Document Type
Article
Publication Date
3-11-2025
Abstract
Achieving sex-based equity in organizational leadership roles has proven to be a 'wicked' problem with existing diversity initiatives providing minimal improvement. In this paper, we address this issue by considering a key inhibiter to women's leadership advancement—biased perceptions of female leaders' competence—and links to a climate for inclusion. In Study 1 (N = 236), we develop and validate a Diversity-Specific Empowering Leadership (DSEL) measure, and demonstrate its value in predicting perceptions of female leaders' competence when compared to alternative leadership models (empowering leadership, transformational leadership, diversity-specific transformational leadership, transactional leadership, leader diversity-valuing behavior, and inclusive leadership). In Study 2 (N = 314), we introduce sex-based diversity beliefs as a moderator in the relationship between DSEL and perceptions of female leaders' competence. In Study 3 (N = 313), we provide support for a mediated moderation model, with sex-based diversity beliefs moderating the effects of DSEL on perceptions of female leaders' competence. In turn, this is associated with a climate for inclusion. DSEL is collaborative and developmentally focused, and our findings suggest it may attenuate sex-based biases in perceptions of leadership, especially for those who have been most resistant to change (i.e., individuals with negative sex-based diversity beliefs). Our research offers theory that can support ethical action by advancing DSEL as a promising 'target-specific' leadership model for creating less biased and more inclusive work environments for all.
This article was published Open Access through the CCU Libraries Open Access Publishing Fund. The article was first published in Journal of Business Ethics: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-025-05973-3
Recommended Citation
Scheuer, CL., Loughlin, C., Prowse, D. et al. Diversity-Specific Empowering Leadership: An Alternative Approach to Reducing Sex-Based Bias and Enabling Inclusivity. J Bus Ethics (2025). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-025-05973-3. Available at: https://digitalcommons.coastal.edu/management/5/
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Included in
Business Administration, Management, and Operations Commons, Business Law, Public Responsibility, and Ethics Commons
