Editor’s note: This article was first published in July 2010, and its claim that there isn’t a single woman among the world’s best-paid executives is an unsourced 2010 statement.
First of all, despite the many studies that have looked at whether it is more effective to hire a man or a woman for a manager position, there are still a great many discrepancies and contradictions.
The first thing we’ll do is show the reality: women increasingly hold boss and manager positions in small and medium-sized businesses, but when we look at the best-paid executives in the world, there isn’t a single woman. Of course, this may be explained by a study which found that a woman is not as willing as a man to sacrifice her family life for a pay rise or new career prospects.
There is still sexism toward women managers
When we talk about sexism, we don’t mean on the part of the company’s owner. It’s sexism on the part of the employees or the team a woman will have to lead. Even in this day and age, there are still men who don’t like the idea of having a woman as their boss.
On the other hand, according to one study, there is a share of women who have struggled to move up in their careers and who, once they reach the top of management, lose their composure and become much less tolerant than a man, bringing a sense of discord and unease into the company (according to studies).
In favor of a woman as manager, we would point out (according to studies) that women tend to be more professional and more attentive in the role, with fewer distractions than a man.
They also tend to be more creative and less inclined to accept failure.
In favor of men as managers, we would point to their objectivity in hiring and in dealing with their workers, whereas a woman is more inclined to favor her female employees, with a certain degree of discrimination against men, which we’ll call unconscious reverse sexism.
When it comes to meeting the targets companies set, I’ll step away from the studies to give my personal opinion, based on what I’ve seen of companies: a woman has more sales ability and is better at meeting targets than a man.
According to a psychological study on how women hire staff, women have a greater innate ability to choose the right people without needing to look at a résumé. Let’s say that, according to those studies, women have an innate gift, just as they are subject to mood changes due to hormonal processes.
Summary: When hiring a manager, you shouldn’t look at the person’s sex but at what that person can bring to your company, since today both sexes are equally capable.
Further reading
- Mistakes a leader or manager must never make
- How to run your company well
- How to run a small business in times of crisis
Featured image: Amtec Photos, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Flickr.
