This document discusses women's leadership and the challenges women face in achieving leadership positions. It summarizes research showing that gender socialization begins at birth and is reinforced by social institutions. It also discusses differences in the typical leadership styles of men and women, with women often exhibiting a more interactive style. Several prominent Indian women leaders are highlighted as examples, including Indira Gandhi, Medha Patkar, Jayalalitha J, Irom Sharmila, Indira Nooyi, Chanda Kochhar, Jhumpa Lahiri, and Ekta Kapoor.

1. Women Leadership
Dr. Poulami Aich Mukherjee
mepoulami@gmail.com

2. “A woman is like a tea bag: you
cannot tell how strong she is
until you put her in hot water.”
~Eleanor Roosevelt
First Lady 1933-1945
Civil Rights Supporter

3. Socialization Across the
Life Course
• Gendering begins the moment a child is born
• Processes of gender identity development
– Manipulation
– Canalization
– Verbal Appellation
– Activity Exposure

4. Institutions of Mass
Socialization
– to ensure community consent to
fit into the existing social order
– to promote the dominant gender
ideology and inequality.

5. Our Gendered Institutions
• Gender inequality is…
- systematically structured in social
institutions
- created in family, social relationships,
schools, religion, economy & the state.
• Pattern of gender relations
– stereotypes
- interpersonal relationships
- different placements in social,
economic, and political hierarchies.

6. Female language
• Polite and insecure
• Conversational style – cooperative
• Use fewer abstract words
• A smaller vocabulary
• A simpler structure
• Women use more adjectives, modal
verbs, interjections, tag questions

7. Male language
• Assertive and direct
• Conversational style - competitive

8. Other characteristics of
language
Differences according to
- the status and age of the speaker relative
to the status of the person spoken to

9. Separation of Public from Private
 Economic, political
and social affairs
 Subject to social
norms and
sanctions
 Open to public
scrutiny
 Male concern
 Domestic and
personal concerns
 Individual personal
conscience
 Private/ intimate
 Female sphere

10. Effects of Gender Roles on Men
 Stereotypes men’s roles, identities
and attributes.
 Places on men expectations and
roles not of his own choice and
decision.
 Puts unnecessary burdens on men.
 Others?

11. Effects of Gender Roles on Women
 Violence
 Exclusion
 Discrimination
 Marginalization
 Exploitation
 Others?

12. Gender Neutrality Theory
• Discourse of gender neutrality
renders distinctive circumstances to
women
- invisible/irrelevant/inappropriate
• Masculine Model for leadership puts
women at odds with gender
neutrality theory
• Hierarchical-bureaucratic model with
a gender integrated base of experience
• Girls as mother while boys‘ as
autonomous

13. Leadership and Dependency
• Strong Male leadership model will
survive
• Weaker female leadership model will
not survive
• Followers tend to follow strength
• Strength viewed as a masculine trait
• The implication -if a female leads the
corporation, the weaker sex, the
company will be weak

14. Theories Undermining Women’s
Leadership Effectiveness
1. Women’s attitudes are often based on their
traditional socialization to be docile or flexible.
2. Women’s self-confidence may be diminished
by second-class treatment they receive in the
leadership hierarchy.
3. The Corporate Environment resistance to
women’s presence has resulted in many
women to drop out.
4. The Old Boy’s Network fosters solidarity
between men but marginalizes, controls, and
divides women.

15. Command and Control
-The style of leadership traditionally used
by men
Interactive Leadership Style
-A style of leadership that has often been
used by women
Theories on Leadership Styles

16. Interactive Leadership Style
1. Good communication skills -to be good
listener, to be empathetic
2. Good intermediary skills-in negotiation &
conflict resolution
3. Developed interpersonal skills & a soft
approach in handling people
4. Encourages participation
- shares power and information
- enhances other ’s self-worth
- gets people excited about their work

17. Historically…
-Women have lacked both formal authority
over others and control over resources. So
they had to find other ways to accomplish
their work.
-Women were expected to be cooperative,
supportive, understanding, gentle, and to
provide service for people.
-The interactive leadership style seems to be
a natural consequence.

18. Gender Differences
- Women to describe their jobs as
“transformational”
- Men to describe
their jobs as “transactional”
-

19. Women tend to see their power as coming
from personal characteristics-charisma/
interpersonal skills/hard work/personal
contacts
Men tend to see their power as coming
from their organizational position and
formal authority
Gender Differences

20. Women tend to score higher in orientation
towards production and the attainment of
results
Men tend to score higher on scales assessing
an orientation towards strategic planning and
organizational vision.
Gender Differences

21. Women tend to score higher on people-
oriented leadership skills
Men tend to score higher on business-
oriented leadership skills.
Gender Differences

22. Research findings…
• Women’s leadership styles differ from
men’s but men who are not comfortable
with the traditional “command and
control” style can learn and use the
interactive style
• Women’s leadership styles are not less
effective than men’s styles and they can be
more effective in team-based
consensually-driven organizations that are
becoming more common
• Leadership style is based more on
individual choice than on inherent gender
predisposition
• Leadership style differences may blur as
gender-mixed management teams become
more common.

23. Women Leadership in India
I CARE !
Integrity
Compassion
Accountability
Respect
Excellence
! (Passion)

24. Integrity
• Doing the right thing when no-
one is watching
• Doing the right thing when
everyone is watching
• Living your honesty
• Putting your values into action
• The foundation of your
character
• Your personal moral compass

25. Compassion
A female leader…
• Finds the need
• Finds the solution
• Finds the help
• Finds the money

26. Accountability
• Showing up!
• Following the rules
• Admitting the mistakes
and making them right
• Standing tall in your
responsibilities

27. Respect
• Respect builds trust
• Trust builds relationships
• Relationships build collaborations
• Collaborations build projects
• Successful projects build
communities

28. Excellence
• Pulling it all together
• Knowing that you have mattered
• When leadership is no longer
something you do, but someone you
are!
• When leadership is something that
you love!

29. ! Passion
True authentic passion…
• Gives you courage to do the right
thing
• Makes you happy
• Allows you to really listen
• Helps you to find your purpose

30. Indira Gandhi (1917-1984)
The first Woman Prime Minister of
India, an influential leader in a prevalently
male-dominated society, is a symbol of
feminism in India. As per economic surveys,
when she became Prime Minister, 65% of the
country's population was below the poverty
line, and when her regime ended in 1984, this
figure was 45%. During her rule, food
production increased by 25%. Literacy also
increased in India by 30%.

31. Medha Patkar (1954-)
Mobilized massive marches and
peaceful protests against the construction of
India’s Sardar Sarovar Dam, which displaced
thousands of tribal peoples and submerged
vast stretches of forests and farmland. She has
been a central organizer and strategist
of Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA), a
people’s movement organized to stop the
construction of a series of dams planned for
India’s largest westward flowing river, the
Narmada.

32. Jayalalitha J (1948-2016)
“Brand Amma” the mother of welfare
schemes in India. Jayalalithaa has to her
credit a whopping 18 populist schemes.
Every ‘Amma’ product or service is either
free or heavily subsidised. They might have
cost the State exchequer but have
benefitted crores of people, especially
women, in the State.

33. Irom Sharmila (1972-)
Irom Chanu Sharmila has, for 16 years,
been a symbol of non-violent protest against
injustice. Her indomitable spirit, endurance
and integrity have inspired people the world
over. On 9 August 2016 marked a historic
transformation of Irom Shamila from a global
icon of protest and the most recognisable face
of resistance in the conflict-ridden State into a
political leader. On International Women's
Day, the timing of her entry into politics could
not have been more apt.

34. Indira Nooyi (1955-)
Indira Krishnamurthy Nooyi is an
American, business executive and the
current Chairperson and Chief Executive
Officer of PepsiCo, the second largest food
and beverage business in the world by net
revenue. She has consistently ranked among
the World's 100 Most Powerful Women. In
2014, she was ranked at 13 on the list of
Forbes World's 100 most powerful women
and was ranked the 82nd most powerful
woman on the Fortune list in 2016.

35. Chanda Kochhar (1961-)
Chanda Kochhar, MD & CEO of ICICI Bank,
did not just break the glass ceiling-she
shattered it. The first woman to head ICICI
bank in India, Kochhar sure has valuable
insights for capable women who aspire to
reach the top. Kochhar believes that having
gender diverse work force is required to tap
the full talent pool available in the country.

36. Jhumpa Lahiri (1967-)
Jhumpa Lahiri is a Pulitzer Prize-winning
author known for works of fiction like Interpreter
of Maladies, The Namesake, Unaccustomed Earth
and The Lowland. Lahiri is a member of the
President's Committee on the Arts and
Humanities, appointed by U.S. President Barack
Obama. Her book The Lowland, published in
2013, was a nominee for the Man Booker Prize
and the National Book Award for Fiction. Lahiri is
currently a professor of creative writing at
Princeton University.

37. Ekta Kapoor (1975-)
Ekta Kapoor is an Indian TV and film
producer. She is the Joint Managing Director
and Creative Director of Balaji Telefilms.
Known as the Queen of Soap Operas in
India, Ekta is remembered best for giving
television entertainment the most
cataclysmic turn ever. Ekta is an example of a
woman for young creative heads and
entrepreneurs. She single-handedly has
earned her stature in the industry.