Female leadership: a systematic mapping of the literature indexed in Scopus from 2020 to 2026

Abstract

Introduction: Female leadership has gained increasing relevance because of persistent gender inequalities in access to, recognition of, and advancement into leadership positions. Objective: To characterize international scientific production on female leadership and identify its main thematic and population patterns between 2020 and 2026. Methodology: A systematic mapping of literature indexed in Scopus was conducted. The search identified 1,084 records; after applying filters for document type and publication status, a corpus of 642 articles was obtained. Using ATLAS.ti 26, metadata, titles, abstracts, and keywords were analyzed to describe temporal evolution, geographic distribution, thematic categories, and studied populations. Results: Publications increased and production was geographically diverse, although concentrated mainly in the United States. Studies addressing facilitators, barriers, and conceptualizations of female leadership predominated. Regarding populations, 171 articles examined women academics or leaders, 33 examined students or future professionals, 12 included both groups, and 426 did not allow identification of a specific population. Conclusion: The field shows sustained growth but continues to pay limited attention to student perceptions. These findings are descriptive and should be interpreted considering the exclusive use of Scopus and the absence of full-text assessment and risk-of-bias evaluation.