Role of gender and age in influencing dentist perceptions of effective leadership capabilities

The characteristics of effective leaders in dentistry are unknown, especially as they relate to the perceptions of attributes associated with emotional intelligence.

The purpose of this study was to survey dentists about their perceptions of the relative importance of emotional intelligence domains in effective leadership and in effective leaders with whom they have worked and to determine whether the differences were based on gender and age.

A survey was sent to a list of over 50 000 dentists. The survey asked respondents to rate important qualities found in effective leaders in general and to identify important qualities found in the most effective leaders with whom they had worked or by whom they had been mentored. Additionally, demographic information such as the age and gender of the participants was captured in the survey. Descriptive statistics were created and statistical differences (α=.05) between genders were determined.

A total of 256 respondents completed the survey. Self-management and relationship management were perceived to be more important than social awareness or self-awareness. Adaptability was the highest ranked personal competence skill, while conflict management was perceived as the least important personal competence skill. The social competence skills of empathy, organizational awareness, influence, and inspirational leadership were similarly ranked as highly important. When asked to identify the most important leadership skill of previous leaders, respondents noted that conflict management was most important and emotional self-awareness was least important. Women viewed the attributes of adaptability, organizational awareness, and conflict management as more important. Men viewed achievement orientation and coaching or mentoring as more important attributes of leaders. When answers were stratified for age group responses, younger respondents valued relationship management and adaptability, and whether their leader valued and exhibited conflict management more than older respondents. Older respondents were more likely to respond "yes" to valuing self-management and to whether their leader valued and exhibited inspirational leadership.

Different genders and different age groups view leadership skills in effective leaders differently. The results of this study indicate that women may need different leadership skills to lead colleagues of different ages.