摘要：In this paper, I examine the gendered representation of leadership in the debut season of the American reality television show The Apprentice. Drawing on the methods of discourse analysis, I analyze the leadership styles that a male and a female contestant employ in 'doing leadership'. In particular, in presenting my detailed micro-analyses of the interactions I pay attention to the linguistic devices and discursive strategies that make up their leadership styles. I suggest that they are shown to display different styles of leadership in The Apprentice which are in accordance with the traditionally dichotomous gendered expectations: while men's leadership style is characterized by directness and authoritativeness, women's leadership style emphasizes group consensus and relational goals. I argue that such gender-stereotypic representations in The Apprentice not only reinforce and reproduce the traditional gender stereotypes, but also confirm the existence of the differences between men and women. As a result of the gender differences exemplified by the differential leadership styles and the incompatibility of the feminine discourse style with the commonly conceived notion of leadership, the way the male and female project manager are represented with regard to their leadership styles and abilities in The Apprentice contributes to naturalizing women as unsuitable and incompetent in 'doing leadership'. Finally, I also suggest that the gendered composition of the group is the main reason for the gender differences found in the performance of leadership within the same-sex teams in The Apprentice.
