Why Women Often Make Better Managers Than Men - Building Gender Balanced Business

Dr. Ben A. Carlsen, MBA, writing in the ezine ibizbiz.com, argues that while the issue is not one that can be decided once and for all, there are reasons why on average women can make for better managers than men.

• With brawn ever less of an advantage for the jobs of our era, the skills required of a good manager are mental agility, writing ability, analytical skills, etc. Education is critical for these skills, and more university students are women than men.

• Women tend, on average, to have stronger communication and listening skills than men, though by no means, Carlsen notes, is this an absolute distinction.

• “With these educational, emotional and verbal advantages [women] are tough contenders for management positions.”

Carlsen cites conflicting studies about whether women are more capable than men as managers.

• “Ratings by peers, superiors and subordinates show higher scores for women on a wide range of measures — everything from decision-making, to idea generation, to motivation and encouragement, goal-setting, quality of work, mentoring and staff development, etc.”

• “Evaluations of managers by their bosses (only) found less difference between men and women managers. Part of this may be due to stereotypes, and the fact that more males occupy the top positions.”

Carlsen concludes:

• “To definitively conclude that one sex is better than the other would result in the error of unwarranted generalization. Furthermore we want to avoid the stereotyping that has characterized the assessment of people for far too long. And, we must consider how well that individuals talents match with those needed in the specific position. In the final analysis each individual must be evaluated on their particular merits.”

The ezine article