Want to maximize your employees’ creativity? Consider putting a woman in charge, Bryant University researchers say.  

Defying gender stereotypes about leadership roles, women leaders were found to have a more positive influence on employee creativity, thanks to interacting more frequently with workers, according to a study that was recently published in the Journal of Comparative International Management. 

“Our findings suggest that women tend to engage in more frequent and meaningful interactions with their subordinates, which could help foster a more psychologically safe environment,” says study lead author Holly Chadwick ’23, who worked on the research as her honors thesis while pursuing her undergraduate degree in International Business at Bryant.  “This sense of safety, in turn, could encourage employees to share ideas freely, take risks, and receive feedback without fear of judgement.” 

“Our findings suggest that women tend to engage in more frequent and meaningful interactions with their subordinates, which could help foster a more psychologically safe environment."

Such an environment is crucial for creativity, which often involves uncertainty and ambiguity that can lead to frustration or anxiety, she notes.  

“By [women leaders] creating this safe space, employees could become more open to proposing ideas and engaging in the various stages of creative problem-solving process,” Chadwick says.   

In the workplace, this sense of psychological safety could mean “you feel more comfortable to tell unconventional things to a female than a male,” adds R. Isil Yavuz, Ph.D., Chadwick’s academic advisor and an assistant professor of Entrepreneurship at Bryant, who co-authored the study along with Management Professor Crystal Jiang, Ph.D., and Management Department Chair Elzotbek Rustambekov, Ph.D.  

Some of it also is just being present, says Yavuz.  

“If you don't see your manager or interact on a regular basis, you might have some novel ideas, but that doesn't necessarily turn into an outcome,” she says . 

The researchers based their analysis on social role and leader-member exchange (LMX) theories, using data gathered from German, Japanese, and South Korean companies with subsidiaries located in China.  

“Women are typically seen to exhibit behaviors that are more nurturing, empowering, and cooperative, which aligns them more closely with transformational leadership styles,” says Chadwick. “This style emphasizes inspiring and motivating employees, fostering collaboration and growth, and encouraging risk-taking while challenging assumptions.”  

“If you don't see your manager or interact on a regular basis, you might have some novel ideas, but that doesn't necessarily turn into an outcome."

While other studies have looked at the differing leadership styles of men and women, the new research is novel in its specific focus on creativity. The women in leadership edge “could be even more influential in some of the countries with more gender discrimination or gender inequality,” Yavuz says.  

Chadwick says men tend to lean into transactional leadership, focusing more on setting objectives, assigning tasks, and maintaining established norms and expectations.  

“From my perspective, the strengths of women, such as their ability to build trust and create a supportive, inclusive environment, can sometimes be perceived as a weakness in men, who may prioritize achieving goals and maintaining control,” she says. “Meanwhile, the strengths of male leadership, like decisiveness and focus on results, can be areas where women may struggle.”  

The tendency for women to adopt an interpersonal and participative approach to leadership “aligns with social role theory, which proposes that leaders often behave according to the societal expectations tied to their gender roles,” says Chadwick.   

That doesn’t mean, however, that men can’t learn to interact differently with employees who they want to be creative at work.  

“The key takeaway from our research is that frequent interaction between superiors and subordinates can help drive creativity,” Chadwick says. “Companies can leverage this insight by training all supervisors, regardless of gender, in transformational and participative leadership. Additionally, they could encourage frequent, high-quality exchanges between leaders and their teams, while fostering a culture that values collaboration, trust, and psychological safety.”