Theorizing Women Leaders' Negative Relations with Other Women

Mavin, S; Gandy, G

doi:10.4337/9781035306893.00033

Theorizing Women Leaders' Negative Relations with Other Women

Lookup NU author(s): Professor Sharon Mavin ORCiD

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This is the authors' accepted manuscript of a book chapter that has been published in its final definitive form by Edward Elgar Publishing, 2024.

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Abstract

This chapter outlines a theory of women leaders’ negative intra-gender relations with other women and calls for a shift in focus from blaming individual women (e.g., Queen Bees) to fuller explanations as to why women leaders experience negative relations with other women at work. We offer visual representation of our theory and offer new insights into gendered organizing processes. We explain women’s intra-gender social relations as provoked by gendered contexts where women engage in a dynamic interplay of: doing gender well and differently; homophily; homosociality; intra-gender competition, and; female misogyny. We argue that understandings of women’s negative relations with each other in a leader context offer insights into women’s lack of progress as leaders and provide consideration for diversity, inclusivity and policy initiatives. Our aim is to raise consciousness to this toxic dynamic and facilitate women’s agency in ongoing choices of how they relate to other women in leader contexts.