To date, social identity and its potentially differential status implications are underexplored in the servant leadership literature. In our critical review, we problematize what we deem as implicit assumptions in the leadership framework, that servant leadership flattens relational hierarchy and renders women a particular advantage. This paper critically reviews 50 journal articles published from 2009 to 2023 that explore servant leadership related to gender and race-ethnicity. Our review is guided by two broad questions: 1) How are gender and race-ethnicity treated in the servant leadership literature? 2) How do servant leaders conceptualize or experience their own gender or race-ethnicity in relationship to their leadership? In our review of the literature, we make sense of the findings relative to gender or race-ethnicity, identify gaps and associated implications, and propose future pathways to advance our understanding of the complex intersection of identity and servant leadership.
