By Victor Assad.
For decades, employees have preferred to have men as bosses, but new research shows that as many as two-thirds of workers now have no preference for the gender of their bosses. This is a significant gain for women, going from not preferred to no preference for the gender of their bosses. However, among younger employees of both genders, there is an emerging preference for their boss to be of their own gender.
You might not believe this news following the last presidential election when Donald Trump carried the vote (and, among male voters, won by ten points over Kamala Harris).
But preferences in political leadership apparently do not transfer into leadership preferences by gender in business.
According to an article by Vanessa Fuhrmans in The Wall Street Journal, most workers have no preference regarding the gender of their boss, which is a gain for women from decades ago when men were heavily favored as bosses. However, the “no preference for the gender of my boss” is evolving among middle aged and younger workers. More women under 50 said they would opt to work for a woman than a man, while 20-something men were nearly evenly split on their preference. These findings are the result of a survey of nearly 6,000 U.S. adults by the Survey Center on American Life in August.
Gallup reported similar results this year. A Gallup survey conducted in August found that about half of workers had no preference on the gender of their boss, and the few who had a preference preferred working for a man vs. a woman. This is a big change from a ten year old Gallup study of 2,059 adults that found both men and women would prefer to work for a male boss. Though 41 percent of respondents said they had no preference, 35 percent said that, if given the choice, they would choose a male boss over a female boss. Twenty-three percent said they’d rather have a female boss.
Research from the Pew Research Center shows that workers say their bosses are capable, confident and fair, and they don’t have a gender preference for who is the boss. Pew’s research found that women tend to get higher marks for being more engaged and nurturing bosses.
The Pew Research Center research shows that when workers do have a preference, it tends to be for a boss who is the same gender as they are:
- More men say they would prefer to work for a man than for a woman (18 percent vs. 7 percent).
- To a lesser degree, more women say they would prefer to work for a woman than for a man (17 percent vs. 12 percent).
Pew Research further found that female preferences on the gender of their boss differs based on the age of the women. Young women are especially likely to prefer to work for a boss who is a woman. Three-in-ten employed women under age 30 say they would prefer this. Smaller shares of employed women ages 30 and older and employed men of any age say the same.
Fuhrmans from The Wall Street Journal reports that younger workers especially have witnessed a steady rise of women in middle and senior management—and more examples of how women lead. The presence of older women role models in leadership is making an impression on younger women.
Women, as a group bring different traits to the workforce. A separate body of research from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has found that the presence of women on teams increases the level of empathy and collaboration, which leads to higher productivity and innovation. Learn more here.
The research from InnovationOne, LLC, has uncovered nine behaviors of great bosses. The bosses with these traits, whether male or female, have high performing and more innovative teams.
These nine behaviors are:
- Constantly communicating
- Treating their employees with respect and building trust
- Knowing the skills and abilities of their employees
- Encouraging employees to make suggestions
- Allowing employees time to innovate
- Encouraging constructive conflict, debate, and problem solving while assuring collaboration
- Having an open door and providing resources to overcome obstacles
- Reinforcing and rewarding innovation
- Measuring progress, providing feedback, and managing performance
Learn more here: Nine ways to be a great boss.
As women get more experience in leadership, they have fewer stereotypes against them as leaders. Women are becoming more preferred as bosses among employees, especially among younger women. They get higher marks from both genders for being more engaged, empathic and nurturing.
Leading from the middle is a tough job for either gender in our fast-changing environment. Managers who can master the nine behaviors identified above will have the more effective and innovative teams.
About InnovationOne®, LLC.
InnovationOne®, LLC helps organizations worldwide build a culture of innovation and make it sustainable. InnovationOne® uses a scientifically developed assessment to measure, benchmark, and improve your company’s culture and capability to innovate and enjoy better outcomes and financial results. We have conducted research with The Conference Board and the US Department of Energy. Companies scoring in the top quartile of our InnovationOne Culture Index© reported higher financial performance than bottom quartile performers by as much as 22 percent. US Department of Energy labs scoring high on our assessment can have up to 3x higher performance over the lower scoring labs. Measure and ignite your culture of innovation.