Iacopino, Valentina, Piazza, Anna ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5785-6948 and Calluso, Cinzia (2026) Respectful leadership in a gendered world: cultural and societal barriers for women leaders. In: XXVII Workshop dei Docenti e Ricercatori di Organizzazione Aziendale (WOA), 28th - 29th May, 2026, Rome Tor Vergata, Rome (Italy).

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Abstract

Despite sustained efforts to advance gender equality, women continue to face structural and cultural barriers in attaining and legitimizing leadership roles. While formal policies promote inclusion, deeper organizational paradigms remain resistant to transformation. This study investigates how women leaders construct and enact respectful leadership within contexts shaped by enduring gendered expectations. Drawing on Ardener’s (1975) concept of the “invisible script,” role congruity theory (Eagly & Karau, 2002), the Stereotype Content Model (Fiske et al., 2002), and institutional theory (Meyer & Rowan, 1977; DiMaggio & Powell, 1983), we explore how women negotiate legitimacy, authority, and identity in leadership positions. The research is based on 46 semi-structured narrative interviews with female leaders from diverse sectors in Italy and the United Kingdom. Using Leximancer-assisted content analysis integrated with interpretive narrative examination, we identify dominant themes related to gendered expectations, maternity, work-life balance, and the construction of respectful leadership. Findings reveal persistent cultural tensions: women must often exceed normative performance standards while simultaneously managing expectations of warmth and care. Respectful leadership emerges as relational, trust-based, and collaborative, yet its expression requires continuous negotiation within masculine organizational cultures. The study contributes to organizational scholarship by demonstrating how respectful leadership is shaped by institutional logics and gender stereotypes, and by illuminating the micro processes through which women construct leadership identities under structural constraint.

Item Type:	Conference or Conference Paper (Paper)
Uncontrolled Keywords:	gender, respectful leadership, culture
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > H Social Sciences (General)
Faculty / School / Research Centre / Research Group:	Greenwich Business School Greenwich Business School > Networks and Urban Systems Centre (NUSC) Greenwich Business School > School of Business, Operations and Strategy
Related URLs:	Organisation
Last Modified:	28 Sep 2026 09:12
URI:	https://gala.gre.ac.uk/id/eprint/54510

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