Gender, emotional intelligence and leadership styles of Japanese managers

In Japan, women now constitute 40% of the total workforce, but the ratio of women in managerial positions is still very low, at 10%. Japanese women in managerial positions often struggle to fit in this "man's world." This study investigated 118 Japanese managers to see if there was any gender difference in their emotional intelligence and leadership styles. Results were unfavorable for Japanese female managers in both leadership styles and emotional intelligence; Japanese female managers scored relatively higher in transactional leadership, and lower in emotional recognition and expression than their male counterparts. The study calls for further examination of gender differences in leadership styles and emotional intelligence to determine how the Japanese working environment affects female managers.