Gallup has polled Americans on their male or female boss preferences for over six decades now. It took until this century for “no difference” (46% in 2014) to consistently become the top answer– an answer which men (58%) are much more likely to express than women (34%).
During all previous years of the study, it’s no big surprise that preference for a male boss took the top spot. Among those with a preference today, men and women still prefer male bosses.
Among men, 14% prefer a female boss and 26% prefer a male boss – which means that among preferring men, 65% pick a male boss. Among women, 25% prefer a female boss and 39% prefer a male boss – which means that among preferring women,61% pick a male boss.
Women are more likely than men to prefer a female boss, but also more likely to prefer a male boss. Gallup points out that total preference for a female boss has never surpassed 25%.
Gallup indicates one of the measures that may contribute to the female boss bias is still too few female bosses. Only 33% of respondents currently had a female boss. But “those who have a female boss are more likely than those with a male boss to say they would prefer a female boss if they got a new job (27% vs. 15%, respectively).”
The Bias Behind Our Preferences
A recent study by Powell & Butterfield published in the Journal of Vocational Behavior sought to understand what drives preferences around male or female bosses, or the lack of preference.
The researchers note that the overall male bias is likely a complicated mix of pervasive gender stereotypes, leadership traits being associated to men, role congruity, societally conferred male status, and think manager-think male prototypes. Other sources speculate female preference in particular for male bosses may lie in fear of the “queen bee syndrome”, bullying by other women, reports of increased stress when reporting to female bosses, or that women bosses get penalized for supporting other women’s career advancement.
But the researchers wanted to investigate how gender identity plays a role in preferences. They asked 455 undergraduate (median age 20) and part-time MBA students (median age 36) about their boss preferences and had them complete a tool that measures gender identity, or to what extent people identify themselves as having (stereotypical) “masculine” traits and (stereotypical) “feminine traits.
Similar to Gallup, they found the majority of participants had no preference about the sex of their boss. But sex-typed respondents (those self-identifying either highly masculine or highly feminine based on stereotypical traits) were more likely to express a preference – and that preference was likely to be consistent with their own gender-identification.
“Feminine” respondents preferred a female boss more than “masculine” ones. “Masculine” respondents preferred a male boss more than “feminine” ones. “Undifferentiated” or “androgynous” respondents, less defined personally by gender, were less inclined to express any preference for their bosses too.
According to Powell, “Our study supports the similarity attraction paradigm that suggests people are more interpersonally attracted to the idea of working with and being around people whom they see as being like themselves.”
If we extend these findings, our preferences or lack of them for the sex of our boss may reflect something about how we gender-identify within. It would seem that more strongly embracing our own feminine traits could open us up more to embracing female bosses.
Women are Better Managers
There are a lot of reasons to embrace female leadership. A recent Gallup “State of the American Manager” report focused on, despite the male boss bias, “why women are better managers than men.”
Fostering Engagement
Gallup found female leaders (41%) are more engaged than male leaders (35%), and make more engaging bosses. This enables them to lead high-performing teams.
The report found “Employees of female managers outscore employees of male managers on 11 of 12 engagement items.” Employees who work for a female manager are more engaged (on average 6%). The highest engagement levels are among female employees reporting to female managers (35%) and the lowest engagement is among male employees reporting to male managers (25%).
Cultivating Potential
Gallup found that employees who report to a female manager rather than male manager are 1.26 times more likely to strongly agree that “There is someone at work who encourages my development.”
The report noted, “This suggests that female managers likely surpass their male counterparts in cultivating potential in others and helping to define a bright future for their employees.”
Another aspect in which female bosses shined was in attention to employee progress. Employees reporting to a female manager are 1.29 times more likely to strongly agree that “In the last six months, someone at work has talked to me about my progress.”
According to the report, “This suggests that female managers, more so than male managers, tend to provide regular feedback to help their employees achieve their development goals.”
Providing Recognition
When employees do make progress or realize achievements, female managers are more likely to acknowledge it too. The Gallup study found that employees reporting to a female boss are 1.17 times more likely to strongly agree that “In the last seven days, I have received recognition or praise for doing good work.”
According to the report, “In addition to encouraging associate development through regular conversations about performance, this suggests that female managers surpass male managers in providing positive feedback that helps employees feel valued for their everyday contributions” and they are more likely “helping their employees harness the power of positive reinforcement.”
“Overall,” the report states, “female managers eclipse their male counterparts at setting basic expectations for their employees, building relationships with their subordinates, encouraging a positive team environment and providing employees with opportunities to develop within their careers.”
Gallup’s recommendation? Companies need to get more female managers in place through use of the great hiring and promoting equalizer of, wait for it: “talent.”
Overall, many advantages exist to having a women as your manager. It’s time both men and women took stock of them.
Women in China: Chutes and Ladders of Professional Women
Office Politics, PipelineRead more
Karuna Annavajjala, Director, Corporate Systems Technology, TIAA-CREF
Voices of ExperienceAfter completing her bachelor’s in engineering in India, Annavajjala came to the United States and earned her master’s degree in computer science. She moved to Columbus, Ohio, to become a developer at a startup company, eventually moving into the role of software architect. She then joined Alliance Data in the marketing technology department prior to segueing into product management. At that point, she realized that she wanted to focus on core strategy as her full-time job, rather than just engaging in special projects or other sporadic engagements, and pursued her Executive MBA from the University of Michigan, specializing in corporate strategy.
After earning her MBA, she worked at Deloitte Consulting in the technology strategy area and then joined TIAA-CREF three years ago in a role that would maximize her years of strategy experience at the intersection of business and technology.
Last year, she assumed a new role at TIAA-CREF, heading up IT teams that support corporate functions, including human resources, legal and compliance. She cites one of her major achievements as establishing solid internal partnerships and providing value as a technology leader for human resources function.
Right now, Annavajjala is working with her team to refresh the company’s technology strategy roadmap and developing the digital strategy for human resources, a project she relishes because of her interest in strategy work.
“It provides the perfect opportunity to partner with leadership on the business side, as I explore what they need and how we can make it happen,” she says.
This is also part of one of the ongoing industry trends that interests her: the increased focus on data centric decisions and the digital user experience.
Career Lessons
As Annavajjala has progressed through her career, she has realized the importance of being in tune with the bigger picture of the department’s function and how it relates to the overall business strategy. In her case, that meant keeping the technology function relevant to the business process change to enable the end to end solution.
“To be successful in a professional environment it takes a combination of skill sets, but one big lesson I have learned and consistently applied that yielded positive results is to always be curious and being a lifelong learner.”
To that end, she encourages her team to always ask questions, especially in the technology sector where it’s imperative to be in tune with the rapid pace of change. “You’ll be amazed at how much you can learn and how much faster things will move forward because you took the time to ask the right questions.”
An Opportunity for Women
According to Annavajjala, the pool of female talent in the technology space is not where anyone would like it to be, but that also offers a positive opportunity for women who excel. “It’s easy to shine if you capitalize on the opportunity because there are fewer women,” she says, adding that more women would bring much needed diversity to the field and adds that more girls and young women would be interested in technology careers if they understood all their options.
As an example, she cites a coding class that one of her middle school daughter’s teachers was holding. At first, no girls signed up for it, but when they created a separate class for girls, it filled up faster than the boys’ class. The girls just needed the chance to try it in an environment they saw as more conducive to their learning. It is important to understand, acknowledge and act on such cultural nuances when educating and encouraging girls to pursue technology learning.
She also finds that many perceptions of the financial services industry are false as well. “The idea that the entire industry is full of male-dominated Wall Street Type A personalities is a stereotype that’s no longer relevant,” she says, though she does add that there are subtler barriers that typically manifest themselves later in one’s corporate career growth.
For that reason, she advises her peers to be bold about sharing their story openly to help others navigate from what they know and have achieved.
Annavajjala is part of the steering committee for TIAA’s IT Women’s Council and a member at large of the women’s Employee Resource Group (ERG), and adds that she is personally passionate about women in technology, and so is keen to continue to serve in the Diversity and Inclusion Council.
Annavajjala believes that these types of programs have to be a “pull,” rather than a “push.” “It can’t be just about the company sending out communications and making opportunities available,” she says, but rather that individuals should be invested enough to want to participate and make time for such programs.
Throughout her career, she has been active in these types of initiatives, including founding the Diversity Committee at Alliance Data. “It was designed to provide a framework and forum for everyone to feel like they have a place for their voice to be heard and share ideas. Each of us has an important perspective, regardless of what we look like or where we come from and it is vital that we express it.”
Sharing Her Passion for Education
Annavajjala carries her passion for STEM and education into her volunteer pursuits, working to make sure that school-aged kids have access to STEM education and new technology and capabilities. She is also actively involved with the BeEducated Movement, a non-profit organization that helps sponsor libraries in rural communities in India, Nepal and Pakistan.
“Kids in those rural communities drop out of school not because of a lack of interest, but because schools can’t provide text books, and families can’t afford them. These rural libraries were established to provide standard text books, job and exam preparation material relevant to their local regions, so kids can graduate school successfully and then aspire for higher education or jobs.”
Update: Professional Women in South Korea and the Landscape for Working Women
PipelineHow easy is it for South Korean woman to climb the corporate ladder in modern day South Korea? Today’s South Korea is undeniably behind the rest of the world in its prevalence of women in professional positions. Most of Korea’s female workforce finds employment as secretaries or in low paid blue collar work. Compared with a worldwide average of 10.5%, Korean women hold only 1.9% of director level positions in Korea. This systematic inequality at corporate and managerial levels of Korean society resulted in South Korea scoring the lowest of all industrialized nations on The Economist’s glass ceiling index. But with the election of Park Geun-hye as president in 2012, change is on the horizon for South Korea’s career oriented women. Through Korea’s rapid development, women today have opportunities their mothers could only dream of at the same age.
Read more
Update: Professional Women in India and the Landscape for Working Women
PipelineBen Rozon
This article is part of theglasshammer.com’s annual women in Asia feature running throughout the month of August.
Read more
Voice of Experience: Pauline Ho, Assurance Leader, PwC Malaysia
People, Voices of ExperienceSince 1993, Ho has worked for PwC in the Malaysia office, augmented by a two-year international assignment with PwC UK, working with clients in the energy and utilities sectors among others. She became Partner in 2005 and almost immediately learnt that she was pregnant with triplets. Confined to bed rest towards the end of the pregnancy, she worked from her hospital room until her doctor banned her from conference calls. “I am not one to take it easy. However it is a choice,” she says.
When she did return, she decided to take on client work that didn’t involve much travel demands in addition to taking on what she felt would be a more stable position overseeing Human Capital and Methodology for the Assurance practice.
After three years, she relinquished the Methodology duties in order to oversee larger clients, eventually leading to being asked to lead the Assurance practice for Malaysia – the first female Assurance Leader in Malaysia.
She names this as the professional achievement she is most proud of, overseeing 1,200 professionals which is roughly half the firm in Malaysia.
Right now she is focused on working with PwC on building trust in a competitive marketplace, noting that Assurance is the foundation for that trust. “The audit market is very mature, but we are working to change mindsets to view assurance in a broader lens, to demonstrate the value we can bring to our clients.”
Learning to Take Risks
As she has progressed throughout her career, Ho says that she has learned that it’s ok to make mistakes because trying new things is how you learn. She says that in the past she had taken the approach that if she wasn’t certain about something, she’d better not do it.
That held her back, she says, but as she progressed she had mentors who pushed her along and helped her take on more courageous roles and new challenges.
She cites one time when her Managing Partner asked her who would be suited to take on a new role, and she offered three names, excluding her own, and explained why those people could do the job. When he asked about her, she said that it had never crossed her mind because she wasn’t ready. When he said I think you are the person, I agreed,” she remembers, reflecting on a conversation playing in her mind about other times she had turned down a role because it required too much travel or otherwise was outside of her comfort zone.
Making Strides In Equal Representation
Ho is proud that the firm has excellent female representation at all levels – 60 percent of its graduate intakes are women, along with 40 percent of partners and directors, and even two of the nine executive board members, including Ho.
One area where it is trickier to maintain equality generally, but desired by female millennials, is in mobility since it is more challenging for women to take their family overseas in the Asian culture than men.
She also sees that many women take a break when they have children and it is challenging for them to return. The firm is addressing that by supporting the national “Back2Work” program, where they help women re-acclimate, and the firm also offers flexible working arrangements, which allows people to work a minimum of three days a week..
The board level is another place where she sees women can have an impact. “When people retire from board positions, they try to find others whom they know to take their places, so it’s important for women to remember to do the same for women.”
She is also a believer in mentoring, and recently volunteered to help in a pilot program to mentor young, high-potential women called “Womentum,” an idea that came from her Markets Leader, another female partner on the executive board of PwC Malaysia. “Women need to help each other more, share their stories and let people see that there are successes and failures, and it’s ok to do something out of your comfort zone,” Ho says.
She herself benefited from a mentoring program earlier in her career, when she was fortunate to be assigned by the firm’s former chairman to a female CEO of an international bank in Malaysia, whom she says was instrumental in helping her prioritize what was important and how to make it happen.
Away from the Office
Ho’s triplets, now nine, keep her busy away from the office with their sports and activities. The family also prioritizes quarterly holidays – whether to the beach or the slopes to enjoy family time.
Update: Professional Women Japan and the Landscape for Working Women
PipelineHow easy is it for Japanese woman to climb the corporate ladder in modern day Japan? With the establishment of Japan’s Equal Opportunity Law in 1985, Japanese women have become a fixture on factory floors and construction sites across Japan. In universities, Japanese women consistently perform to the highest international standards and are viewed as one of the best educated female demographics in the world.
Read more
Despite Our Bias Against Them, Gallup Says Females Make Better Managers
Career Advice, Office PoliticsDuring all previous years of the study, it’s no big surprise that preference for a male boss took the top spot. Among those with a preference today, men and women still prefer male bosses.
Among men, 14% prefer a female boss and 26% prefer a male boss – which means that among preferring men, 65% pick a male boss. Among women, 25% prefer a female boss and 39% prefer a male boss – which means that among preferring women,61% pick a male boss.
Women are more likely than men to prefer a female boss, but also more likely to prefer a male boss. Gallup points out that total preference for a female boss has never surpassed 25%.
Gallup indicates one of the measures that may contribute to the female boss bias is still too few female bosses. Only 33% of respondents currently had a female boss. But “those who have a female boss are more likely than those with a male boss to say they would prefer a female boss if they got a new job (27% vs. 15%, respectively).”
The Bias Behind Our Preferences
A recent study by Powell & Butterfield published in the Journal of Vocational Behavior sought to understand what drives preferences around male or female bosses, or the lack of preference.
The researchers note that the overall male bias is likely a complicated mix of pervasive gender stereotypes, leadership traits being associated to men, role congruity, societally conferred male status, and think manager-think male prototypes. Other sources speculate female preference in particular for male bosses may lie in fear of the “queen bee syndrome”, bullying by other women, reports of increased stress when reporting to female bosses, or that women bosses get penalized for supporting other women’s career advancement.
But the researchers wanted to investigate how gender identity plays a role in preferences. They asked 455 undergraduate (median age 20) and part-time MBA students (median age 36) about their boss preferences and had them complete a tool that measures gender identity, or to what extent people identify themselves as having (stereotypical) “masculine” traits and (stereotypical) “feminine traits.
Similar to Gallup, they found the majority of participants had no preference about the sex of their boss. But sex-typed respondents (those self-identifying either highly masculine or highly feminine based on stereotypical traits) were more likely to express a preference – and that preference was likely to be consistent with their own gender-identification.
“Feminine” respondents preferred a female boss more than “masculine” ones. “Masculine” respondents preferred a male boss more than “feminine” ones. “Undifferentiated” or “androgynous” respondents, less defined personally by gender, were less inclined to express any preference for their bosses too.
According to Powell, “Our study supports the similarity attraction paradigm that suggests people are more interpersonally attracted to the idea of working with and being around people whom they see as being like themselves.”
If we extend these findings, our preferences or lack of them for the sex of our boss may reflect something about how we gender-identify within. It would seem that more strongly embracing our own feminine traits could open us up more to embracing female bosses.
Women are Better Managers
There are a lot of reasons to embrace female leadership. A recent Gallup “State of the American Manager” report focused on, despite the male boss bias, “why women are better managers than men.”
Fostering Engagement
Gallup found female leaders (41%) are more engaged than male leaders (35%), and make more engaging bosses. This enables them to lead high-performing teams.
The report found “Employees of female managers outscore employees of male managers on 11 of 12 engagement items.” Employees who work for a female manager are more engaged (on average 6%). The highest engagement levels are among female employees reporting to female managers (35%) and the lowest engagement is among male employees reporting to male managers (25%).
Cultivating Potential
Gallup found that employees who report to a female manager rather than male manager are 1.26 times more likely to strongly agree that “There is someone at work who encourages my development.”
The report noted, “This suggests that female managers likely surpass their male counterparts in cultivating potential in others and helping to define a bright future for their employees.”
Another aspect in which female bosses shined was in attention to employee progress. Employees reporting to a female manager are 1.29 times more likely to strongly agree that “In the last six months, someone at work has talked to me about my progress.”
According to the report, “This suggests that female managers, more so than male managers, tend to provide regular feedback to help their employees achieve their development goals.”
Providing Recognition
When employees do make progress or realize achievements, female managers are more likely to acknowledge it too. The Gallup study found that employees reporting to a female boss are 1.17 times more likely to strongly agree that “In the last seven days, I have received recognition or praise for doing good work.”
According to the report, “In addition to encouraging associate development through regular conversations about performance, this suggests that female managers surpass male managers in providing positive feedback that helps employees feel valued for their everyday contributions” and they are more likely “helping their employees harness the power of positive reinforcement.”
“Overall,” the report states, “female managers eclipse their male counterparts at setting basic expectations for their employees, building relationships with their subordinates, encouraging a positive team environment and providing employees with opportunities to develop within their careers.”
Gallup’s recommendation? Companies need to get more female managers in place through use of the great hiring and promoting equalizer of, wait for it: “talent.”
Overall, many advantages exist to having a women as your manager. It’s time both men and women took stock of them.
Will Gender Equity happen because of Millennial Professionals?
Office PoliticsMany senior women have talked to us at theglasshammer.com about the challenges of understanding and motivating younger team members. Since there have been academic and anecdotal studies noting the differences in approaches to work between the generations, it is easy to see that our readers are not alone in their experience.
Read more
Career Tip Of The Week
Career Advice, Career Tip of the Week!Know the difference between a stretch assignment or an opportunity to develop your skills and over-promising work that you don’t have time, support or perhaps the skillset to do since this affect your reputation.
Work with your boss and sponsors to secure useful projects or tasks that are supported. Ask yourself about time, skills and institutional support as a checklist before you say yes.
Welcome to Career Tip of the Week. In this column we aim to provide you with a useful snippet of advice to carry with you all week as you navigate the day to day path in your career.
By Nicki Gilmour, Executive Coach and Organizational Psychologist
Contact nicki@theglasshammer.com is you would like to hire an executive coach to help you navigate the path to optimal personal success at work
Voice of Experience: Frances Janis, Senior Partner, Pomona Capital (the private equity arm of Voya Investment Management)
People, Voices of ExperienceJanis knows that this path will pay off: her career in the venture capital industry has been the result of seizing new opportunities and taking calculated risks along the way.
She was first introduced to the field when she filled a six-month gap between university and graduate school as a receptionist at a venture capital firm. It just happened to be one of the most prolific VC firms at the time, one that had backed Apple and Genentech, and Janis recognized her good fortune to be working with great people doing exciting things. She sought employment at the firm after completing business school, and while there were no current opportunities there, one partner who had left to start his own firm hired her. She worked for him for 11 years and continues the relationship today — he remains her mentor and is on the board of a fund for which she is the portfolio manager.
Her next move was to join her current partner at Pomona Capital, who was launching a new concept at the time — buying out the interest in funds from investors who needed liquidity. “It was a mad cap idea, but he was very convincing and he really had foresight in a market that was not yet evolved,” she says. “It’s been an amazing ride. Neither of us could have dreamed it would become as big of a business as it has,” says Janis. The 21-year partnership has spawned a business that manages $8 billion and has 45 employees in three global locations.
For Janis, building the business is the achievement she’s most proud of. These days, her main functions are in an upper management capacity, rather than making investments. She recently was intricately involved in overseeing the development of a recently launched retail product, which will be distributed by Voya. It will create an entirely new market for Pomona Capital, since all its previous products have been institutional.
“I love being involved in strategizing how to make sure that the business is moving forward on lots of different fronts. The industry has changed and evolved so much, and we are constantly faced with exciting new challenges.”
Finding the Right Talent and Right Fit: A Two-Way Street
For Janis, one of those recurring challenges is managing the people side of the business. As a small firm, it’s critical that new hires fit in to the collegial culture since each person affects the dynamic. The interview process typically includes having the potential candidate meet with a cross section of employees to check that personality fit. “From senior-level employees down to junior, it can be hard to get it right,” she says.
Once selected, her firm aims to keep associates engaged so Pomona is constantly considering how to offer new experiences. For example, just recently a younger associate who valued international experience spent time in the firm’s London and Hong Kong offices; another will go to Hong Kong in September.
Much of a candidate’s future success has to do with how they respond to the smaller, less-structured environment. Janis recommends that all professionals realize that bosses prefer employees who are self-starters and ask how they can help, rather than sitting and waiting to be tapped on the shoulder.
Janis stresses that long-term career satisfaction comes from finding something you love to do. She knew from her first position that she loved private equity – being around smart people and the excitement of hearing about new businesses and strategizing on their behalf. She also says that she knew a big bank wouldn’t be a good fit for her; for her part, she preferred the smaller environment, where she was spending a lot of time with people who become like family.
“You have to understand what the right environment is for you: Are you a self-starter? Do you need hands-on management? You have to be an active manager of your own career, and while you shouldn’t be impatient and jump before you fully understand the opportunities a certain position might offer, you shouldn’t stay at something too long if it’s not fulfilling your needs.”
Success in a Man’s World
Janis notes that the financial industry is still predominantly male – and that much of the networking happens on golf outings and during other sports-oriented events.
“While that remains a barrier and it does not always provide the most comfortable networking environment for women, that doesn’t mean one can’t have a successful career in the financial services industry; you just have to accept that these venues exist.”
She says that there are many successful women in the industry – she points to her firm which has two female partners and women heading up finance and marketing, but notes they are not always as vocal about their achievements. “These women both have roles of significant responsibility, and you usually don’t hear about them. Women tend to be more low key and modest and don’t get as much recognition as men choose to take.”
As the mom of two boys, ages eight and 13, her home life can be a “man’s world,” as well. She loves nothing more than having breakfast with her sons, and spending as much time with them as she can. “I leave work and turn into a mom,” she says.
And lastly, in addition to Janis’s role as a Senior Partner of Pomona, she serves on the board of trustees of her alma mater, Northeastern University.