U-M study examines why women are less likely to view themselves as workplace leaders

Although women often outperform men when it comes to leadership effectiveness, they're less likely to view or label themselves as leaders. New research from the University of Michigan (U-M) sheds light on why women might be reluctant — and how businesses can help bridge the disconnect. 

"We found that people were more comfortable with saying that the attributes that have been shown by research to describe leaders were descriptive of them, way more than [saying] the word 'leader' was descriptive of them," says Sue Ashford, one of the study's co-authors. "It was a general pattern across people, but women especially demonstrated that reluctance at a statistically higher level than did men."

Ashford, a professor at U-M's Ross School of Business, shares that she and her co-authors (U-M's Julia Lee Cunningham, and Laura Sonday, a professor at the University of North Carolina), "were really after how people are thinking about things." Their research explores the factors behind what they call the Leader-Identity/Competence Paradox. 

"If you think that the word leader doesn't describe you, you're far less likely to engage in leadership," Ashford says. "And, if you have a fixed mindset about your abilities, then you're less likely to take action because the risks seem too high, because your abilities might not be enough."

She explains that women resist the "leader" label for a variety of reasons. Among them is the potential for interpersonal strife with others in their organization. They might also be worried about their image. If they conduct themselves in a manner that has been traditionally viewed as masculine, then they might be seen as aggressive. On the flip side, if they act more collaboratively, they might be seen as lacking assertiveness. They may also worry about the "instrumental risk" of stepping up to lead an effort that is not successful and then being blamed.

Ashford has also written about leadership challenges in her recent book, “The Power of Flexing.” She stresses that it's important that people don't blame women for not leading more. She'd like more awareness brought to the organizational factors and gender bias that play into the gender disparity of the Leader-Identity/Competence Paradox. 

One of those challenges is limited access to senior mentors in workplaces. Another is being disproportionately assigned nonpromotable tasks – work that benefits the organization, but doesn’t necessarily advance the worker's career. Ashford calls this "the pizza problem."

"If you're a formally appointed boss and you bring a pizza, it's seen as an element of leadership. But, if you're just a team member and you bring a pizza, it's not seen as leadership at all," Ashford says. "It's seen as nice or social. And yet those things make a huge difference for an organization."

In addition to thinking about how leadership is viewed internally, Ashford suggests that companies could implement formal recognition processes. Bosses could also offer more external validation. 

"Organizations can start granting the identity to women more often. They could pull aside someone who just ran a meeting really well and say they see amazing leadership qualities," she says. "That woman who ran the meeting really well may not be thinking of herself as a leader in that moment. But, when someone grants her the identity, she starts to draw a different picture in her head about herself and leadership."

Jaishree Drepaul is a writer and editor based in Ann Arbor. She can be reached at jaishreeedit@gmail.com.

Photo courtesy of RDNE Stock Project/Pexels.