Navigating the labyrinth: A study of gender and positional effects on individuals' perceptions of ideal leadership qualities within evangelical Christian higher education.

Within the 105 member institutions of the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities (CCCU), women continue to be underrepresented in high-level leadership positions, where overall they hold 16.5% of the cabinet-level positions. Researchers have spent considerable time studying the prejudices, stereotypes, negative perceptions, and barriers women face in obtaining high-level leadership positions in organizations, but little research exists regarding the barriers women might face as they pursue high-level leadership roles in evangelical Christian higher education. The purpose of this study was to identify gender and positional effects on individuals' perceptions of ideal leadership qualities. The study utilized Eagly and Karau's (2002) role congruity theory of prejudice toward female leaders as a theoretical framework to assess whether participants' perceptions of characteristics attributed to ideal CCCU leaders differ by the leaders' gender and position and by the participants' gender and position. A total of 1,032 faculty, staff, and administrators equally divided between men and women, from five CCCU member institutions were asked to rate perceptions of relationally-oriented, task-oriented, and other leadership characteristics that are most desired for ideal leaders in the CCCU.  Utilizing a 2 x 3 x 6 between-subjects multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA), this research explored the extent to which the gender of the participant, the position of the participant, and the target leader type impacted perceptions of qualities that are desired for ideal leaders in CCCU member institutions. There were two major findings in this study. First, faculty, staff, and administrators rated desired leadership characteristics of effective female leaders similarly to effective male leaders. The role congruity discovered in this sample indicated that, at least on these campuses, there was no social-cognitive explanation for prejudice to exist toward women in leadership and therefore there is likely to be an acceptance of women in these roles. Second, transformational and relational leadership styles were the desired models of leadership for these participants, regardless of the gender or position of the leader. Discussion of the findings, limitations, and recommendations for actions and further research are provided.

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