Leader succession: does gender matter?

Leader succession is a traumatic event in any organization and unfortunately the list of successor candidates rarely includes women. In order to extend current knowledge regarding leader succession, this study examines the effect of leader successor gender on post‐succession performance. Juxtaposes theories regarding gender stereotypes, organization leadership, and leadership succession. Hypotheses are tested using a sample from one of few forums that yields a sufficient mix of male and female leaders – US NCAA Division I women's head basketball coaches. Results suggest neither gender outperforms the other. More importantly, finds that gender successor origin moderates the relationship between the gender of the successor and short‐term organizational performance.