Gender and Styles of Leadership in Higher Education

Abstract

The presence and absence of differences in leadership styles of men and women were investigated and reviewed in many types of research. The expectations regarding leadership styles of gender stereotyping are that women are inter-oriented, whereas men are task oriented. In contrast to this stereotype, leadership styles are different for genders according to research studies. The current paper attempts to identify the prevalent styles of leadership between both genders, as well as identifies the predominant style of leadership in women in higher educational institutes. The results indicated that the transformational leadership is the most dominant leadership style across the higher educational institutes. It could be useful for academic leaders and be intended at increasing the efficiency of universities. That is by enhancing the capabilities of academic leaders and helping them achieve a profitable performance and productivity.