Both female and younger managers face many difficulties in navigating organizational life. The present research investigates how the intersection of gender and relative age (i.e., the age difference between leader and employee) affects feedback reception. Integrating social hierarchy and intersectional perspectives with the leadership and feedback literatures, we propose that feedback provided by relatively younger female leaders will be the least accepted by employees because of their lower status. We further propose that this experience of being in a powerful position but with lower status leads to a vicious cycle that degrades the quality of the feedback managers provide. In two field studies and one experimental study (total N = 784), the age difference between leader and subordinate significantly impacted the receptivity of feedback from female managers, but age did not play a role for male managers. These findings deepen our understanding of the obstacles that younger female managers face in organizations. We discuss actions organizations can take to boost the feedback legitimacy coming from younger female leaders.
