Women in management have a reputation for being demanding and difficult but a new study has found they’re actually better bosses than men.
The survey found that women bosses were more democratic and easier to communicate with, allowing their employees to participate in decision-making and encouraging feedback on management policies.
“In line with known gender differences in individual leadership, we find that in workplaces with more women managers, more individualised employee feedback is carried out,” study author Eduardo Melero, a professor in the Universidad Carlos III de Madrid department of business administration, said.
“Likewise, we can see evidence, although weaker, that in these workplaces decisions are made more democratically and more interpersonal channels of communications are established.”
Melero studied data from the Workplace Employment Relationships Survey, a comprehensive study of UK workplaces.
He examined the number of women in management positions, and then studied the leadership strategies and performance of those companies.
He found that workplaces with a large number of female managers were far more democratic, using employee feedback in all decision-making.
As a result, those workplaces made better, more informed decisions and reported higher levels of employee satisfaction because workers felt like they were contributing to the company and having their voices heard.
The research was published in the Journal of Business Research.
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