Beyond Fixing Women: In Pursuit of Women Leaders for Responsible Leadership

Much of the management literature on the sustainable development goal of gender equality has been preoccupied with structural barriers and gender biases contributing to the glass ceiling, largely ignoring the links between organizational practices to support female leadership talent development (facilitated by the human resources [HR] department) and responsible leadership development. In this article, we explore how leadership development addresses gender equality, by conducting a systematic review of the field. We analyze evidence on leadership development practices for females as taking place within and beyond organizational boundaries. We focus on the micro-foundations of responsible leadership development and propose a model that demonstrates how organizational- and individual-level practices impact not only at the individual-level but also organizational-level and, ultimately, societal-level outcomes. The article contributes to the responsible leadership literature as well as the literature at the intersection of gender, leadership development, and HR, reflecting on implications for future research and managerial practice.