Can Women Change Communication Styles to Induce Acceptance?

Yoder, Schleicher and McDonald (1998) measured the effectiveness of a leader as an appointed or as an appointed empowered leader and distinguished the ability of a women’s leadership in a male dominated environment. The situation often found in masculine type of jobs is a small amount of women working in their nontraditional occupations. The study found men, in the same occupation as women, are seen as better enabled to complete tasks in which the organizations mostly consisted of men. Organizations that have less than 15% of woman, known as tokenism, are often plagued by enhanced performance pressure, role encapsulation and social isolation which encourage negative attitudes from co-workers directed toward the women in these types of organizations. This study wanted to explore and understand ways that women in these types of organizations can work effectively and with satisfaction. More women in these types of organizations will restrict their own roles, are often confronted by colleges on competence in their area of expertise and are discounted during manager performance evaluations.

This study measured the effectiveness of different types of leaders’ ability to control rather than be controlling (Yoder, Schleicher and McDonald, 1998.) In another study appointed women leaders were found not to be as effective as men, more so if the women was perceived to be put in charge due to her gender. The rating suffered greatly if the women also deviated from feminine norms (Yoder, Schleicher and McDonald, 1998.) It was also found that the women that are experts in their field enhanced their ability to lead effectively, especially if they were the most experienced member. When women had more information than the rest of the group, even in an all male group in a masculine occupation, the knowledge seemed to eliminate gender barriers and induce compliance by all members of either sex.