Leadership is important when it comes to well-being and development of organizations. The leader has the opportunity to influence the employees to reach their full potential and thereby develop the entirety of the organization. There are both men and women in leadership positions in the automotive industry, but there is a lack of understanding in how they differ in their leadership. This paper aims to explore how leadership strategies differ between male leaders and female leaders in the automotive industry, by comparing twelve interviews with respondents from two different companies. The study was conducted qualitatively with an inductive research approach. The empirical study together with the reference frame resulted in a model that illustrates how the difference in leaderships are used to motivate and develop the employees. In conclusion the study showed that both male and female leaders’ intent to motivate and personally develop the employees, but they have different approaches achieving it. Male leaders tend to encourage, challenge and promote independence to earn trust while the females tend to use feedback, communication, inclusion and be present in their leadership. / Ledarskap har stor betydelse för trivsel och utveckling på företag. Ledaren har möjlighet att influera medarbetarna att nå sin fulla potential och på så sätt också utveckla företaget som helhet. Både män och kvinnor besitter ledarskapspositioner på företag inom fordonsbranschen, men det saknas förståelse för hur de är olika i sitt ledarskap. Detta arbete syftar till att utforska hur manliga och kvinnliga ledare använder ledarskap, utifrån tolv intervjuer med respondenter från två företag inom fordonsbranschen. Studien är kvalitativt utförd med en induktiv forskningsansats. Insamlad empiri tillsammans med referensram resulterade i en modell som illustrerar hur ledarskap utövas inom branschen. Studien kom fram till slutsatsen att manliga och kvinnliga chefer tenderar att använda sig av olika ledarskapsstilar men båda har som avsikt att motivera och utveckla medarbetarna. Manliga chefer beskrivs som sporrande, då de använder ett ledarskap som erbjuder medarbetarna självständighet, utrymme och utmaning. Kvinnliga chefer karaktäriseras i studien som återkopplade, då de är mer kommunikativa, inkluderande och närvarande i sitt ledarskap.

Background: In Tibet, as well as in their exile community in India, there is a widespread issue of female oppression and gender inequality within healthcare. Few studies explore the progressive work of organizations fighting these issues, which can contribute to a retrogression of discrimination awareness.  Aim: The aim of the study was to describe healthcare workers' perspectives on how and to what extent the Tibetan Women’s Empowerment Policy can be used to create equal opportunities in healthcare.  Method: Ethnographic method consisting of semi-structured interviews and observations has been used for data collecting and qualitative content analysis has been used for data analysis. Result: There are four recurring perspectives amongst the participants: (1) The policy has contributed to a change of attitude regarding female empowerment, female leadership and feminism. (2) The policy has contributed to the development of adequate healthcare services for women. (3) Limitations of support from the community. (4) The policy is not impactful. Conclusion: There are indications which show that the Tibetan women’s empowerment policy can create equal opportunities within healthcare in terms of attitude changes and accessibility to adequate healthcare. However, there are also practical complications in regard to its theoretical outlines as well as limitations of support from the community. It is concluded that the policy is part of a female progression within the community, yet there are still improvements regarding sufficiency and awareness needed to be made.

This study has had the purpose to explore, identify and develop a greater understanding of how females construct their identity as leaders. The focus of this study has been on eight female leaders with sufficient profession, knowledge and experience within male-dominated small and medium enterprises in Sweden and the Netherlands, where a comparison has been made between them. A qualitative study has been conducted where the focus has been on the abductive research approach. Together with this, semi-structured interviews have been used in order to arrive at the final research result. With careful consideration of research methods, ethical aspects, research quality and other essential aspects within the research, the study may thus be classified as credible with a high degree of validity. Nevertheless, the result of the study may not be generalized for the entire population, but since the selected participants are considered to possess sufficient knowledge and profession, their perceptions are considered essential and trustworthy in the research of female leadership and identity. After the collection of theoretical and empirical material regarding the notions of female leadership and identity, the results showed that aspects such as characteristics, adaptation, culture and obstacles within male-dominated industries had an (conscious and/or unconscious) influence on how the females construct their identity as leaders. The empirical results showed that a lot of aspects differ individually, and not nationality. In addition, we hope that this research will contribute to further interest in examining female leadership and identity. We believe that if a leader is aware of aspects that might influence the leadership and consequently, the identity, it might create a better leadership in general which may have an essential impact on the individual herself, the organization and the society overall.

Bakgrund: Begreppet ledarskap har än idag inte en enhetlig definition, då begreppet påverkas av olika faktorer exempelvis sociala sammanhang. Olika ledarstilar kännetecknas av olika beteenden, detta arbetet syftar till att skapa förståelse kring sambandet mellan genus och ledarskap, genom att tillämpa den komparativa metod jämförelselogik mellan kvinnodominerade och mansdominerade organisationer. Syfte: Studiens syfte är att undersöka hur medarbetarna uppfattar kvinnligt ledarskap.  Metod: För att kunna undersöka medarbetarnas individuella åsikter om kvinnligt ledarskap användes komparativ metod. Under studiens gång används primärdata som består av 12 semistrukturerade intervjuer. Empiri: Kvinnligt ledarskap kan skilja sig från manligt ledarskap med avseende på ledarens egenskaper. En kvinnlig ledare kan inneha manliga egenskaper och vice versa. Analys: Analysen visar att cheferna inom både hemtjänsten och Svenska kyrkan anser att teorier om ledarstilar saknar betydelse i praktiken i offentlig sektor. Dessutom anser cheferna och medarbetarna att inga tydliga skillnader finns mellan manligt och kvinnligt ledarskap, eftersom ledarstilen är influerade av ledarens egenskaper. Slutsats: Samtliga respondenter från hemtjänsten och Svenska kyrkan anser att egenskap snarare än kön har betydelse för ledarskap. Det beror på att män och kvinnor kan inneha liknande egenskaper, vilket tyder på att ledarstilar inte har någon betydelse i arbetslivet. / Background: The concept of leadership does not yet have a uniform definition, as the concept is influenced by various factors such as social contexts. Different leadership styles are characterized by different behaviors, this work aims to create an understanding of the relationship between gender and leadership, by applying the comparative method comparison logic between female-dominated and male-dominated organizations. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to investigate how employees perceive female leadership. Method: In order to be able to examine the employees' individual views on female leadership, a comparative method was used. During the study, primary data consisting of 12 semi-structured interviews are used. Empirical findings: Female leadership can differ from male leadership in terms of the leader's qualities. A female leader can possess masculine qualities and vice versa. Analysis: The analysis shows that the managers in both the home care service and the Church of Sweden believe that theories about leadership styles have no significance in practice in the public sector. In addition, managers and employees believe that there are no clear differences between male and female leadership, as the leadership style is influenced by the characteristics of the leader. Conclusion: All respondents from the home care service and the Church of Sweden believe that trait rather than gender is important for leadership. This is because men and women can possess similar characteristics, which indicates that leadership styles have no significance in working life.

Ledarskap och välmående är ämnen som ofta diskuteras i dagens samhälle. En ledare har en viktig roll i en organisation, inte minst för dem anställda. Fastighetsbranschen är en klass för sig när det gäller ledarskap och jämställdhet. Det är den första branschen i Sverige som lyckats krossa “glastaket” genom att ha en jämn fördelning mellan manliga respektive kvinnliga ledare. Det finns i hög utsträckning mycket som tyder på att en ledares egenskaper och ledarskap påverkar den anställdes välmående på arbetsplatsen. Syftet med denna studie är därmed att öka förståelsen för hur kvinnliga respektive manliga karaktärsdrag påverkar den anställdas välmående genom att studera upplevda ledarskapsegenskaper i en jämnställd bransch Tidigare studier har fokuserat på den anställdes välmående kopplat till ledarskap. Däremot förekommer det begränsat antal studier avseende fastighetsbranschen samt utifrån ett jämställdhetsperspektiv, därmed avser studien kunna bidra till en ökad förståelse inom området. Studien är av kvalitativ art där empiri samlats in genom åtta semistrukturerade intervjuer från anställda inom fastighetsbranschen. De anställda har själva besvarat frågor gällande deras personliga välmående kopplat till det upplevda ledarskapet som de anser att sin närmaste ledare utövar. För att genomföra studiens analys som är kopplat till studiens syfte, grundar sig studien i ett teoretiskt ramverk bestående av fyra delar; ledarskap på arbetsplatsen, manligt och kvinnligt ledarskap, målvägsteorin samt välmående på arbetsplatsen.  Vanligt förekommande faktorer som respondenterna ansåg påverka deras välmående är ledarskap, motivation, arbetsbelastning samt stämningen på arbetsplatsen. Studiens resultat har identifierat att ledarens egenskaper inte är könsspecifika. Däremot iakttas en koppling mellan vilket kön respektive anställd har och vilka egenskaper som de anser mest värdefulla hos sin närmaste ledare.

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The culture demonstrates itself in the shared values, attitudes, beliefs, norms and behaviours of people and it is distinguished from each other by differences in those shared meanings of people interacting. As culture is varied across countries, leadership styles are also varied across countries and are not exercised in the same way across different cultures. They are imported in accordance with the cultural environment in which they are perceived. Therefore, understanding the culture is significant in order to explain preferences of leaders concerning leadership styles. The main purpose of the present dissertation is to provide an overview of the relationship between Turkish culture and the way in which leadership is exercised by Turkish female leaders. The present study is completed in three steps in order to demonstrate that the existing relationship between the Turkish culture and leadership styles of female leaders in Turkey. In the first step, the study examined what culture is, what dimensions of the national culture are, what leadership is and how leadership styles are culturally-linked. In the second step, the paper investigated how female leaders perceive and exercise different leadership styles across different cultures. In the third step, the study researched what cornerstones of Turkish culture and how anticipated leadership styles of Turkish female leaders are shaped by Turkish culture.     The study followed a qualitative research approach based on the grounded theory. Ten female leaders coming from different backgrounds were interviewed in order to draw a holistic picture of the relationship between Turkish cultural values and leadership styles of Turkish female leaders. The findings of the study indicate that the Turkish culture has an influence on leadership styles of Turkish female leaders. According to the results, while Islamic values have no significant impact on leadership behaviours of female leaders, such cultural attributes as collectivism, high power distance, uncertainty avoidance and paternalism have a huge impact on leadership styles of Turkish female leaders.       The research examined only leadership styles of Turkish female leaders. Therefore, this study recommends a future research which will investigate leadership styles of Turkish males in order to understand whether gender has also an effect on leadership styles of Turkish leaders.

La presente tesi, attraverso l’utilizzo di diverse fonti di dati, sia longitudinali che trasversali, contribuisce alla letteratura esistente in materia di lavoro precario, invecchiamento e discriminazione di genere, fornendo evidenza empirica riguardo le conseguenze in termini di salute e benessere della precarietà, del pensionamento e della leadership femminile nel mercato del lavoro. Il primo capitolo esamina la relazione esistente fra insicurezza sul lavoro, prospettive di reimpiego e disagio psicologico, utilizzando dati cross-country provenienti dalle European Working Conditions Surveys del 2010. Il secondo capitolo è dedicato alla stima dell’effetto causale del pensionamento sull’utilizzo dei servizi sanitari in 10 paesi Europei nel periodo 2004-2013. In particolare, il capitolo approfondisce il tema della riduzione del costo opportunità del tempo libero dopo il pensionamento, che può dare luogo ad aumenti improvvisi nell’utilizzo dei servizi sanitari. Il terzo capitolo, infine, studia la relazione esistente tra leadership femminile, pratiche organizzative a livello aziendale e discriminazione di genere per 30 paesi Europei, considerati nel periodo 1995-2010. / The present dissertation, using both longitudinal and cross-sectional data from different sources, contributes to existing literature on precarious employment, aging and gender discrimination providing empirical evidence on the health and wellbeing outcomes of work-related insecurity, retirement and female leadership across European countries. Chapter 1 examines the relationship among perceived job insecurity, employability and psychological distress in Europe, using cross-country data from the 2010 European Working Conditions Surveys. Chapter 2, using SHARE data (from 2004 to 2013) for 10 European countries, is devoted to the analysis of the (causal) effect of retirement on health care utilization. In particular, it explores the existence of a discontinuous change in health investment at the time of retirement, as suggested by the theory, asking whether this ``puzzling'' jump is associated with the drop in the opportunity cost of time induced by retirement. Chapter 3 investigates the association between female leadership, work organization practices and perceived gender discrimination within firms, using EWCS data for 30 European countries for the period 1995-2010.

Det svenska näringslivet och i synnerhet svenska börs- och finansiella bolag är nästan helt mansdominerat, där Vd-positionerna utgörs av endast sex procent kvinnor. Vi vet fortfarande mycket litet om rekryteringsprocessen av en verkställande direktör i dessa bolag, vilka påverkande mekanismer som finns i de olika rekryteringsstegen och vilken roll dessa har för valet av en verkställande direktör. Syftet med denna studie är att öka förståelsen och fördjupa kunskapen för hur rekryteringsprocessen ser ut för en verkställande direktör i ett börs- och finansiellt bolag samt huruvida homosociala mekanismer och könsstereotypiska uppfattningar finns i rekryteringsprocessen. Vi vill vidare öka kunskapen på vilket sätt homosocialitet och stereotyping påverkar möjligheten för tillsättandet av likvärdigt kompetenta kvinnor. Vi har använt oss av en kvalitativ fallstudie metod i form av semistrukturerade intervjuer med fem börs- och finansiella bolag. Vår teoretiska referensram består av forskning inom organisationsteori, ledarskap, rekrytering och genusvetenskap och som behandlar huvudbegreppen rekryteringsprocessen, homosocialitet och stereotyping. Med hjälp av våra genomförda fallstudier har vi kunnat identifiera vilka steg i en rekryteringsprocess som har använts eller inte använts för en Vd-rekrytering. Vi har vidare funnit i vår empiri återkommande tecken på homosociala mekanismer och könskodade uppfattningar i rekryteringsprocessen vilket påverkar både direkt och indirekt innan och under rekryteringsprocessen. Studien uppvisar att homosocialitet och könskodade uppfattningar i rekryteringsprocessen påverkar både direkt och indirekt innan och under rekryteringsprocessen, kvinnors möjligheter att rekryteras till en Vd-position baserad på kompetens där vikten av framförallt en öppen rekryteringsprocess framträder tydligt. / The Swedish business community and notably Swedish listed companies and financial companies are almost completely male-dominated, with female CEOs accounting for a meager six percent. We still know very little about the recruitment process of an Executive Director in these companies, what influencing mechanisms exist in the different steps of the recruitment process and what role these have in the final selection of a CEO. The purpose of this research paper was to increase awareness and provide insight in to the recruitment process, to explore if homosocial and gender stereotypical influences affect the recruitment process, how they are evident and finally how these perceptions and practices can influence competent women's possibilities to be recruited to a CEO position. We have used a qualitative approach with a case-study method in the form of semi-structured interviews with five listed and financial companies. Our theoretical reference framework consists of research within the fields of organizational theories, leadership, recruitment and gender with emphasis on our three main concepts, recruitment of business executives, homosociality and stereotyping. With help from the empirical data collected from our completed case studies, we have been able to identify how a recruitment process of a CEO is implemented and which steps in the recruitment process that have been used or not used. The results of our study show that there are frequent and recurring signs of homosocial behavior and stereotypical perceptions both directly and indirectly before and during the course of the recruitment process. Our study also shows that homosocial behavior and stereotypical perceptions affect both directly and indirectly women’s recruitment possibilities to a CEO position based on competence where the importance of, above all, an open recruitment process stands out distinctly.

Due to the changing demographics of South African organisations after the 1994 elections and the subsequent sub-cultural diversification, the working environment is becoming the primary place where the different South African sub-cultural groups, with their different value systems, are in interaction with each other. The consequent lifting of sanctions exposed South African organisations to globalisation and international competition. This forced managers to improve organisational processes and operations, not only to protect their own domestic markets, but also to become internationally competitive. At the same time, they had to adhere to newly created labour legislation, which dramatically changed the face of the South African labour market. The complex combination of several sub-cultures in the South African work environment can adversely affect organisational effectiveness if not properly understood and managed by effective transformational leaders. The concept of cultural values was used to explore the differences, as well as the similarities, between the various sub-cultural groups in the South African environment. This study examined cultural differences and similarities between 477 junior and middle managers in the financial services sector, who belonged to the four South African sub-cultural groups (Black, Coloured, White, and Indian), and between South African male and female managers. It also investigated whether cultural values change indiscriminately during the acculturation process, or whether certain cultural values, labelled peripheral values, change easier or before other cultural values, labelled core values. Due to the importance of transformational leadership in the work environment, this study also explored the differences and similarities of South African managers on Bass and Avolio’s Full Range Model of Leadership. (Avolio&Bass, 1999; Bass, 1985, 1997). A moderate social constructionist theory was used as a framework for this study, to analyse and describe quantitative results obtained with the various measuring instruments. Firstly, it was found that although there were statistically significant differences between most of the cultural value dimensions of the various sub-cultural groups, not all of these differences were practically significant. Results indicated that these groups could often be clustered together on specific cultural value dimensions, sometimes consisting of a Black, White, and Coloured cluster, sometimes as a Black, Coloured, and Indian cluster, and so forth. Secondly, independent variables other than sub-cultural group, gender, and age also showed practically significant relationships with some of the cultural value dimensions. Thirdly, the results indicated that the cultural values are very stable, even in the dynamic and multi-cultural South African environment, and as such, no core or peripheral values could be identified. Finally, the results also indicated that the transformational-transactional leadership model is cross-culturally endorsed within the South African financial services sector. It pointed out that irrespective of gender, junior or middle management level, age, educational level, number of years full-time work experience, number of years as manager, or having been exposed to formal Western management training, all managers evaluated themselves as more transformational than transactional. / Thesis (PhD (Psychology))--University of Pretoria, 2007. / Psychology / unrestricted