Paper Type
Short
Paper Number
PACIS2025-1497
Description
The rise of hybrid work environment has reshaped workplace norms and leadership expectations. This study examines how leaders’ work-family segmentation preferences (i.e., maintaining clear vs. flexible boundaries between work and personal life) influence perceptions of leadership effectiveness and promotability. Drawing on Boundary Theory and Expectancy Violation Theory, we explore how these effects vary by leader gender. In a study with over 600 U.S. employees, we manipulated both work-family segmentation and leader gender. Results show that high segmentation enhances perceptions of leadership effectiveness and promotability, particularly for female leaders. When women enact high segmentation, they positively violate gender expectations, strengthening leadership evaluations. Male leaders benefit less from segmentation due to more aligned role expectations. These findings highlight how gendered norms shape leadership assessments in hybrid work settings and may inform organizational efforts to foster greater equity in leadership development and performance evaluations.
Recommended Citation
Trombini, Chiara; Magni, Massimo; and Ahuja, Manju, "Do Boundaries Matter? Gendered Leadership Perceptions in the Era of Hybrid Work" (2025). PACIS 2025 Proceedings. 2.
https://aisel.aisnet.org/pacis2025/conftrack/conftrack/2
Do Boundaries Matter? Gendered Leadership Perceptions in the Era of Hybrid Work
The rise of hybrid work environment has reshaped workplace norms and leadership expectations. This study examines how leaders’ work-family segmentation preferences (i.e., maintaining clear vs. flexible boundaries between work and personal life) influence perceptions of leadership effectiveness and promotability. Drawing on Boundary Theory and Expectancy Violation Theory, we explore how these effects vary by leader gender. In a study with over 600 U.S. employees, we manipulated both work-family segmentation and leader gender. Results show that high segmentation enhances perceptions of leadership effectiveness and promotability, particularly for female leaders. When women enact high segmentation, they positively violate gender expectations, strengthening leadership evaluations. Male leaders benefit less from segmentation due to more aligned role expectations. These findings highlight how gendered norms shape leadership assessments in hybrid work settings and may inform organizational efforts to foster greater equity in leadership development and performance evaluations.
Comments
Diversity