Southampton Business School, U. of Southampton, United Kingdom
A systematic long-term under-representation of women in academic leadership roles is a serious concern for individuals, universities, and wider society. We examined the combined effect of women academics' personality traits, attitudes toward cultural diversity, and perceptions of gender bias on their perceived leadership effectiveness. Anchored from the perspective of trait theory and basic human value theory, we identified the mediating role of motivation to lead on the relationship between women academics' personality traits, attitudes toward cultural diversity, perceptions of gender bias and their perceived leadership effectiveness. Using a non-probability sampling approach we surveyed 255 women academic leaders in the United Kingdom. We found that women academic leaders with higher levels of specific personality traits (relationship interest, interpersonal engagement, emotional sensitivity) and more favorable attitudes toward cultural diversity were more likely to be seen as having higher leadership effectiveness. However, women academic leaders who perceive less gender bias in their career development are more likely to be more motivated to lead and then therefore exhibit lower leadership effectiveness.
