Roadblocks at the Intersection of Leader Gender and Relative Age: Why Feedback from Young Female Managers is Less Accepted

Abstract: Both female and younger managers face many difficulties in navigating organizational life. The present research investigates how the intersection of gender and relative age (i.e., the age difference between leader and employee) affect feedback reception. Integrating social hierarchy and intersectional perspectives with the leadership and feedback literatures, we propose that feedback provided by relatively younger female leaders will be the least accepted by employees because of their lower status. We further propose that this experience of being in a powerful position but with lower status leads to a vicious cycle that degrades the quality of managers’ feedback. In two field studies and one experimental study (total N = 784), the age difference between leader and subordinate significantly impacted the receptivity of feedback from female managers, but age did not play a role for male managers. We discuss our findings and actions organizations can take to boost young managers’ feedback legitimacy.

Keywords: gender; age-differences; leadership; feedback; intersectionality; stereotypes; status