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

Running head: INTRODUCTORY SOCIOLOGY
Introductory sociology
Student’s Name
Institutional Affiliation

2
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,