Research Article

Aspects of Women’s South Asian Journal of Human ­Resources

Management
Leadership in the 9(1) 9­–32, 2022
© The Author(s) 2021
Organisation: Systematic Reprints and permissions:
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Literature Review DOI: 10.1177/23220937211056139
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Aparna Kulkarni1 and Mahima Mishra1

Abstract
In most organisations, women are underrepresented in top positions. Many aspects
of Women’s Leadership are studied in the literature for underrepresentation of
women leaders. This study aims to analyse and consolidate the insights about those
aspects of Women’s Leadership, which gives them a stable and secure position in
the organisation, beyond the unseen walls of gender discrimination. These aspects
are barriers, enablers, strengths and weaknesses of Women’s Leadership. The
research method used for the study is a systematic literature review method.
Peer-reviewed, scholarly journal articles and book references between 1990 and
2021 identified from the Scopus and Web of Sciences databases are considered
for the study. The result showed much uniformity in the ‘Women’s Leadership’
phenomenon, globally. This research found that Women’s Leadership studies
are mostly conducted in areas such as social sciences, business and management,
medicine, education, etc. It also found that most women-leadership-related
studies are conducted in developed countries where the percentage of women
leaders is comparatively higher than in other industries. Still, women leaders
in both developed and developing countries face similar barriers during their
careers. The gender gap and the glass ceiling they have to break are some of the
issues experienced by women in any organisation. Organisational bias, lack of
assertiveness and poor networking also pose barriers to Women’s Leadership.
Yet, there are some enablers for Women’s Leadership, such as mentoring, good
training programmes and workplace culture. However, maintaining a work–
life balance, working under pressure and excluding informal communication
are considered as limitations for Women’s Leadership. Strengths, such as high
emotional intelligence, empathy, democratic leadership style, sincerity and
ability to make decisions under critical circumstances benefit the organisation.
This study will help to get an integrated and consolidated theoretical review
of different aspects of Women’s Leadership in the organisation. Moreover,

1Symbiosis Institute of Business Management, Symbiosis International (Deemed University), Pune,

Maharashtra, India

Corresponding author:
Aparna Kulkarni, Symbiosis Institute of Business Management, Symbiosis International (Deemed
University), Pune, Maharashtra 412115, India.
E-mail: [Link]@[Link]
10 South Asian Journal of Human Resources Management 9(1)

the study can help to implement various organisational policies to increase the
percentage of women in leadership roles.

Keywords
Aspects of women’s leadership, barriers and enablers of women’s leadership,
glass ceiling, leadership and gender diversity, systematic literature review,
women’s leadership

Submitted: 25 March 2021; revised 1: 8 July 2021; revised 2: 19 August

2021; revised 3: 28 September 2021; revised 4: 5 October 2021; revised 5:
7 October 2021; accepted: 9 October 2021

Introduction
Women’s Leadership has always been a major topic of discussion due to the
continuous underrepresentation of women in top positions in organisations
(Soklaridis & López, 2014). However, women are different in a particular way
and provide unique value addition through their work. These characteristics are
known as feminine attributes, such as strong communication skills, advanced
intermediary skills and empathy towards others (Stanford et al., 1995). Still, we
found that no country has yet closed the gender gap at the organisational level
(Soklaridis & López, 2014). The continuous underrepresentation of females in
high positions in many countries shows a significant gender bias in hiring and
promoting leaders (Eagly & Karau, 1991, 2002; Hoobler et al., 2014; Player et al.,
2019). Previous research has shown that there may not be enough women leaders
to fill senior leadership positions onboards (Eagly & Carli, 2007; Gipson et al.,
2017). According to a report, The C. S. Gender 3000 in 2019: The changing face
of companies, released by Credit Suisse Research Institute (CSRI), in 2019,
women on company boards are around 20.6% globally (Gowthaman, 2019).
Although women leaders have unique characteristics, their number is restricted
(Eagly et al., 2003; Weyer, 2007). Studies conducted related to aspects of Women’s
Leadership have been in a specific industry or a country. The current research
aims to critically analyse the literature on Women’s Leadership, integrate diverse
Women’s Leadership perspectives and put common consolidated observations
related to different aspects of Women’s Leadership in an organisation and its
impact on the organisation.

Evolution of Women’s Leadership and Related Theories

Along with different characteristics like people-oriented approach, value-oriented
approach, inclusive leadership, empathy, high emotional intelligence, multi-
tasking capacity, flexibility and cooperative mindset; women leaders have some
unique characteristics, such as determination, sincerity, hard work, commitment
towards their work and setting future goals that give them the desired position in
an organisation, but due to the glass ceiling and organisational biases, they are not
able to get it (Hennig & Jardim, 1977).
Kulkarni and Mishra 11

Women’s Leadership trajectory starts at an early age with academic excellence

and other leading experiences women get in their educational life (Veihmeyer &
Doughtie, 2019). Turock (2001) explained that the concept of Women’s Leadership
has evolved against the backdrop of feminist research (Fine & Gordon, 1992;
Stanley & Wise, 1990). Feminist research theory is based on three principles:
social change, feminist values and beliefs and interdisciplinary characteristics of
gender diversity (Oliver, 2000). Davidson and Burke (1994) have argued that
organisations that develop practices and policies supporting the career development
and aspirations of their women managers create a healthy work environment. In
such organisations, women managers are judged by their merit. Such policies also
help to increase the competitive advantage in the market, retentive investment,
optimising potential and productivity, better quality management and client
retention. Feminist research theory is incorporated into the literature to support
women leaders and their position in management (Bhatti & Ali, 2021). According
to the centered leadership theory, finding appropriate job opportunities, defining
the meaning of work and taking a high interest in the work can help talented
women succeed in their careers (Dai et al., 2011).
In 1991, Eagly and Karau presented the Role Congruity Theory related to
Women’s Leadership. This theory argued that a perceived incongruity exists
between stereotypical female qualities. It states that women leaders are sometimes
more empathetic, follow affirmative and participative leadership style and tend to
work in team and sometimes they are goal-oriented and assertive. The theory
further argues that changing stereotypical definitions of gender or leadership will
reduce bias against and increase leadership roles for women. This theory further
argued that Women’s Leadership roles can be improved by reducing bias in
stereotypical definitions of leadership and gender (Griffiths et al., 2019). The
Women’s Leadership impact can be measured by how people look at the qualities
of a good leader and excellence of women leaders, as well as how both these
conditions complement eachother (Griffiths et al., 2019). Davidson and Burke
(1994) mentioned that organisations should develop a healthy environment, where
women leaders can grow according to their capability and talent. They can also
increase competitive advantage by attracting the best talent, improving efficiency
of organisational work, retaining clients or customers and managing equality. It is
found that encouragement from others, mainly from male colleagues, is an
encouraging factor for women leaders in any organisational culture (Lämä &
Savela, 2019).
Another aspect of Women’s Leadership was first introduced by Hymowitz and
Schellhardt (1986) in their article ‘Glass Ceiling Theory’, in The Wall Street Journal.
‘Glassceiling’ is defined as ‘a transparent barrier that kept women from rising above
certain positions in corporations’ (Morisson et al., 1987). Later, another related
concept of ‘glass cliff’ was introduced by Ryan and Haslam (2005) to indicate the
tendency to place women in risky positions, weakening their performance so that
they face the risk of falling off a cliff (Kagan, 2019). Sometimes, it is found that
women may preferentially get placed in such a risky leadership role, which may
have adverse consequences (Sabharwal, 2013). Table 1 shows the definitions of
different theories associated with Women’s Leadership. These definitions are part of
other studies related to social sciences or psychological theories.
12 South Asian Journal of Human Resources Management 9(1)

Table 1. Theories and Definitions Related to Women Leadership.

Theory Author Explanation
Feminist research Oliver (2000) Feminist research theory is defined in three
theory principles. ‘First, feminist research includes
both constructions of new knowledge and
the production of social change. Second, femi-
nist research is grounded in feminist values
and beliefs. Moreover, third, Feminist research
is interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary and
characterised by its diversity.
Theory of moti- Kunda (1990) People who are motivated to arrive at a par-
vated reasoning ticular attempt to be rational and construct
a justification of their required conclusion
would persuade a dispassionate observer.
Theory of centred Adair (1973) There are three principles involved in centred
leadership leadership: achieving the task, managing the
team or group and managing individuals.
These three overlapping symbolic circles
make the structure of centred leadership.
Role congruity Eagly and Karau Role congruity theory proposes that the
theory (2002) perceived incongruity between female gender
roles and leadership roles tends to two forms
of prejudice. (a) Women are less favourably
perceived than men as potential occupants of
leadership roles. (b) Evaluate behaviour that
fulfills the qualities of a leadership role less
favourably when a woman enacts it.
Glass ceiling theory Morisson et al. A transparent barrier that kept women from
(1987) rising above certain positions in corporations.
It describes as an invisible barrier or wall that
blocks women’s access to the top where they
want to go.
Glass cliff theory Ryan and The glass cliff theory demonstrates that
Haslam (2005) women and individuals in minority groups
are more tend to rise in the professional
hierarchy is complex, risky and precarious
situations.
Source: The authors.

Research Objectives
Following are the objectives of the study:
1. To explore and study theories related to Women’s Leadership
2. To find and analyse barriers and enablers of Women’s Leadership from the
literature
Kulkarni and Mishra 13

3. To find and analyse benefits and limitations of Women’s Leadership from

the literature
4. To develop a theoretical framework for aspects of Women’s Leadership in
the organisation

Research Methodology
The researchers adopted a systematic literature review method, a five-step
process model developed by Whittemore and Knafl (2005), for the study. The
review process includes developing review questions, searching the literature,
data collection, discussing the results and presenting integrated findings. This
method is more helpful in a systematic literature analysis (Whittemore & Knafl,
2005). It helps to accommodate different methodologies as well as different
types of evidence required for a study in looking for conceptual and theoretical
findings from the literature by reviewing, analysing and synthesising the
literature (Torraco, 2016).

Literature Search
The data was collected from the Scopus and Google Scholar databases to find
leading peer-reviewed and scholarly articles. The initial search was done using the
following keywords: ‘Women’s Leadership’, ‘female leadership’ and was further
extended to keywords ‘glassceiling’, ‘glasscliff’, ‘Women’s Leadership styles’,
‘women on board’ and ‘Women’s Leadership and organisation performance’.
Furthermore, other publications, including different surveys related to women’s
leadership, were also checked. The studies on women’s leadership are available
from as early as 1914. For this study, we have considered peer-reviewed and
scholarly articles from 1990 to 2020, since there has been a considerable increase
in Women’s Leadership studies during these years, especially in the recent decade.

Inclusion and Exclusion Criteria

Inclusion Criteria
1. Peer-reviewed and other scholarly articles published between 1990 and
2021 on the given subject, with the exception of articles presenting
different theories associated with Women’s Leadership but published
before 1990
2. Both qualitative and quantitative studies related to the subject
3. Online articles, surveys about Women’s Leadership conducted by different
NGOs or other organisations
4. Books and conference articles related to the subject
14 South Asian Journal of Human Resources Management 9(1)

Exclusion Criteria
1. Women’s Leadership literature before 1990

Data Collection
A total of 4,409 articles were found by searching the databases. After removal of
duplicates and other irrelevant articles, 92 were considered for the study. While a
major part of studies on Women’s Leadership have been conducted in social
sciences, business, management and accounting, some studies have also been
conducted in medicine, arts and humanities, economics, engineering and
psychology as well. Along with these research articles, non-research articles from
online sources were also referred for the study to get the current picture of the
participation of women leaders in industries.

Data Extraction and Synthesis

Table 2 shows key extractions from the literature related to the aspects of Women’s
Leadership. These extractions show how Women’s Leadership studies have been
conducted in the literature, considering its various aspects.

Table 2. Key Extractions from the Literature.

Sr. No. Aspects of Key Extractions from the Study Authors
Women
Leadership
1. Barriers Breaking the glass ceiling Eagly et al. (1995, 2000)
and Eagly and Carli
(2007)
Prominent walls for the glass Lewis (1997, 1998), Mani
ceiling, human capital barriers— (1997), Dolan (2004) and
differences in communication Sabharwal (2013)
skills, lack of education, experi-
ence, finance, gender-based
stereotypes, lack of mentors,
occupational segregation and
organisational biases
Stereotypical attitudes from Wentling (2003) and
colleagues at the workplace, Bhatnagar (2008)
lack of risk-taking ability, family
responsibility, lack of supportive
organisational culture
Gender diversity gap Eagly et al. (2000) and
Eagly and Johannesen-
Schmidt (2001)
(Table 2 continued)
Kulkarni and Mishra 15

(Table 2 continued)
Sr. No. Aspects of Key Extractions from the Study Authors
Women
Leadership
Emphasising on role congruity Cota and Dion (1986),
theory experiencing gender ste- Cohen and Swim (1995),
reotype threat at performance Hoyt et al. (2010), Coff-
level man (2014) and Chen
and Houser (2019)
2. Enablers Adaptability, perseverance, risk- Wentling (2003), Metz
taking, agility to learn new things, (2004), Cabrera (2009),
ambition and empathy Ezzedeen and Ritchey
(2009) and Bhattacharya
et al. (2018)
Mentoring Linehan and Walsh
(1999), Ragins and Cot-
ton (1999), McKeen and
Bujaki (2007), De Vries
(2010), Abalkhail and
Allan (2015) and Mate et
al. (2019)
Training and career development Vinnicombe and Singh
(2002), Eagly and Carli
(2007) and Mate et al.
(2019)
3. Benefits Liability, mutual understanding Burgess and Borgida
and trust, positive influence on (1999), Rudman and
sales performance, market per- Glick (2001), Heilman et
formance, return on assets and al. (2004), Singh (2007)
return on equity and Hoobler et al. (2018)
Creative leadership, overcome Mayer and Oosthuizen
barriers and participated in (2020), Kanadlı et al.
board decisions, chairperson (2018) and Kakabadse et
leadership efficacy al. (2015)
4. Limitations Maintaining work–life balance Keene et al. (2002),
Naidoo and Jano (2003),
Lopez-Claros and Zahidi
(2005) and Qadir (2019)
Working under pressure OpenGart and Bierema
(2002), Linehan and Scul-
lion (2005), Laff (2006)
and Qadir (2019)
Source: The authors.
16 South Asian Journal of Human Resources Management 9(1)

Data Evaluation
Industry-wide Distribution of Articles
Figure 1 shows the chart for industry-wide distribution of articles. A significant
percentage (55.13%) of Women’s Leadership studies is found in social sciences
and business management. The reason for this higher number is the style of work
or type of leadership required in various industries that need more compassion,
empathy and creativity, the qualities that women possess.
Country-wide Distribution of Articles
Most of the studies related to Women’s Leadership have been conducted in
developed countries. Figure 2 shows the country-wide distribution of the research.
More than 35% of Women’s Leadership studies are conducted in the USA and the
UK, while a little above 1% of Women’s Leadership studies are conducted in
India. Few researchers from developing and underdeveloped countries have
conducted Women’s Leadership-related studies. Thus, there is a significant gap in
the research related to Women’s Leadership in India and other developing
countries. The present study aims to fill this gap with comprehensive observations
about Women’s Leadership in organisations.

Figure 1. Flow Chart for Article Selection Decision.

Source: The authors.
Kulkarni and Mishra 17

Figure 2. Industry-wide Distribution of Articles.

Source: Author’s own research (Data retracted from Scopus and Google Scholar database). This
figure is available online in colour.

Findings

Barriers to Women’s Leadership

Many visible and invisible barriers are experienced by women who want to reach
higher positions in their organisational careers. These barriers are described as
glass ceiling and glass cliff in the Women’s Leadership literature. Lack of
education, knowledge or experience, exclusion of informal networks, stereotypical
attitudes, organisational biases, occupational segregation, lack of mentorship and
training programmes, lack of risk-taking ability in some situations and gender
diversity are some of the prominent barriers that women experience (Bhatnagar,
2008; Dolan, 2004; Lewis, 1997, 1998; Mani, 1997; Sabharwal, 2013; Wentling,
2003). On their part, women, try to break these barriers and achieve their
professional goals (Parsons & Reiss, 2004).
Breaking the Glass Ceiling
The literature indicates that women leaders are more likely to acknowledge the
existence of a glass ceiling and realise its threat and unfairness (Ryan & Haslam,
2007). They have to break the glass ceiling to achieve their expected goals and
targets in the organisation. Women leaders face a subtle form of discrimination
that leads to restricted leadership openings, rare opportunities in decision-making,
lack of support and lack of work–life balance, despite having broken the glass
ceiling. Male dominance in organisations is also one reason women have to face
the glass cliff (Ryan & Haslam, 2007). However, the number of women on boards
of organisations is slowly increasing as they are trying to break the glass ceiling
18 South Asian Journal of Human Resources Management 9(1)

by their determination and perseverance. As a result of the changing role of

women in society, it is found that they are getting more access to jobs overbalanced
to males and a respectful entry in the workforce (Duehr & Joyce, 2006).
Gender Differences in Leadership Styles
As suggested by the social role theory, the roles of men and women are now
overlapping (Eagly et al., 2000), and more women are entering the workforce and
seeking managerial positions in their careers. Due to this, gender issues at the
workplace are prominently noticed and women leaders suffer from it. Leadership
styles are either autocratic (goal-oriented) or democratic (interpersonal relation-
oriented). These leadership styles are further classified into transactional,
transformational and laissez-faire leadership styles (Eagly & Johannesen-Schmidt,
2001). However, compared to men, the achievements of women leaders are
measured by their leadership styles and outcomes, whereas the achievements of
men leaders are measured by organisational competitiveness, control or hold over
the organisation. It has been found that women receive more support from their
organisations, attach more importance to their community and receive authority in
their respective fields than men (Offermann & Gowing,1990).
According to the role congruity theory, the gender stereotyping threat can be
experienced while performing a role at senior levels within congruent
characteristics (Chen & Houser, 2019; Coffman, 2014). Hyde (2005) argued that,
due to excessive issues of gender differences, women leaders experience
organisational biases at the workplace. The gender composition at the workplace
could impact one’s gender identity and the respective gender stereotype (Chen &
Houser, 2019; Cohen & Swim, 1995; Cota & Dion, 1986; Hoyt et al., 2010). If
there is a group with all women members and a women leader, then gender identity
will not be prominent, since both the leader and the members belong to the same
gender, whereas if the group is gender-mixed with a woman leader, she may
experience the influence of gender stereotyping attitudes in decision-making. It
will ultimately improve the overall group performance as well as the organisation’s
performance (Chen & Houser, 2019). There are diverse opinions on men and
women, differing in task-or people-oriented behaviour in an organisation. Aarum-
Anderson and Hansson (2011) found that there is not much difference in leadership
styles of men and women. However, they argued that there is no effect on
leadership behaviour due to gender differences.
Lack of Assertiveness
Women leaders are usually found to be less assertive at the workplace because of
their empathetic nature. A study (Keane et al., 2021) shows that leaders who are
less assertive are likely to be more submissive, while leaders who show extreme
assertiveness are found to be more aggressive and commanding in decision-
making. They prefer more task-oriented behaviour and focus on achieving targets
at any cost. Men are considered more self-confident, commanding and forceful,
whereas women are viewed as more empathetic and more focussing on
interpersonal relations, due to which they are found to be less assertive in the
workplace (Eagly & Johnson, 1990).
Kulkarni and Mishra 19

Organisational Bias
It is seen that women leaders face biases due to gender difference at the
organisational level (Eagly et al., 1992; Lopez & Ensari, 2014; Maas & Torres-
González, 2011). Subordinates accept women in more charismatic and democratic
leadership roles in the organisation. If women tend to be more assertive or
autocratic in leadership roles, they face organisational bias due to stereotyping.
However, less incongruity is found if women prefer more democratic or
charismatic leadership, as these are typically known as feminine characteristics
(Hackman & Wageman, 1995; Lopez & Ensari, 2014). If women in a leadership
role are self-promoting, aggressive and commanding in nature, they will be seen
as deviating from their gendered role and will get few positive reactions in the
organisation. ‘To the extent that women fulfill their leadership role in a particularly
dominant, assertive, directive or self-promoting style, they present greater
deviation from the injunctive norms of female gender role and would receive
fewer positive reactions’ (Eagly & Karau, 2002). Figure 3 is a thematic diagram
of the barriers for Women’s Leadership in organisations.

Enablers to Women’s Leadership

Various factors work as enablers for Women’s Leadership in an organisation.
Research indicates that mentoring can be one of the prominent elements in
enhancing women’s leadership capacity (De Vries, 2010; Mate et al., 2019; Ragins
et al., 2017). Training and development programmes also help in progressing the
career of women managers. In addition to this, adaptability, perseverance,

Figure 3. Country-wide Distribution of Articles.

Source: Author’s own research (data retracted from Scopus and Google Scholar database).
20 South Asian Journal of Human Resources Management 9(1)

risk-taking ability, quick learning, ambition and empathy are considered to be

human capital enablers for Women’s Leadership (Bhattacharya et al., 2018;
Cabrera, 2009; Ezzedeen & Ritchey, 2009; Metz, 2004; Wentling, 2003).
Mentoring
Women try to work to their full potential as well as maintain a work–life balance.
However, they often fail to reach the desired position due to different barriers. In
these situations, various enablers can help them to come out of the situation. One
of the main enablers is to have the right mentor to support their career. A good
mentor plays a vital role in these situations. However, finding a good mentor at
the workplace is another challenge for women leaders. They are hesitant to choose
a mentor in the workplace, because of the stereotypical characteristics of mentors.
Nonetheless, it is better to have a mentor to boost careers and skills and increase
retention in the workplace (Elias, 2018). A mentor is also likely to help them
recognise their peers and colleagues (Mate et al., 2019). Women’s leadership
capabilities can be nurtured by effective mentoring. Although mentoring cannot
change the existing organisational transactional structure, it should develop social
change and support (De Vries, 2010; Linehan & Walsh, 1999; Ragins et al., 2017).
Research indicates that mentoring is not only helpful in personal career
advancement but also beneficial for organisational success (McKeen & Bujaki,
2007; Ragins & Cotton, 1999). As a result, we can see that mentoring to improve
success in career is becoming a hot topic of research interest (Abalkhail & Allan,
2015; Woolnough & Davidson, 2007).
Training and Career Development Support
Training is one of the managerial interventions that helps reduce discriminatory
behaviour towards women leaders and their underrepresentation. It helps shape
their career pathway towards desired leadership (Eagly & Carli, 2007). Training
programmes help understand and enhance individual strengths and strategies
required to succeed at the top level without compromising the organisational
values (Vinnicombe & Singh, 2002). Training programmes can help women
leaders to acquire new skills and knowledge after a career break. Career
development support at the workplace through mentoring, training and different
welfare schemes helps women leaders to make career advancements (Mainiero &
Sullivan, 2005).
Progress in women leaders’ careers is also enabled by actively building
relationships through collaboration and networking, taking up relevant
opportunities and making the best choices (Mate et al., 2019).

Benefits to the Organisation

The gender group composition may dramatically change women’s beliefs about
their ability (Chen & Houser, 2019). Due to their empathetic and participative
behaviour, women leaders are found to be more responsible than men in the
context of social behaviour (Burgess & Borgida, 1999; Heilman et al., 2004;
Kulkarni and Mishra 21

Rudman & Glick, 2001). Men have a transactional style of leadership, which
depends on power and authority. In contrast, women adopt a transformational
leadership style based on mutual understanding and trust, informal communication,
personal respect, each group member’s contribution and development of each
diverse talent (Singh, 2007). Women tend to have more creative leadership by
fostering each other’s creativity rather than integrating their artistic vision through
employees’ work. Due to this kind of style, more than men, women leaders are
socially and culturally accepted (Mayer & Oosthuizen, 2020).
Positive Influence
Literature indicates that women directors can more significantly influence
strategic board decisions with their contribution through values, knowledge and
experience than their male counterparts. While they may face social barriers in
boardrooms, they can overcome the obstacles and have a positive impact on the
board (Kanadlı et al., 2018). We can find some common characteristics among
women leaders with a successful career. They prioritise their progress and exceed
in their performance expectations continuously. They try to develop a leadership
style, where male colleagues are also comfortable and seek challenging or high
visibility assignments (Catalyst, 2000). As Eagly and Carli (2007) have mentioned,
women inclined towards transformational styles demonstrate more contingent
reward behaviour. They make their subordinates happy and engaged by rewarding
them for their satisfactory performance (Chandler, 2011). According to a Pew
Research Center Social and Demographic Trends Survey, women are superior to
men in honesty, intelligence, compassion, outgoing nature and creativity
(Chandler, 2011). Organisations with female CEOs often report the positive
influence of female leadership on ROA, ROE, sales performance, market
performance and stakeholder performance (Hoobler et al., 2018). A survey data
shows that the leadership style adopted by women is more interactive and
participatory, as they believe in information sharing and open communication. It
also helps in employee engagement and retention (Rosener, 1995). It is also found
that women are more collaborative and manage business in more democratic
ways (Dai et al., 2011; Mulawarman et al., 2021). The efficacy of a woman leader
as the chairperson has a positive impact on a board’s decision-making process. It
helps in engaging and enhancing the contributions of women leaders in board
decisions (Kakabadse et al., 2015; Kanadlı et al., 2018). Women should not
depend upon the traditional method of being mentored by one individual. They
should look for male as well as female role models from multiple men and women
to help them grow (Markel & Crowley, 2016).
Effective Leadership
It has been observed that due to organisational bias, a male leader is more preferred
or ranked than his female counterpart. Female candidates are potentially
overlooked when it comes to leadership (Player et al., 2019). Studies have found
that men have competitive and goal-oriented nature. They are more assertive and
demanding at work. Women are more associated with communal qualities such as
collaborative nature and sympathy towards others (Griffiths et al., 2019).
22 South Asian Journal of Human Resources Management 9(1)

Behavioural intentions, such as leadership aspirations, may help affect women’s

identification in interacting with stereotype striking (Leicht et al., 2017). Women
have different values than men at the workplace. They focus on task
accomplishment, maintain high standards at work, need challenges, are keen on
details, focus on self-development and balancing family and work (Singh, 2007).
Eagly and Johannesen-Schmidt (2001) mentioned that women leaders are found
to be more democratic and involve others in decision-making, whereas men are
more autocratic and discourage others in decision-making. They suggested that
women represent a valuable human capital source with a value creation potential.
They can be independent and more creative in bringing in new managerial
practices that can help them prove themselves to be more efficient than other male
directors. The representation of women on board will ultimately lead to improved
board functioning (Adams & Ferreira, 2009). Eagly et al. (2003) mentioned that
women leaders make extra efforts to inspire their subordinates; subordinates are
more satisfied with their leadership styles; and women leaders are more effective
in management. The study further argued that women take the utmost care for the
empowerment and well-being of their female employees when working in top
posts or leading roles.
Creativity
Creativity is another aspect that should be taken into account when considering
Women’s Leadership. Hooker and Csikszentmihalyi (2003) mentioned in their
research that creativity is vital to leadership and organisational success. It supports
the individual in interacting with the surroundings using profound knowledge,
original answers and productive behaviours, and ideas to solve work-related
problems (Mayer & Oosthuizen,2020).

Limitations

Maintaining Work–Life Balance

Researchers have found that women are honest in their work. They work hard
with dedication. However, at the same time, they have the responsibility of their
family too. They are always in a quandary about maintaining this balance in their
lives. The superwoman schema brings much unnecessary stress, which is a further
cause of various health-related problems. Maintaining a work–life balance with
such health-related issues makes their lives more stressful. The situation creates a
vicious cycle and may create problems in the workplace.
Over-sincerity can be a Burden
It has been argued that women are over-emotional and have less emotional control
at the workplace, and that they work more by heart than brain, which undermines
their competency (Smith et al., 2016). Being over-sincere and emotional, the
professional legitimacy of women leaders gets affected while working with their
subordinates in the organisation. Over-emotionality towards work or colleagues
can cause unwelcome consequences.
Kulkarni and Mishra 23

Lack of Informal Communication

There may be a lack of coordination or miscommunication with their subordinates
because women leaders engage less in informal communication than men leaders
(Ahsan & Panday, 2013). More formal as well as informal communication helps
to increase the engagement of subordinates in their work. More engagement of
employees will ultimately help to increase the productivity of the organisation,
while the lack of informal communication can ultimately cause less employee
engagement.

Theoretical Framework for Women’s Leadership

Based on the available studies, a theoretical framework related to aspects of
Women’s Leadership is developed. This framework gives an idea about the role of
a different aspect of Women’s Leadership and their impact on organisational
performance. Figure 4 shows the theoretical framework about the different aspects
of Women’s Leadership discussed in the study.

Figure 4. Thematic Diagram for Barriers to Women Leadership.

Source: The author.
24 South Asian Journal of Human Resources Management 9(1)

Figure 5. Theoretical Framework for Aspects of Women Leadership.

Source: The author.
Kulkarni and Mishra 25

Discussion
The literature survey shows a broad interest in the study of Women’s Leadership
in almost all industries. Still, there are not enough studies available related to
industries where women lead from the front. Women face many structural and
cultural barriers while reaching for the top positions in organisations. They face
gender discrimination from their male peers (Evans & Maley, 2020). The study
also reveals that maintaining work–life balance prevents women from acquiring
leading roles. In South Asian countries, and mostly in a country like India, women
have to take breaks in their career for child care and many other family
responsibilities compared to those in western countries. It was found that Indian
women leaders, who got support from their family members and caretakers, were
able to get advancement in their careers. They built up their personal leadership
skills to maintain work–life balance (Bhattacharya et al., 2018). Various social
and cultural barriers are found in most of the South Asian countries (Sabharwal,
2013). However, if organisations are also supportive to consider policy changes,
quotas and formal mentoring programmes, women leaders will certainly achieve
their expected position in the organisation (Bhatnagar, 2008; Sabharwal, 2013;
Soklaridis & López, 2014). The study also revealed the fact that women leaders
need to be self-motivated, even if they are getting support in their career
development process (Bhatnagar, 2008). There is a need to develop the right
formal network and they should be able to put their ideas and opinions in a
straightforward way (Gandhi & Sen, 2020). Women need to put more efforts to
reach top managerial positions than men (Yagüe-Perales et al.,2021). However, if
women want to make their own career, they should be competent and take
advantage of their career opportunities by gaining adequate training (Nichols &
Kanter, 1994; Wentling, 2003). This study will help researchers to get consolidated
data about different aspects of Women’s Leadership in the organisation. This will
help further to study each aspect independently. The organisations will also get
help to implement policies and regulations to increase the percentage of women
in top positions.

Limitations and Future Scope

The study attempted to consolidate the available literature about the aspects of
Women’s Leadership and develop a theoretical framework, and tried to arrive at
generalised findings about Women’s Leadership in organisations. There is a future
scope to get more insights into the aspects of Women’s Leadership, since there
may be many overlooked studies that one can consider for the research. A focussed
study may provide deep insight into issues and benefits of women leaders for a
particular industry or organisation. Women’s Leadership is a topic that is growing
every day, as more and more women are participating in leadership roles.
Therefore, there is always scope to study the subject for further enhancement and
development in the related field.
26 South Asian Journal of Human Resources Management 9(1)

Conclusion
The study revealed different barriers, enablers, benefits and limitations for women
leaders in an organisation. Organisations should implement policies that help to
minimise the gender gap at the workplace. Moreover, they should develop a work
culture, where women can get support and motivation to break the glass ceiling
and reach the desired position. Mentorship, training and development programmes,
as well as career development programmes can help as enablers for women
leaders. The study found that organisations where women leaders are working in
top positions have benefitted because of their transformational and democratic
leadership styles. The creativity and positive influence of women leaders have a
positive impact on employees’ work engagement. However, maintaining the
work–life balance, over-sincerity and lack of informal communication with others
at workplace are found to be limitations for women leaders to reach the desired
position. By considering all these aspects of Women’s Leadership, organisations
should implement policies to increase the percentage of women in top positions.

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research,
authorship and/or publication of this article.

Funding
The authors received no financial support for the research, authorship and/or publication of
this article.

ORCID iD
Aparna Kulkarni [Link]

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