Kvinnligt och manligt ledarskap i socialt arbete

Sammanfattning: Abstract This paper aims to highlight the ideas and experiences of male and female leadership within the context of social work. The overall purpose of this study is, through literature and other studies to find the answer to the question of how gender affects leadership and what influences men and women has to attain managerial positions within the municipal courts. To illustrate this, we have created two questions: 1.What beliefs and perspectives are male and female middle managers expressing on leadership? 2. What challenges does male and female middle managers meet as leaders? The theory that is used are social constructivism and social role theory. Through these theories the ambition is to analyze the leadership position viewed from a gender perspective, as well as the desirable leadership qualities that define men and women as managers/ leaders. We seek to answer our questions with a qualitative study using six people in managerial positions who work in municipal controlled HVB-homes. The method used in this paper is semi structured interviews. Our findings show that differences in male and female leadership exist and can be correlated to the interaction between individuals in different levels. We put forward that the construction of gender and its practical expression has a direct impact for individuals in leadership positions. Research also confirms that many work stations are gender-marked and that this may have contributed to why society looks like it does. Our study further indicates that equal opportunities and distribution of managerial positions in terms of gender increases.