26 March 2025
Men in local leadership positions are unaware of gender leadership disparities and are less likely to challenge dominant stereotypes compared to women, suggests new research by the University of South Australia.
UniSA researchers interviewed more than 30 people in local leadership roles in regions experiencing industrial transformation, across government, business, sporting clubs, religious organisations and academia. All participants were from communities directly affected by the closure of Australia’s automotive industry in 2017, in suburban Melbourne, northern Adelaide and Geelong. They were interviewed in 2023 about gendered stereotypes that existed when the crisis unfolded and progressed, as well as when COVID hit.
The findings suggest that women and men leaders agreed on what makes a good leader. However, women experienced daily impacts related to gender leadership stereotypes and actively worked to break down these biases. On the other hand, men leaders tended to be unaware of gender differences, believing they didn’t exist.
Lead researcher Dr Lynette Washington says the men in the study largely accepted dominant gender leadership norms without questioning them, limiting their ability to push for alternative leadership styles which might assist to drive real change in regions undergoing a major industrial shift.
“The thing that was most striking was that when we spoke to women, they immediately identified that they were impacted by stereotypes and they undertook detailed, sophisticated work to deconstruct those ideas. They understood how stereotypes impacted them, they thought about that impact regularly and deeply, and it was very much front of mind for them,” she says.
“When we asked the men about gender bias, they didn’t believe that it existed for women or men leaders. And because of that, they couldn’t deconstruct these ideas to understand how they functioned and impacted people in the workplace.”
The research was centred around the concept of ‘place-based leadership’, a collaborative, community-led approach to leadership that aims to improve the social and economic outcomes for a specific community.
Dr Washington says place-based leadership is not much so much about the job a leader is doing but the way they’re doing it – with an emphasis on collaboration, leading through persuasion, soft power and networking.
“It’s about their understanding and care of the place. Many place-based leaders live in the place they lead and key to being a placed-based leader is having a connection or a personal investment,” she says.
“The findings of our study suggest that greater awareness of gender in leadership would help create more inclusive and effective leadership and this could lead to fairer outcomes.”
One of the research participants shared her experience with gender bias in local government.
“The first time I stood up to speak in council the town clerk said to me, “Well that’s very nice. Now be a good girl and sit down,” she said.
Researchers have documented gender bias in leadership since the 1970s, a phenomenon that US researcher Dr Virginia Schein called “think manager, think male”. Dr Washington explains the issue now is that men must do more to help deconstruct bias.
“If men can’t take that first step of acknowledging gender stereotyping in the workplace is real, they can’t do the work to address it. Women are acknowledging it and working hard to deconstruct and change it, but part of the reason it’s not progressing in the way that it needs to is that men aren’t also doing that work to the degree that is required for change,” she says.
“Without equality in leadership, we can’t access the full wealth of knowledge, experience and ability that exists in places. Left behind places need to access the full range of skills and abilities that they hold to ensure they can meet the challenges ahead.
“Places like the northern suburbs in Adelaide and Geelong in Victoria experienced significant disruption when the car manufacturing industry closed and were also hit hard during the pandemic. We need the best possible leadership in these places and that means challenging old ways of leading and introducing new, more effective leadership styles. One way to do that is to have a greater awareness of gender within leadership.
“This will result in more equal outcomes across the regions.”
To access the research paper: Washington, L., Beer, A., & Kulik, C. T. (2024). Gender, place leadership and levelling up across regions. Contemporary Social Science, 19(4), 583–601. https://doi.org/10.1080/21582041.2024.2441856
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
Contact for interview: Dr Lynette Washington, Research Fellow, UniSA E: Lynette.Washington@unisa.edu.au
Media contact: Melissa Keogh, Communications Officer, UniSA M: +403 659 154 E: Melissa.Keogh@unisa.edu.au
