Gender, Nationality and Leadership Style: A Literature Review

The aim of this paper is to review research available on gender and nationality as determinants of leadership style, with special focus on top leaders/managers. The paper is based on a systematic literature review. The systematic literature search resulted in 27 papers, that were grouped in five categories: 1) Leaders’ characteristics, behavior and style, 2) Perception regarding leaders, their traits and leadership styles, 3) Women’s barriers towards leader positions, 4) Leadership outcome/results, 5) Effect of research methods on leader evaluation. Questionnaires were the most used research method in the reviewed studies. Almost half of the papers focus on the US, while the rest deal with African, Asian, and European countries. In this review, we found that women and men have a very similar perception of a successful manager. However, women and men display differences in their leader behavior and characteristics, and way of leading. “Results/outcomes” of such a leadership can differ. The review shows, furthermore, that a glass ceiling and other barriers for women do still exist.The paper ends by identifying the needs for further research in the study area.


Introduction
Ever-increasing globalization is a challenge for leadership since it tends to lower prizes, escalate innovation and improve services.All this contributes to a need for new thinking in leadership.At the same time, leadership and organizations are rooted in a national context.It is surprising, however, that analysis of the interrelation of leadership style and nationality -appears to play an insignificant role in the leadership literature.Some scholars describe leadership in a context of "country" (Bass, 1990).From available data, it can be noted, that nationality influences leaders, but it is not necessarily the main factor of analysis (Cames, Vinnicombe& Singh, 2001).This strong social phenomenon is clearly under-researched in the context of leadership, even though it is evident that people around the globe describe their lives in terms of national culture (Kramer, 2011).This is surprising, as national features and the importance of nationality become more prominent during crises or conflicts.In the aftermath of the financial crisis of 2008 and warnings about a "second wave" of global crises, we need more knowledge on the national effect on leadership styles.
Another vital development of leadership is the growing participation of women in the labor markets, especially in services.As a consequence of this, more and more women are entering leadership positions in organizations.What impact does this have on leadership styles?Here, national differences are quite prevalent in the participation rates of women, and their number in management and on boards of directors.This seems to be an effect of official policies (maternity leaves; availability of pre-schools, the tax system, gender quotas on company boards, etc.), as well as the educational system, the national culture and the struggle of feminist movements.
style, with special focus on top leaders/managers in order to identify gaps in our understanding.The literature gives us a clear understanding as to differences in gender leadership (Eagly, Johannesen -Schmidt & van Engen, 2003;Gurian & Annis, 2008).It is also evident, that national context and national culture influences a leader's behavior (Schein, 2004, House, Hanges, Javidan, Dorfman, & Gupta, 2004).The following research questions were formulated to guide our search: 1) Which studies have been conducted that focus on gender and nationality in leadership 2) What were the main findings of the studies 3) Where were these studies conducted 4) Which methods were used?
The next section of the paper outlines a literature review on gender, nationality and leadership.Then the methodology of the literature review is presented, followed by a presentation of the findings of reviewed papers.The paper ends with a discussion and conclusions and guides the way towards further research in the study area.

Literature Review 2.1 Leadership Style and Gender
In general, researchers have focused on three topics in relation to gender and leadership.First, scholars have paid attention to whether there is a difference in the leadership styles of men and women?Second, the attention has been on gender and leadership effectiveness (are men better leaders that women or vice versa).Third, the focus has been on the glass ceiling, or the obstacles that prevent women from reaching top management positions in organizations (Northouse, 2007).
It should be mentioned, that there is considerable confusion in the literature regarding the terminology used: concepts like "gender", "sex", "women", "men", "feminine", and "masculine" are frequent when discussing leadership style.Some sources define basic terms in a precise manner (Cames, et al, 2001), while others use the terms interchangeably (Northouse, 2007).This may, at times, obstruct an interpretation of study results.
Regarding the gender differences in leadership styles, findings are contradictory.Some papers do support the evidence of differences among genders in leadership style.Even though Eagly and Johnson (1990) came to the conclusion that there were only small differences in leadership styles, they stress that female leaders in organizational settings tend to be more democratic and participative than men, who tend to lean more towards autocratic behavior.Rosener (1990) also found that males adopted a more "transactional" leadership style whereas women rather leaned towards a "transformational" leadership style.This was also confirmed by a meta-analysis done by Eagly, Johannesen -Schmidt, and van Engen (2003).Helgesen (1990) concluded that women prefer a "web"-organization instead of the hierarchical structure of the company.Some studies have also shown a difference in the self-perception of male and female managers (Vinnicombe&Cames, 1998).
Other studies do present little or no differences in leadership style among men and women.For instance the study by Bartol (1978), the meta-analysis by Dobbins and Platz (1986), as well as findings by Powell (1990) found few, if any arguments for differences in gender styles of leadership.However, the industry where leaders work can have an impact here.In male-dominated industries, women tend to show leadership styles in ways similar to men in those industries, even to demonstrate a more stereotypically masculine style of leadership than males (Gardiner & Tiggemann, 1990, Eagly & Johnson, 1990, Ferrario & Davidson, 1991).These findings support Kanter's (1977) conclusions were he states that when in a minority women alter their management style, in order to lessen perceived differences by men.
Gender behavior seems to have changed in time.Evidence shows that women have changed; they have become more androgynous, whereas men have changed very little (Twenge, 2001;Konrad, Ritchie, Lieb&Corrigall, 2000).This fact suggests the need of continuous longitudinal approach to gender -leadership research, in order to grasp the changes in this field and attain more accuracy.
Studies on effectiveness of leadership style revealed that women and men are equally effective leaders.Differences merely appeared in gender evaluation; men and women were more effective in roles that were appropriate to their gender (Eagly, Karau & Makhijani, 1995).
Glass ceiling is a widely discussed phenomenon in leadership literature.The existence of this invisible barrier which prevents women from attaining leader positions is explained by lack of human capital, as well as by gender differences and prejudice.The reasons mentioned for the limited numbers of women in top management positions are among others that they take on significantly more domestic responsibilities, have less work experience, show different leadership styles, they more often assume informal leadership roles, and self-promotion among women is judged more harshly than among men (Northouse, 2007).The glass ceiling has been slowly changing in recent years due to adjustments in values with the increased labor force participation of women, altered legislation, changes in organizations, business culture, and among women themselves (Goethals, Sorenson & Burns, 2004, Northouse, 2007).

Leadership Style, Culture and Nationality
There is no doubt that culture influences leaders (Hofstede, 1996, Schein, 2004, House, et al., 2004).Even though definitions of culture vary a lot, in general it has been understood as the way of life, customs, and script of a group of people (Gudykunst & Ting-Toomey, 1988).
Three different research traditions have studied the effect of culture and societal institutions on leadership and corporate organization.On the one hand, sociologists are looking at societal institutions, such as industrial relations, the education system, labor markets, career systems of managers, culture etc. and their effect on behavior in firms (Gallie, 1978, Lane, 1989, Maurice et al., 1986).On the other hand, it is the approach of Hofstede (1996) and the GLOBE-research group (House et al. 2004) focusing on how cultural values have an impact on behavior, and how people view leadership.Finally, there is research on ethnicity in multicultural societies.
Scholars of the institutional approach (Gallie, 1978;Lane, 1989;Maurice et al., 1986;Dore, 1973) stress the historical evolvement of societal institutions and consider crucial differences in the way in which different nations come to industrialization.Contingency scholars reduce the importance of culture, but institutional writers point out that differences in organizations and work relationship are rooted in differences in national institutions and cultures, timing of industrialization, national institutions, etc.One consequence of this is a national variance in career paths to leadership positions, as well as in the relations between managers and their subordinates (Edvardsson, 1992).
Leadership and culture has been described in a number of iconic books: Hofstede (1996), House et al. (2004), Bass and Bass (2008), etc.All of them identify differences in leadership styles in relation to culture: attitudes, perception, societal effects, etc.The majority of works in this field focus on categorizing countries, in order to help business function in a globalizing world.As a result of his multi-nation study Hofstede (1996) devised four dimensions (power distance, individualism, masculinity, and uncertainty avoidance) to characterize cross-cultural differences.GLOBE research had focused on leadership worldwide, analyzing different cultures, in order to come up with "universal" attributes of leadership (House et al., 2004, Hofstede, 1996).
Ethnicity has received rather limited attention in relation to leadership style (Butterfield & Grinnell, 1999;Cleveland, Stockdale, & Murphy, 2000).It is noted that research on ethnicity in leadership is particularly applicable in multicultural societies (Selvarajah & Meyer, 2006).Research suggests ethnic differences in leadership are likely to exist (Kanter, 1977;Bartol, 1978) and there is evidence to support it (Selvarajah & Meyer, 2006).
In order to understand cultural and national impacts on leadership we need a synthesis of former research.Although national culture has a strong influence on leadership and even gender, national policies have an influence as well.There we see availability of men and women to participate in the labor market (pre-school availability, parental leave), educational potential, equal opportunities, as well as the possibilities of ethnic groups to advance in firms.Here the national entity is the best unit of analysis.

Methodology of Systematic Literature Review
In this review process, principles of systematic review were adopted, as recommended by Jesson, Matheson & Lacey (2011): Mapping the field through a scoping review 2) Comprehensive search 3) Quality assessment 4) Data extraction

6) Write up
First, a research plan was developed comprising the research questions of interest, the keywords, and a set of inclusion and exclusion criteria.Research that would focus on gender and nationality "impact" on leadership style was of particular interest.Which aspects of this relationship have been researched?Which methods have been used?In which parts of the world, which countries has this relationship been researched?We had a special interest in finding out what conclusions from research on leadership style-gender-nationality are available with the focus on top business leaders?
After a general literature search and careful consideration, it was early decided to focus on key phrase "leadership style(s)", not on "leadership"-as this term is interdisciplinary and can be used in a very broad sense.This validity of the consideration was checked by conducting a ProQuest search on "leadership AND/OR gender, nationality".The search resulted in an unsatisfactory outcome in terms of the number of publications -giving more than 139 000 hits.Many of those were concerned with the terminology or conceptual/philosophical aspect of the subject and were not relevant.
Specific search was created by use of inclusion and exclusion search criteria.Inclusion criteria were: ProQuest data base, publication period 2000 -2012, English language, and full text, peer reviewed, " leadership style*" (truncation character was included in order to eliminate possibility of database excluding articles with word 'styles').The key -words were combined using the Boolean operator AND or OR with the second keyword "gender", AND or OR "nationality".At this stage, exclusion criteria for the search were: other than English language, published prior to the year 2000.It was decided to produce data sheet that would consist of key aspects of field of interest.In this case it was: author(s), year of publication, place of research, research aim/objective, research method, main findings.
The reason for starting our search at the year 2000 was two fold: 1) ProQueststatistics shows, that there was a steep growth in research within leadership field from 2000.2) Our focus is on the most recent research within the field.
As the key words/phrases were specified, the search on ProQuest was made.Defined search "Leadership style*" AND/OR "gender" /"nationality" produced 2622 hits.After reading titles and abstracts, the number of articles was narrowed, focusing only on those related to top leaders and top management.After this stage, the number of articles was reduced to 455.
After reading the titles, abstracts and conclusions, a decision was made for further review.The following articles were included in the review: (i) those related to business leadership.(ii) drew connection between leadership/leadership style/management and gender/nationality.(iii) were based on empirical research.Figure 1 shows the search process.
After the screening, 27 full text papers were reviewed and analyzed.All the 27 articles were then grouped according to the focus of their research and findings.(i)Abstracts, opinions, theoretical debate, etc. (ii) not related with business leadership (iii) no connection between leadership style/management and gender/nationality, (iv) focused on politics or religion

Presentation of Findings
The 27 articles cover different aspects of leadership, gender and nationality.The US dominates the research scene; 46% of the papers deal with an American situation.The other half of the papers is quite diverse geographically and covers the following countries: Australia, Brazil, China, Egypt, Georgia, India, Lebanon, Luxemburg, Sweden, Italy, Nigeria, Slovenia, Turkey, and the UK.

Research Methods
Questionnaires are the most used research methodology in the published papers; 16 papers use this research method.In other papers the methodology was based on interviews, focus groups, experiments, and analyzing secondary data.

Content Analysis
The 27 papers were analyzed in order to find common themes.Six themes were identified, and they are: 1) Leadership characteristics, behavior and style, 2) Perception regarding leaders, their traits and leadership style, 3) Women barriers towards leader position, 4) Leadership outcome/results, and 5) The effect of research methods on leader evaluation.

Leadership Characteristics, Behavior and Style
Ten papers focused on leadership behavior.Males showed less inclination for consulting employees in their decision -making process; internal regulations and norms observation was considered more fundamental by men; men indicated a larger planning valorization.But in general men and women run their business in a very similar way.

Titus, Gill 2003
To examine leadership style and behavior of UK managers (UK) Questionnaire (survey) Notwithstanding significant differences between men's and women's declarative styles, there are insignificant differences in the overall leadership styles of male and female managers; generally there are no significant differences between the leadership behavior of men and women managers in the UK Powell, Butterfield 2003 To compare differences in aspiration to top management (USA) Data from a few other surveys Women and men who described themselves as possessing a greater amount of masculine characteristics were more likely to aspire to top management; women were less likely to aspire to top management than men Bartol, et al. 2003 To Only one research project in this section presents findings related to national differences: Bartol et al. (2003) look into differences depending on ethnicity.Bartolet et al. (2003) findings show that majority (dominating ethnicity) managers were rated higher than minority ones, and majority female managers were rated higher than majority males.
The other paper in this section deals with gender differences.They show gender differences regarding leadership style (Hilka et al., 2002;Titus & Gill, 2003;Lansford et al., 2010), leader behavior (Bartol et al., 2003;Davis et al., 2010;Groves, 2005), and other behavior characteristics (Fusun, 2010;Powell & Butterfield, 2003;Jamali et al., 2008;Bostjancic, 2010).Conclusions from this section suggest that women are less likely to advance to top management positions.Women managers tend to control their emotions and do not react to conflict or emotional situations as sharply as men.Women rated higher on interpersonal-, goal-and task-leader behaviors; they avoid self-criticism and score higher on social and emotional skills, and charismatic leadership, compared to men.This seems to be the case in all the countries studied, so nationality appears to have little effect here.Although five of the papers report on studies in the US, we even find studies from Brazil, Lebanon, Slovenia, UK, and Turkey.

Perception Regarding Leaders, Their Traits and Leadership Styles
This group of articles presents research regarding perception of leadership styles, traits, etc.An attempt was made to identify whether there is an interrelation between existing perceptions towards leaders, depending on gender or/and nationality.(2001) showed that national differences in perception do exist, but genders differences are more obvious.Casimar and Waldman (2007) present opposite findings in research results; they found cultural differences (but not gender) in terms of which traits are regarded as important for effective leadership.The authors concluded that culturally endorsed interpersonal norms and the requirements of the leadership role are determinants of perceived importance of specific leadership traits (Casimar & Waldman, 2007).Testa (2004) concluded that employees who reported to managers from the same country reported higher levels of consideration behaviors on part of their manager and higher overall organizational satisfaction.
Regarding leadership perception and gender we find varied conclusions.Cames et al. (2001) for instance, present a perception towards a "successful manager".Women are more convinced than men that a successful manager is male.One third of women and men perceived a successful manager's leadership style to be masculine.A high level of agreement between male and female perceptions was noted as to the level of instrumental traits which successful managers should possess.Interestingly, both male and female managers tended to use the pronoun "he" when describing a successful manager.It seems, therefore, that females continue to believe that the successful manager has a masculine or instrumental leadership style.These findings can be complemented with results from Sumer's (2006) research, which identified adjectives for a successful middle manager.From three main adjectives identified, women are perceived to be: relatively high in relationship-orientation, relatively low in task-orientation, and relatively low in emotional stability.Differences in perception are described by Leane et al. (2004) where they write that some managerial sub-roles are gender-typed as feminine or masculine and there are differences in gender propensity to perceive these roles.Vinnicombe and Singh (2002) state that the current model of leadership is one which women are less likely to identify with, and be seen as identifying with; women see themselves as either androgynous or feminine, but they see top managers as more masculine than themselves.These patterns seem independent of the national context of study.Rule and Ambady (2009) brought up an interesting angle towards perceptions of leaders: the relationship between a leader´s looks and perceived success.Their study did not find any relationship between a leader´s looks and perceived success.
Here we notice two different patterns: on the one hand, it seems that nationality has an impact on the perception of successful leadership, and on the relationship between leaders and subordinates.On the other hand, we note gender differences independent of national culture: men and women identify sub-roles and traits as masculine or feminine by nature.They describe a successful leadership style as masculine.

Women Barriers towards Leader Position
Articles in this section cite numerous examples of evidence of the existence of barriers facing women who aspire to leadership positions; as well as the existence of a glass ceiling.

Mixed
(a "structured questionnaire" and this was followed up with semi-structured "personal interviews" and "focus group discussions") All four issues have created a barrier to women's development in the business world; these issues can therefore be deemed endemic to women's lives and indeed their careers Goodman, et al. 2003 To investigate variables that differentiate work establishments that have women in top management positions from those that do not (Georgia) Data used from other survey Women are more likely to occupy top management ranks in establishments that have more lower level management positions filled by women, have a higher management turnover, have lower average management salary levels, place greater emphasis on development and promotion of employees, and operate in non-manufacturing industries Bartol, et al. 2003 To The barriers identified by research within this group range from perception (Jain & Mukherji, 2010) to cultural conflict, gender discrimination, and stereotyping (Kattara, 2005;Liu & Wilson, 2001).The geographical coverage of research in this field is wide: Egypt, Georgia, India, UK, and USA.None of the studies presented in the papers are of a comparative nature.However, the evidence is clear: the problems and obstacles women face in leadership are of a similar character independent of country of origin.

Leadership Outcome/Results
Four articles were indicated in this group.None of the articles had a specific focus on national culture.Gender could not be used to predict the efficiency of managers in selected work organizations There is no difference in gender on perceived managerial efficiency: women and men are equally efficient in managerial work (Shadare, 2011).Research indicates that for both men and women there are some modest benefits associated with having a female supervisor and with working in a more female-dominated environment (Moore et al., 2005).Interesting findings in this category include the fact that firms with female audit committee chairs have significantly lower audit fees and that the percentage of women in the top management team positively correlates with the higher initial valuation of the firm (Ittonen et al, 2010;Welbourne, 2007).No country differences were noted here.

Effect of Research Methods on Leader Evaluation
This section of articles presents findings of gender effects on research methods or related issues in leader evaluations.The two research findings in relation to gender are surprising, as they are both contrary to prior research.Weyer (2006) was determining whether observed ratings on a multi-source feedback (MSF) instrument reflect the same cognitive constructs of leadership across multiple rating pairs based on rater and ratee gender.The findings showed that MSF is nondiscriminatory based on rater and rate gender -contrary to strong empirical evidence from other research.Weyer (2006) concludes that MSF does not contribute to the phenomenon of a glass ceiling that keeps women from entering top-level management positions.Even though the research by Powell et al. (2008) had a meaningful limitation, the findings of the research are interesting and valuable.Powell et al. (2008) recorded, that when evaluating leaders, gender effects favor female leaders more than their male counterparts.He confirms the existence of gender bias in leader evaluation, only in a different direction than shown in prior research.Results also revealed that more favorable evaluations are received by female-transformational leaders than male-transformational leaders, especially from female evaluators.It has to be pointed out that both studies were conducted in the US, and this could impact the results.
Interestingly, these papers indicate that the measurement tools seem to have an impact on the perception of gender and leadership.

Discussion and Conclusion
The aim of this paper was to review available research on gender and nationality as determinants of leadership style.At the outset, we presented the following research questions: 1) Which studies have been conducted that focus on gender and nationality in leadership? 2) What were the main findings of the studies?3) Where were these studies conducted?4) Which methods were used?
Our systematic literature search resulted in 27 papers that were analyzed in order to find common themes.Five themes were identified, as follows: 1) A leader's characteristics, behavior and style, 2) Perception regarding leaders, their traits and leadership styles, 3) Women's barriers towards leader position, 4) Leadership outcomes/ results, 5) Effect of research methods on leader evaluation.
Regarding the methodology used in the reviewed papers, the most popular method is a questionnaire, while others use interviews, focus groups and secondary data.Half of the papers focus on the US, while the rest deal with African, Asian and European countries.
Findings from papers suggest that there are gender differences in leadership styles, behavior characteristics, and other features associated with leaders.These differences were noted in all countries researched.Analyses of papers on perception showed that that nationality has an impact on the perception of successful leadership, and on the relationship between leaders and subordinates.But it was also noticed that gender differences exist independent of national culture.The conclusion can be drawn that women face barriers on their way to leader positions, and that the problems and obstacles are similar in nature independent of country of origin.There is no difference in gender with regard to perceived managerial efficiency: women and men are seen as equally efficient in managerial work.Small gender differences were recorded, however, when evaluating the outcomes/results of leadership.It was found that the measurement tools can impact the perception of gender and leadership.From this review we raise the following questions and highlight fields of interest for future research.
1) Research on leadership style and nationality.This review indicated that gender differences in leadership style exist, and they do exist in the majority of countries studied.But how does nationality influence leadership style?Nationality as an influencing factor towards leadership style has been researched on a very limited scale.In the globalization process, national aspect produces a unique outcome (Ritzer, 2011).Consequently, the assumption can be made that nationality, even in the globalizing world, influences leadership style in a way that creates unique results.More research is needed in a broader context and using more variables, when evaluating leadership and gender.
2) Gender and nationality (context approach).We have seen from Hofstede et al.'s (2010) study that one aspect of national cultures is their level of masculinity and femininity -preferences in society for achievement, heroism, assertiveness and material reward for success or cooperation; versus modesty, caring for the weak and quality of life.This, as well as national differences in legislation regarding gender quotas on management boards (as in Iceland and Norway), labor force participation, etc. has an impact on both the number of women in leadership and their behavior.Therefore, we need more research on gender and leadership in a national context.
3) Longitudinal studies.Longitudinal studies are needed which would enable research to see changes in time, as for example how globalization appears to change societal institutions, cultures and traditions.The new generations have a different "national" imprint, as well as a changed understanding of gender roles.Thus there is need for research that would help to evaluate the influence of gender and nationality on leaders' behavior and style.
4) Top business leaders' leadership style.Top business leaders are closely connected with future economic development which is of particular interest in today's world.Identifying significant differences among business leaders can give unique information which may be used for strengthening businesses in certain regions or whole countries.
5) Cross-institutional/industry research.As papers in this review show, there is but little research which provides comparative data about the influence of gender and national culture on leadership style in a certain industry or companies in two or more countries.In some papers in this review the results of research raise a question: is it the influence of gender or another variable, or is it specifics of the industry?Hence, systematic comparative industrial studies could help to identify the influence of particular industry.
6) Cross cultural comparative research.The review showed that differences in leadership style exist in a majority of countries, but are those differences the same in all countries, and are the differences identical?There seems to be a gap in research that would focus on comparative information relating to the individuality of countries (but not similarities like in Hofstede or GLOBE research) and would combine more than one variable.
The present study is not without limitations.By only using the ProQuest database this study may not have achieved complete coverage of all empirical articles in the field.Yet, it seems reasonable to assume that the review process covered a large share of studies available.In addition, the review of the literature was sometimes hampered by the fact that so many different words are being used when researching the field: towards leadership style (leader behavior, leadership, etc.), nationality (culture, ethnicity, etc.), gender (feminine, masculine, woman, etc.).
In conclusion, our study is a small contribution to the emerging theory of gender, nationality and leadership.We hope that our findings will encourage other researchers in exploring the dynamics of leadership from a contextual perspective.

Figure 1 .
Figure 1.Search flow for leadership style vs. gender and/or nationality with leadership perception was noted in three papers.Research byCames et al.

Table 1 .
Literature on leader characteristics, style and behavior

Table 2 .
Literature on perception regarding leaders, their traits, leadership style

Table 3 .
Literature on barriers towards leader position

Table 5 .
Literature on gender effect on research method and leader evaluation