How Sex and Gender Affect Leadership at the Social Organisation of Work

This paper analyses the sociological concepts of overt and covert power to determine how sex and gender affect leadership at the social organisation of work. It explores gender stereotypes and their impact on leadership effectiveness. The negative effects of overt and covert sexism are also discussed.

Running head: INTRODUCTORY SOCIOLOGY
Introductory sociology
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INTRODUCTORY SOCIOLOGY
Introductory sociology
There are several concepts of power in the world of sociology. In this paper, the overt
and covert concepts of power will be analysed to determine how they offer a sociological
understanding on how sex and gender affects leadership at the social organisation of work.
Overt power is power that is clear and vivid, and allows the leader to directly enforce it to
his/her subjects (Ragusa, 2019). There are various types of overt power, which include but
not limited to; charismatic power, position power, combination power and information
power. Covert power varies from overt power in that it is not used actively. Covert power is
not obvious and one would refer to it as ‘hidden’ power. Although it is not obvious, people
are always aware of its existence (Ragusa, 2019). It facilitates someone or something to do
something even when there is an element of resistance.
The terms sex and gender have always been used interchangeably which has always
built wrong dissemination of information. Sex refers to the biological makeup in males and
females. It is represented by different chromosomes in both males (XY) and females (XX)
(Ragusa, 2019). Gender, on the other hand refers to the societal and cultural roles of males
and females. It is represented by the aspects of males expressing themselves as masculine,
while females express themselves as feminine (Ragusa, 2019). The factors that enable men
and women to develop their gender roles are environment, peers, education, media and
interactions within the family.
A common aspect of the social organisation of work is leadership. Leadership refers
to the important role of taking people through a process, by prioritizing tasks that are meant
to help the whole organisation. In the contemporary society, sex and gender greatly affects
leadership at various work places. In both the overt and covert concepts of power, sex and
gender play a huge role in determining the leadership aspects in any workplace (Buiten,

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2016). There exist gender stereotypes that strictly dictate leadership. From the 1970s, there
has been a major focus on men and leadership with minimal discussion on women and
leadership. This sex typing and gender stereotyping starts from the early stages of human life.
from childhood, children learn the roles and behaviours that are associated with each sex and
incorporate them into their minds. Leaders in the society have continually ingrained these
ideas into peoples’ minds.
In most work stations, men are given the privilege of being top class leaders. This is
because men are stereotyped to possess qualities such as being assertive, being confident,
being rational and independent. On the other hand, women are stereotyped to possess
qualities such as being nurturers, being warm and helpful and concern for other people. These
perceptions have led to the belief that women may be less effective than men in leadership
(Buiten, 2016). This appears to be false since some women, although few have proven to be
effective leaders. Amazingly, a recent study has shown that both men and women in Australia
are effective leaders. However, there are aspects that dictate the leadership effectiveness.
These include, the context of the role of leadership and the social expectations on the role.
The overt concept of power that is generally clear and vivid may be gender
stereotyped in favour of men. In work positions such as police officers, immigration officers,
where overt power is exercised, men may be favourably geared towards those roles due to the
perception of masculine traits necessary in such kind of leadership roles. In the covert
concept of power, where an individual or a group of people make decisions for other
participants or subjects, both men and women are likely to be effective in those leadership
roles. However, women are stereotyped to be more effective in the element where the leader
is less active and the leadership post is not obvious. On the other hand, men are stereotyped
to be more effective in the element where the leader makes decisions that are to be followed
without questioning or confirmation.

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In both overt and covert concepts of power, men and women should be given equal
chances to explore their potential in leadership roles. Gender stereotypes are barriers that
block the exploitation of potential in leadership as a social organisation of work. They should
therefore be fought and both women and men given equal chances in leadership. However,
leadership roles that require a specific gender role, i.e., a man or woman, should be the
exception, since such positions work best when they are gendered.
In another dimension, leaders exercising overt and covert power may use their
leadership to manipulate their subordinates in terms of sex or gender. While people are
advised to report such cases of overt and covert sexism, many go unrealised. The negative
effects of overt and covert sexism are several, from deterioration of progress at work,
physical, emotional and mental ill-health, among others. Ongoing researches show that there
are more cases of harassment and sexual manipulation in workplaces where there is male
dominated leadership (Buiten, 2016). Measures are being taken to teach workers about overt
and covert sexism, how to point out harassment even if it’s of low intensity and how to act
upon it as earliest as possible. This measure is not only meant for women in workplaces being
harassed by leaders, but also members of the overall organisation. Harassment includes
comments, uncouth office cultures, insults, sexual harassments among others. The overt and
covert powers should be used in a way that will enhance the leadership at the workplace.
In conclusion, sex and gender affects leadership at work through the rigorous and
tiring gender stereotypes at the work places. The overt and covert concepts of power facilitate
significant sociological comprehension of how sex and gender affect leadership in the social
organisation of work. Both the historic arena and the contemporary society hold gender
stereotypes which dictate whether a man or a woman would take up a leadership role and
effectively run it. They also dictate the leadership style that is likely to be adopted by the

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person in leadership. For instance, women are said to be likely to be more effective in
transformative leadership style than men.
References
Buiten, D. (2016). Sex and Gender. In J. Arvanitakis (Ed.), Sociologic analysing everyday
life and culture (pp. 119-138). South Melbourne, Australia: Oxford University Press.
Ragusa, A. T. (2019). Sex & gender [Lecture 5 PowerPoint slides]. Retrieved from Charles
Sturt University website: http://interact.csu.edu.au