Gender and leadership aspiration: The impact of work–life initiatives

• Date: 01 July 2018
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/hrm.21875
• Published date: 01 July 2018

SPECIAL ISSUE ARTICLE

Gender and leadership aspiration: The impact of work–life

initiatives

Claudia Fritz

1

| Daan van Knippenberg

2

1

Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus

University Rotterdam, Netherlands

2

LeBow College of Business, Drexel

University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Correspondence

Claudia Fritz, Rotterdam School of

Management, Erasmus University Rotterdam,

P.O. Box 1738, 3000 DR Rotterdam,

The Netherlands.

Email: erlemann@rsm.nl

Despite the increase in female leaders, women still remain a minority. As aspiration, defined as

the interest for achieving a leadership position, is one predictor of advancement, it is important

to understand conditions fostering female leadership aspiration. Because women face more

domestic and child care responsibilities, we predict that there is an interaction between gender

and work–life initiatives. These initiatives help employees balance their work and private life

through simplifying the integration and diminishing tension between the two spheres. Because

the work–life interface poses greater challenges for women, we hypothesize that work–life ini-

tiatives have a stronger influence on women's leadership aspiration. Results of a survey of

N= 402 employed men and women supported this hypothesis. The interaction effect of gen-

der and work–life initiatives on leadership aspiration was positive, implying that women's lead-

ership aspiration is more influenced by work–life initiatives. Our other hypothesis which states

that work–life initiatives—regardless of gender—are positively related to leadership aspiration

was supported. Hence, men's leadership aspiration also was positively influenced by the avail-

ability of such initiatives. This study suggests that by implementing work–life initiatives, such

as flexible work arrangements, leaves of absence, or on-site child assistance, organizations may

encourage leadership aspiration for both genders. Our data show that the interaction effect of

gender and work–life initiatives was positively related to leadership aspiration, but this may

particularly hold true for women.

KEYWORDS

gender, leadership aspiration, work–life initiatives

1|INTRODUCTION

The labor market is still characterized by an inequality between men

and women within leadership positions. Yet the number of women

within boards of the major listed companies within the European

Union has risen from 12% in 2010 to 23% in 2016 (European Com-

mission, 2016). Although female leaders still depict a minority, it is

expected that more women will occupy leadership positions at all

levels in the future (Eagly, 2007; Eagly & Carli, 2003). At the same

time, women still face more domestic or household responsibilities

than do men (Eagly & Carli, 2007; Krantz, Berntsson, & Lundberg,

2005; McKinsey & Company, 2016; Moreno-Colom, 2015), which

has been identified as an important barrier for their hierarchical

advancement (Carli & Eagly; 2016; Eagly & Carli, 2007; McCarty

Kilian, Hukai, & McCarty, 2005). Presumably, it is also a barrier that

discourages women's leadership aspiration. Leadership aspiration is

defined as the personal interest for achieving a leadership position

and the willingness to accept the offer to work in such a position

(Singer, 1991). In order to facilitate the integration between work and

family or domestic responsibilities, “employees today are offered a

wide range of work life arrangements”(Den Dulk & de Ruijter, 2008,

p. 1222). The question arising is whether the availability of work–life

initiatives has a positive impact on women's leadership aspiration.

Understanding leadership aspiration is important because leadership

aspiration is a major predictor of hierarchical advancement

(Tharenou, 2001), occupational status (Schoon, Martin, & Ross, 2007),

and career attainment (Schoon & Polek, 2011). Thus, factors that are

associated with the encouragement of women's leadership aspiration

may play an important role in closing the gender gap in leadership

attainment.

DOI: 10.1002/hrm.21875

Hum Resour Manage. 2018;57:855–868. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/hrm © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. 855