Female Leaders and Pandemic Response: Analysis of Gender Stereotypes in Media
Mukundan, Haritha (2023)
2023
Master's Programme in Leadership for Change
Johtamisen ja talouden tiedekunta - Faculty of Management and Business
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Hyväksymispäivämäärä
2023-05-22
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:tuni-202304264685
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:tuni-202304264685
Tiivistelmä
Media coverage of female politicians can affect how the public perceives them as leaders. The language used by the media to portray female leaders is crucial in constructing their image as politicians. This study explored how female national leaders were represented by the global media during the pandemic and how it resulted in enhancing their stereotypical image. Social constructionism was used as the theoretical framework as the study focused on the gender representations of leaders and the language used by the media, both of which are social constructs.
News articles from the top 25 English-language news websites in the years 2020 and 2021 were selected to collect the data for the research. A combination of quantitative and qualitative assessment was done as part of the content analysis. 78 news articles were analyzed in total on the basis of nine attributes mentioned in the articles: age, professional background, family background, dressing style, characteristics associated with femininity, characteristics associated with masculinity, gender, details on personal lives, and sentiments expressed by the leaders. These attributes were formulated by the author on the basis of knowledge gathered from previous academic research. The results from the quantitative analysis were further evaluated in reference to the findings of previous research to gain a comprehensive understanding of the topic.
The results of the study suggest that the gender of the leader plays a crucial role in their media portrayal. Feminine traits are often associated with female leaders rather than their competency as leaders. Moreover, irrelevant aspects such as personal details, family, and professional background are given importance while covering news related to female leaders. While, initially, the thesis was also interested to explore whether the stereotypes were challenged, the findings of this study confirms that the language used by the media to represent female national leaders during the pandemic reiterated their stereotypical image as politicians. The results also cite the importance of media representations of female leaders and how present concept of leadership needs to improvise.
News articles from the top 25 English-language news websites in the years 2020 and 2021 were selected to collect the data for the research. A combination of quantitative and qualitative assessment was done as part of the content analysis. 78 news articles were analyzed in total on the basis of nine attributes mentioned in the articles: age, professional background, family background, dressing style, characteristics associated with femininity, characteristics associated with masculinity, gender, details on personal lives, and sentiments expressed by the leaders. These attributes were formulated by the author on the basis of knowledge gathered from previous academic research. The results from the quantitative analysis were further evaluated in reference to the findings of previous research to gain a comprehensive understanding of the topic.
The results of the study suggest that the gender of the leader plays a crucial role in their media portrayal. Feminine traits are often associated with female leaders rather than their competency as leaders. Moreover, irrelevant aspects such as personal details, family, and professional background are given importance while covering news related to female leaders. While, initially, the thesis was also interested to explore whether the stereotypes were challenged, the findings of this study confirms that the language used by the media to represent female national leaders during the pandemic reiterated their stereotypical image as politicians. The results also cite the importance of media representations of female leaders and how present concept of leadership needs to improvise.