results indicate the nonprofit sector is one where gender is less determinative of leadership styles than in other employment sectors.

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Funding

Funding was not distributed directly to the authors, though the following funding supported the collection of data that was analyzed in this paper.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Political Science and Public Administration, University of Texas at El Paso, Benedict Hall 500 West University Avenue El Paso, El Paso, TX 79968, USA

    Eric J. Boyer & Rebecca Reid

  2. Political Science Department, University of Alabama, Box 870213, Tuscaloosa, AL, 35487, USA

    Dana Patton

Authors
  1. Eric J. Boyer
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  2. Rebecca Reid
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Correspondence to Eric J. Boyer.

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All human subjects in this study provided oral consent to participate in research interviews. (Documentation available, human subjects were not identified).

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Appendices

Appendix I

Interview Coding Guide

Leadership Code

Sample Quote

Consensus-Driven Leadership

You have to be able to listen, to welcome differences of opinion and believe that strength can come out of differences…[and] diversity.

Motivational Leadership

Pushing people to be the best that they can be, without having to specifically ask. I think people are always willing to do that, especially when they are feeling, “Well, you had the confidence to send me!“ They work twice as hard.

Visionary Leadership

Exemplifying the core values… to keep people on track with what the organization is really about. This is the mission, this is the strategy, these are the real core values, this is what we’re about.

Relationship Leadership

Being able to recognize in ourselves or others …[when] one is working too hard, losing the temper…and being able to sit down and work with people and identify that and make sure that folks are ok.

Decisive Leadership

One can make an unpopular decision, even a bad decision, but if it’s clear how and why it was made, and it was made for the right reasons then I think people can get behind that.

Cost Leadership

We have to control expenses…revenue has to exceed expenses. And most of us know how to either generate some revenue or generate reductions and expenses. But you’ve got to make it happen, and that’s tough.

Marketing & Communications

I came in to it with a lot of public relations skills… I need to be very good at communicating what we do externally.

Leadership Role-Modeling

You’ve got to lead by example. If they don’t see you working hard they’re not going to work hard…when the sky is falling, even though I might think its falling, don’t shout the sky is falling because they always look to your reaction for things.

Appendix II

Descriptive Statistics

Variable

Obs

Mean

Std. Dev.

Min

Max

Male

137

0.63

0.49

0

1

Years Tenure in Position

137

9.12

7.25

0.5

35

CEO

137

0.78

0.42

0

1

Vice President

137

0.09

0.28

0

1

Director

137

0.13

0.34

0

1

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Boyer, E.J., Reid, R. & Patton, D. Does Gender Influence Leadership Styles? A View from the U.S. Nonprofit Sector. Public Organiz Rev 23, 1505–1520 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11115-022-00669-y

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