Leadership and Influence Processes

This week’s topic is on Leadership and Influence Processes. A major area of focus within the leadership research is bias, particularly with regard to gender. You may review the lecture slides to get some background on the major theories in this area and also check out this Ted talk (Links to an external site.) for some interesting perspective (prior to next class). However, we will discuss this in more detail next class.

For the current activity (which is to be completed individually), you are going to complete an Implicit Association Test (IAT), which assesses unconscious/hidden gender bias toward leadership (checkout this Wiki page for background on its application in social science research (Links to an external site.)).

For this activity, please use this link to access the assessment, which usually takes between 10-15 minutes (make sure you pay very close attention to the instructions): https://wiseli.wisc.edu/research/gender-leadership-iat/ (Links to an external site.)

Also note, you may select the non-research option if you don’t want your demographic data to be collected. Once you complete the assessment, make note of your results and answer the following questions:

(1) First, what did your results indicate?

(2) Were you surprised by these results? Why?

(3) What was your reaction to the IAT? Do you find it to be a valid tool for assessing gender bias in leadership?

(4) Imagine you were in a consultant role, and an organization approached you to address bias in their selection and promotion decisions. What ideas or steps might people take to become more aware of their unconscious biases, especially as it pertains to leadership?