A cross‐national cross‐gender study of managerial task preferences and evaluation of work characteristics

Addresses the debate about gender‐based leadership/management styles by examining and comparing managerial task preferences and rating of work characteristics of women and men in management positions in the USA, Japan, Australia, Israel and Italy. The findings do not support the notion that women have a distinct leadership style, e.g. that they are more people‐oriented than men, or that they differ consistently in their evaluation of various job factors, such as extrinsic versus intrinsic components. However, country of origin has strong and pervasive effects on management style and orientation in these terms. Japanese managers are markedly different from those in other countries (they exhibit a so‐called “feminine” style), while the Americans and Israelis resemble each other. The findings sustain the argument that managerial style is not mainly determined by gender but rather by contextual factors, such as national culture, organization and occupation.