Gender Variation in Leadership Behavior Traits among Healthcare Managers in Government Health Sectors in Bangladesh

Vollständiger Abstract

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Assessment of leadership behavior has become more important than ever in recent years to enhance the managerial and leadership qualities of health managers to improve the capacity of healthcare delivery to the people of the country. A descriptive type of cross-sectional study was conducted among 154 medical doctors working in different management positions, between January and December of 2023, to observe gender related variation in their leadership behavior traits. Data was collected by face-to-face interview using modified Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ). Four leadership styles (autocratic, democratic, transformational and laissez-faire) were assessed. 15 factors were taken into consideration; each factor had 3 associated questions. Using factor analysis, leadership behavior was classified as high, moderate and low; low value was 0–4, while medium and high values were 5–8 and 9–12, respectively. The mean age of the respondents was (43.25±8.387) years; 35.7% belonged to 41–50 years age group. 74.7% were male and 25.3% were female (male-female ratio was nearly 3:1). Most of our study participants exhibited moderate levels of autocratic (66.2%) and laissez-faire (50.2%) leadership behaviour in their managerial roles. In contrast, they displayed high levels of democratic (96.8%) and transformational (93.5%) leadership behavior. Regarding gender difference, there was an association between gender and autocratic and democratic leadership behavior traits (p0.05). Male managers possessed moderate autocratic (φ=0.245) and laissez-faire (φ=0.073) leadership behaviour traits and high democratic (φ=0.315) and transformational (φ=0.819) leadership behaviour traits, as compared to their female counterparts. International Journal of Human and Health Sciences Vol. 10 No. 04 Oct’26 Page: 257-262