One investigation of the
relationship between authentic leadership, gender, psychological
capital, and positive work climate found that the predominantly
male authentic leaders provided a slightly less positive climate
for female than for male followers (Woolley et al., 2011).
These authors proposed that the values between the male
leaders and female followers may have been incongruent, or the
operating definition of authentic leadership may be inherently
masculine. Following this argument, Ibarra (2015) also suggests
that the operating definition of authentic leadership is based
on individualistic (traditionally seen as masculine) vs. collective
(traditionally seen as feminine) ideals. Considering women in
leadership roles, the arguments have been presented that women
are not always accepted as legitimate leaders due to gender bias
(e.g., role incongruity, Eagly and Karau, 2002). Thus a female
leader may experience feelings of being the outsider with a greater
difficulty in obtaining her followers’ trust and acceptance as an
authentic leader.