Are women “cooler” than men during crises? Exploring gender differences in perceiving organisational crisis preparedness proneness

The paper examines how male and female executives’ leadership orientations are reflected in crisis awareness. Drawing on management‐related gender and crisis theories, it is argued that women’s proclivity to employ participative decision making is mirrored advantageously in coping with crisis‐related scenarios. Predicated on a sample of 112 Israeli executives it is shown that perceptions of crisis preparedness/proneness are gender‐based and that women are more likely to employ a holistic approach that facilitates crisis preparedness.