Australian National University
Dr. Karryna Madison is a Lecturer in Leadership (equivalent to Assistant Professor) in the Research School of Management at The Australian National University. Her research examines how leaders are perceived and how those perceptions are shaped by gender. Her work has appeared in The Leadership Quarterly, Human Relations, and Journal of Business Research, and has received Best Paper nominations from the Gender and Diversity in Organizations Division of the Academy of Management (2023 and 2024) and the Greenleaf Scholar Award (2021).
Abstract
Servant leadership research uses social exchange theory to explain how servant leaders elicit servant behaviors in their followers. Yet, gender role expectations shape perceptions of leader behavior which may hold implications for how leader–follower social exchange relationships unfold. Given social exchange theory’s widespread use within servant leadership research, and organizational studies more broadly, this oversight may negatively influence the field’s progression. Against this backdrop, this study examines gender differences in how followers reciprocate servant leadership.