Leadership in Kazakhstan: the influence of gender and ethnicity on audience perception of leadership ability

Abstract

A brief examination of the gender and ethnicity of leaders in sectors in Kazakhstan such as government, healthcare, education, and energy finds that most are male and ethnically Kazakh. This observation raised a question about whether this is a basic reflection of Kazakh society and beliefs about who should be a leader or who is a "good" leader, thus, this study was born. In this research project, conducted by students in the Communication Research Methods course (COMM 200, Spring 2014), we first examined what leadership characteristics are most important among Kazakhstani young people (RQ1). Then, we questioned whether the gender (RQ2) and/or ethnicity (RQ3) of person influenced that person's perceived leadership ability as judged by others in Kazakhstan.