Here’s a surprising find from a recent academic study: women in leadership positions aren’t improving prevailing workplace gender inequalities. (You can read the full MIT-led study here.) So, if you are a female employee working under a female manager, the odds of getting a certain coveted position or a raise are NOT any better than if under a male supervisor, according to this study.
As someone who has worked under both female and male supervisors, I can say that it’s difficult to judge how my career trajectory might have been different if my boss for job X had been male instead of female (or vice versa). Would I have gotten meatier assignments, or advanced further up the career ladder? Would I have substantially greater responsibilities and higher earning power today?
Even if there’s no statistical career advantage in working under a female supervisor, the study brings up an interesting question. What are the benefits to having a male boss versus a female boss?
ForbesWoman blogger Susannah Breslin was unapologetic when she candidly stated in a May 2012 post that she’d rather work for a man than a woman. She brings up some good arguments with her (somewhat controversial) reasoning that, in her own words, men are more powerful, less threatened, and less emotional.
I’m not sure I agree with all of Breslin’s assertions. I work with a lot of males, and I don’t exactly work somewhere that has a “leave all emotions at the door” checkpoint. I’m torn as to my preferences between a male or female boss, and here’s why:
Women bond more quickly into friendship.
It’s been my experience that whether woman’s 22 or 82, I’ll want to bond with a friendly-mannered female and, with regular interaction, we’ll become friends. Maybe that’s why I still keep in touch with nearly every single female boss I worked with on a regular basis, and I have only limited, casual contact with male counterparts. I can also see that perhaps this same predilection for friendship may have also made me thinner-skinned when encountering work-related criticisms, or less willing to want to rock the boat by asking for a raise or an other big change.
With males, there has always been a line of professionalism that prevents a business relationship from bleeding into a friendship. Sure, I might talk sports or pop culture with a male higher-up, but I won’t volunteer details about, say, my dating life that I have discussed with said female bosses. I reserve THAT kind of talk for male coworkers my own age and pay-grade, if at all.
We keep in touch with those we relate to.
Unless we are super connectors (which I am not, although the more I learn about networking, the closer I get), we generally keep in touch with bosses and colleagues with whom we’ve established a good rapport. As I mentioned, I have a great track record of staying in touch with former female supervisors. If needed, I know I could shoot them an email for some quick advice or a deeper career-related issue, and get a quick and helpful response. Won’t that ease of continuing connection be better for me in the long haul?
Men are (generally) better at being straight shooters.
A bit politically incorrect of me to generalize, I know, but based on my experiences, professionally and otherwise, women are less likely to be confrontational. If I want solid, immediate feedback on whether or not my work meets expectations or falls short, I’d personally prefer a male boss. There’s no sugar coating or niceties, and some people prefer that approach.
I can certainly see that working in a male-dominated industry might be good for me in that I’m forced to make my own case. Do you have prefer a male or female boss? Please share!
As a feminist this is hard for me to say, but I MUCH prefer working for a male boss. I’ve had both and female bosses are just…tirelessly emotional.
Hi Jenna,
Thanks for commenting. I’ve had a female boss and thought she was great. But I have seen the emotional side of women come into play too much in the way they approach their work. In case and point, as a former high school English teacher, I saw too many of my female colleagues wear their emotions at work.
I mean I don’t mind emotions in most situations. If a boss had a bad night at home and brings it to the workplace, that doesn’t bother me. It’s important to learn your boss and learn when to steer clear! But I mean, when an employee leaves a job for one that furthers his or her life goals….it’s not professional, comfortable, or normal to take it as a personal attack and then make the remaining time at the job for said employee unbearable. Moreover,the way a female boss gossips about her employees…to all other employees…is just despicable and makes for a hostile environment. The rule of thumb is….if you are talking about another employee to me, not only is it uncomfortable for me to hear this about my coworker, but I am acutely aware you are talking to other employees about me as well. A gossipy person is a gossipy person, point blank. I’ve never seen a male boss act this way.
Hopefully my former female boss does not represent female bosses as a whole, but I do feel that female bosses feel they have more to prove and more easily threatened by younger and hard-working female employees.
I agree with you, Jenna, that gossiping coworkers (whether male or female, boss or other colleague) makes for an uncomfortable situation. Great point!
Yes, I agree that sometimes people have something going on at home and bring it to work with respect to their mood. That is understandable. The emotions that I was referring to are when (and I’m speaking of my own experience) people get emotional about their work at work. For instance, sometimes people have to collaborate with others that they would prefer not to collaborate with, but keep they should remain levelheaded and work to find common ground instead of bringing too much emotion into the situation.
On a parting note, I think there are great female bosses out there. I have had 2 of them.
My experience has been that one connects well with those who reciprocate. In this case gender is insignificant and whether the person is above me, below me or equal to me in the organization is also a mute point. I connect with the person and not title.
Thanks for mentiowning that, Alex.
That is true as well. I have definitely connected well with not just supervisors but other colleagues as well, females as well as males; just didn’t happen to be with any former male supervisors.