| Females encounter unwarranted challenges when seeking executive level positions in the nonprofit sector. Females employed in nonprofit organizations tend to hold inferior posts as 82% of the organizational executives are male. Although women hold 18% of the nonprofit leadership positions, females employed in the sector primarily hold hourly and nonexecutive jobs. The intent of this quantitative, correlational, cross sectional study was to examine the possible relationship between the self-reported leadership styles and the career success of women in nonprofit organizations. Common methods used in decision-making, delegation, resource utilization, and strategic planning define a leadership style; however, leadership behaviors and practices demonstrated by males and females are different. For the purposes of this study, career success represents the ability of an individual to achieve a long-term or succession of leadership positions that fulfill job satisfaction, sustaining and relevant compensation, and self-efficacy. Female nonprofit leaders in the Gulf Coast region of the United States comprised the target population because of similar economic conditions, funding struggles, exposure to natural disasters, and community challenges. Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire surveys were sent to 350 female leaders of nonprofit organizations, with 70 completed surveys returned, which produced a 20% response rate. Participants responded to four additional questions concerning job and work/life balance satisfaction, and time in the nonprofit industry and time in position. Summing the coded values of the supplement question responses and salary information produced the Career Success Index. The results indicated a statistically significant and positive correlation between the Career Success Index of females in nonprofit organizations and transformational and transactional leadership styles. Spearman's rho and Pearson's correlations revealed the significance with p values of .016 and .010 respectively. Additionally, the results indicated no significant correlation between the Career Success Index of females in the nonprofit sector and a passive leadership style, with p > .401 for Spearman's rho and Pearson's correlation coefficients. Future research on the specific characteristics of transformational and transactional leadership might lead to targeted training initiatives and greater success for females in the nonprofit sector. |
