Publication Date

2024

Document Type

Dissertation/Thesis

First Advisor

Saef, Rachel M.

Degree Name

M.A. (Master of Arts)

Legacy Department

Department of Psychology

Abstract

Women’s turnover rate within leadership positions exceed that of men, but the literature fails to outline the specific contexts and antecedents of such gender differences in turnover. Drawing from the leader identity literature, I outline how gender differences in leader identity strength can help illuminate why we see higher turnover intention of women in leadership positions. Given that a strong leader identity has shown to lower turnover intention, I investigate how the leader identity development process unfolds differently for women (compared to men). Leader identity development occurs through the exchange of leader behavior asserting authority (i.e., leader claims) and follower actions acknowledging the authority of that leader (i.e., follower grants). Leaders look to follower grants to evaluate whether their claims of leader identity were successful, such that leader identity strengthens when followers grant authority, making them more likely to engage in future claims. In line with leader prototype and gender role incongruity theories, I argue that, because followers are less likely to grant leader authority to women (as compared to men), women develop weaker leader identity, which increases turnover intention. Using a 2 (leader gender) x 2 (leader claims) experimental design, I first test whether gender moderates the link between leader claims and follower grants. In Study 2, I examine gender differences in daily occurrences of real-life leader claims and grants, and how they predict within-leader variation in leader identity strength and turnover intention.

Extent

123 pages

Language

en

Publisher

Northern Illinois University

Rights Statement

In Copyright

Rights Statement 2

NIU theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from Huskie Commons for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without the written permission of the authors.

Media Type

Text

Download

Share

COinS