Gender and Leadership. The Impact of Organizational Culture of Public Institutions

Abstract

This study approaches the public organizations and their organizational culture by taking into account the gender factor. More specifically, it will approach women’s presence in the leadership of public organizations, the influence of the public organizational culture in the promotion of women in middle and top management positions, and it will finally identify the defining characteristics of the organizational culture of the institutions led by women in comparison to those led by men. Our study is based on a research conducted in Bistriţa-Năsăud County, Romania, by applying a survey in 12 public organizations. The survey comprises 16 questions, seven of which are open questions; 25 women with different positions in the medium and the top management of public institutions were surveyed. The conclusions of the research confirm the existence of some clear differences in the organizational culture of womenled and respectively, men-led public institutions. At the same time, the study identifies possible causes for the low presence of women in the public top management in contrast to their high presence in the execution positions.