Converging demands, diverging experiences: gendered leadership in the Australian mining, oil and gas sector during a prolonged crisis

Purpose Effective leadership during a prolonged crisis requires significant emotional and moral labour. Prior literature has examined gendered differences in leadership behaviour and performance during a crisis, yet less is known about how leaders experience gendered expectations during a prolonged crisis. This study therefore examines gender differences in middle-level leaders’ experiences during a protracted crisis in the Australian extractive industry. Design/methodology/approach The authors used a sequential qualitative design. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 32 middle-level leaders in the Australian mining, oil and gas industry. The full data set was first analysed thematically to establish a broad account of leadership experiences. A purposive subsample of 15 participants, comprising 4 women and 11 men, was then selected for interpretative phenomenological analysis to examine how leaders made sense of prolonged crisis conditions. This two-stage approach enabled both contextual breadth and interpretive depth. Findings The findings of this study reveal convergence in structural demands, including heightened responsibility, uncertainty and cumulative strain. Divergence emerged in how these demands were internalised and managed. Several women leaders described relationally oriented sensemaking, heightened psychosocial vigilance and more porous boundaries. Several men leaders described system-focused risk, emotional restraint and compartmentalisation. These patterns are interpreted as contextually shaped tendencies rather than fixed gendered traits. Together, they produced distinct forms of strain, authority enactment and endurance. Originality/value The authors contribute to the Gender in Management literature by illustrating how gendered organisational norms shape leadership legitimacy, emotional labour and identity work during prolonged crisis conditions. This study presents a convergence–divergence conceptual framework that explains how shared crisis demands and gendered expectations can produce divergent leadership experiences in a male-dominated, high-risk industry.