Women’s Leadership Development: A Social Cognitive Approach

Despite the preponderance of evidence that achieving gender balance in corporate leadership ranks is a value proposition which results in higher profits and better overall corporate performance, little research has been done to question the efficacy of existing leadership development constructs for women. This study used a multiphase, mixed-methods approach to explore which factors influence women’s leadership development in male dominated organizational setting. The study included seven interview participants and38 survey respondents. All participants were female supervisors aged 26-72 working in a male dominated and technical organization. Results from the semi-structured interviews were used to shape the survey content which included open ended, scaled, and multiple choice questions. Results from both the interviews and the surveys revealed that women predominately learn leadership through social cognitive interactions, followed by experiential learning. Work sponsored courses were the primary source of leadership doctrine. The study utilized a sequential, two-phased mixed methods approach. The first phase consisted of semi-structured one-on-one interviews with female participants selected randomly from the organization‘s e-mail distribution list. To facilitate this, all women on the electronic distribution list were assigned a number. A random number generator was then used to select women for the interviews. Twenty one women were sent an e-mail invitation requesting volunteers to participate. Seven women responded indicating they would like to participate. The interviews were scheduled and conducted at the women‘s places of work in their private offices. Using thematic, phenomenological analysis of the interview content, primary outcomes were extracted. These findings were then used to create online survey questions for a larger sample population. The surveys were administered by sending a new e-mail invitation out to the remaining female leaders that did not participate in interviews. The e-mail requested voluntary participation and contained a link to the online survey. The survey results were utilized to perform more detailed quantitative analyses and obtain a deeper understanding of women‘s leadership development. development. They learn how to lead by watching and interacting with other good and bad leaders. Second to social-cognitive learning, the results demonstrated that experiential learning also had a significant influence on women‘s leadership development, particularly with regard to facing and overcoming adversity. These findings demonstrate the importance of having positive role models in organizations desiring to achieve gender balance among their leadership ranks. Champions for women leaders can be male or female, so long as they satisfy the need for interaction, connectedness, and encouragement in order to help build confidence and encourage the women to pursue leadership training, promotions, and stretch assignments.