Another level of gender bias
I notice that female conductors are often celebrated when they exhibit "male" stereotype qualities: power, conviction, forcefulness, charisma.
I don't often see female conductors celebrated for "soft" skills: empathy, thoughtfulness, emotional intelligence, introversion. These are what we may consider female stereotype qualities.
This reveals another level of gender bias worth considering: only female conductors who behave like men are acceptable.
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In fact, female conductors are often advised to adopt the "male" qualities to succeed (I certainly was). This perpetuates the male leadership stereotype. It becomes a competition of who can physically conduct harder, demand more authority, and be the most convincing.
This may feel natural to some women, and they are able to own it and utilize it as a strength. Other women may find these qualities quite uncomfortable to adopt (like me).
For me, conforming to the male stereotype felt inauthentic and made me feel smaller and less effective. I was pretending to be someone I'm not. My repeated failures to conform made me feel like I was incapable of meeting "the standard." Alas, I was not powerful enough, not convincing enough, not forceful enough, and not charismatic enough.
I was even shamed into feeling like I didn't "have what it takes" when I attempted to shine through my quiet leadership.
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Let's be honest: how often do we celebrate (or hire) a conductor / director / leader because they were empathetic, thoughtful, emotionally intelligent, or an introvert? Few examples probably come to mind, if any.
And the real question: would it really have mattered if they were a man or a woman? Probably not.
Those qualities are less desirable because they don't fit the male leadership stereotype.
So only celebrating women who exhibit these qualities is inherently a gender bias. Plus, it reveals our unconscious bias against "soft" skills, particularly against women who naturally excel at them.
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The argument that "we are hiring more women now, aren't we?" is not an excuse to overlook this level of bias.
The more viable solution lies in 1) how we challenge our gender-stereotypical expectations of leadership qualities and 2) how we disassociate our standards for women away from those gender-biased expectations.
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