Gender, computer-mediated leadership, and the utilization of disciplinary measures : breaking the unequal distribution of power and social stereotypes that invade face-to-face communication.

Abstract

Virtual workplaces are presently reconfiguring old notions of organizational life. These online, computer-mediated realms are providing fresh perspectives on leadership and presenting new challenges and opportunities for leaders. Preconceived ideas of acceptable feminine performance have previously limited women’s contributions to organizational life and prevented female leaders from enacting their own individual dispositions. However, computer-mediated settings revolutionize these long-standing rules that define successful leadership and the socially accepted behavior of men and women. An equalization trend emerges, and female leaders are freed from traditional gendered stereotypes and regulating social context clues. This study was conducted to satisfy two important objectives: (a) to add to the research on leadership by comparing the disciplinary strategies emitted by male and female leaders in the virtual workspace, and (b) to add new understandings of gender by determining if the portrayals of male and female leaders collected in face-to-face communication transcend into a virtual framework.