Gender Differences in Managerial Characteristics in a Female-dominated Health Profession

Abstract

This study examines gender differences in characteristics of managers in terms of leadership roles, use of power, type of supervisory style preferred, career commitment, and work/family conflict for the female profession of physical therapy. A questionnaire sent to all members of the Private Practice and Administration Sections of the American Physical Therapy Association yielded 545 managers, 58 percent of whom were female. Females preferred to use a transformational supervisory style more than the men did but males used more masculine leadership traits. Females were as committed to their careers as males and reported the same work/family conflict as the men. These results raise questions as to why proportionately more males are managers in a female-dominated profession. Have health care executives promoted men over women even when the occupation is mainly female?