Abstract:
This thesis is concerned with the similarities and Merences between the leadership
styles of female and male' managers in general, 'and their respective levels of
Instrumentality and Expressiveness in particular. In view of the lack of research,
involving managers of both sexes in real work settings and in non Anlgo-Saxon
environments, the present research has been conducted in the multi-cultural
environment of the Luxembourg banking sector, with female and male managers from
13 different countries.
A total of 33 female and 33 male managers, working in 10 banks of different
nationalities, completed the Personal Attributes Questionnaire (PAQ) and were
interviewed. The objectives of the research were to measure and compare the
perceived levels of Instrumental and Expressive traits, as well as to analyse the
perceived leadership styles of the participating managers themselves, their superiors
and successful managers in their respective banks. Individual case studies were used
to clarify and compare the feminine, masculine and androgynous leadership styles of
participating managers from the 3 main PAQ categories, in order to establish whether
the *managers' descriptions of themselves are in line with their PAQ results. Finally, 3
banks were chosen to represent the highest, the median and the lowest scores of the
banks' nationalities on Hofstede's Masculinity Index, in order to establish whether
differences on leadership styles exist between the banks in accordance with Hofstede's
research.
The present thesis has shown female managers, to possess exceptionally high levels of
Instrumental traits compared to the male managers of this study, as well to women
and men from other studies. In addition, the leadership styles measured by the PAQ
categories to which the participating managers belong, were found to be consistent
with the leadership styles they attribute to themselves. Significant differences were
established between the 3 different nationality banks, but not in accordance with
Hofstede's findings.
