A study compared perceptions about male and female managers who used either an authoritative or participative leadership style. Participants were 102 undergraduate students from a small midwestern college, aged 17 to 60 with a mean age of 22 years. They evaluated a manager after reading a description of the behavior of a division manager in an organization. Students rated the manager's overall leadership ability and expected degree of success on 9-point scales; rated the manager on 10 bipolar personality characteristics, using a 7-point scale for each; and indicated whether they would like to work for the manager. A multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) revealed a significant interaction of manager gender and leadership style on the ratings on 10 personality characteristics. Males were rated more positively when they were authoritative; females were rated more positively when they were participative. Chi squares indicated that fewer students thought they would like or like to work for the woman rather than for the man. More students said they would not want to work for the authoritative woman than any of the other managers. Results indicated leaders were viewed more positively when they used a leadership style that was typical of and consistent with their gender. The liking measures also indicated a lingering negative feeling about women managers. (Appendixes include 17 references and 3 tables.) (Author/YLB)