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I've been told by CEO and COO women that they have to be tough to make it in a man's world... these women are in their 60's so at least 40 year+ in their careers.
On a side note... they are often the hardest on the women under them... especially when it comes to family leave and maternity leave...
This.
However, in my own career anyway, I have always preferred working for a man. The times where my boss has been a woman, my career growth has always stagnated or even regressed. I wasn't doing my job any differently, and the results were the same, but my opinion is that their emotional side often got in the way of good judgment. One boss was more interested in becoming friends with her subordinates... pity I don't like to go and get manicures and pedicures. Those who did and went with her were promoted quickly, over several of us with more experience and tenure. It was a joke.
Some of the women I've seen in upper management but did not work directly under were known as ball-busters... and that is an apt description. The GM where I used to work was extremely... "abrasive" ... There really isn't a better word for it. She would scream on the phone and yell at people all the time. She once belittled a manager in one of our meetings for not shaving (she hated facial hair) and told his boss that if he couldn't come to work with a shaved face, he'd be better off not coming in at all.
The GMs before her and after never behaved this way, both men. Way easier going, you didn't have to worry about getting your head chewed off by just talking to them.
The general rule of thumb I've seen for hiring good employees is that if the person reports that they haven't been able to get along with one or two people at work, that's pretty normal. If they report that they were unable to get along with 3 or 4, you start to wonder. If they report having trouble with 5 or more, you know for certain that the problem is with them, and not their co-workers.
I wonder if the same can be said for people who report being unable to get along with any or most of the female bosses they've had...
Personal experience: Male and Female managers are about the same in their competence/incompetence ratio:
1st employment place: All male managers. One was inspiriational but tough, one laid back but good, one a totally useless substance abuser.
2nd: Started with 4 fairly good in different ways managers, 2 male/2 female. One male was slightly racist. All ended up leaving. Ended with an overbearing female head manager, a lazy assistant manager, a mean customer service manager, and one of the most vile human beings I've ever come in contact with as a logistics manager (walking out on him on X-mas eve was one of the greatest moments of my life).
3rd: First manager was OK, but I always found it hard to take him seriously. Second was a really great woman manager...very knowledgable and fair. Third manager was competent and hard working, but impossible to please. Fourth manager was high energy, but never gained much knowledge. Fifth manager was a nice guy, very honest with me, but it was well known that he had liasons with female employees.
4th: I was a member of management. The other 3 all-male assistant managers: grumpy and mumbly, overbearing and hot-headed, fun but lazy. Head manager was trusted and made good decisions, but crude with his younger female employees. Female district manager above me was not a bad person, but I don't think had a clue how her charges actually lived...she liked to talk about personal shoppers at Nordstrom and things like that. I was considered to be the easiest to talk to by many, but also wasn't exactly well trained or a good fit for the job. Lined up a new job and quit after 8 months.
5th: One great female manager. One OK, but low energy female manager. One awful gay male manager.
Current: One personable but high-expectation having female manager. One laid back and personable gay male manager. Now under an knowledagable but very moody male manager.
The general rule of thumb I've seen for hiring good employees is that if the person reports that they haven't been able to get along with one or two people at work, that's pretty normal. If they report that they were unable to get along with 3 or 4, you start to wonder. If they report having trouble with 5 or more, you know for certain that the problem is with them, and not their co-workers.
I wonder if the same can be said for people who report being unable to get along with any or most of the female bosses they've had...
I've had only one female boss. But I know so many women who have female bosses who complain about them, and I've also had to work with female managers at various jobs where I was not their direct report but they were still a total PITA to work with.
I've had only one female boss. But I know so many women who have female bosses who complain about them, and I've also had to work with female managers at various jobs where I was not their direct report but they were still a total PITA to work with.
Just the fact that an employee is a woman does not mean they are not also sexist.
^^^ maybe even more outwardly so... guys pretty much know they have to tow the line... some women don't know this...
There is a delivery guy that drops off packages most days... the women make him deliver all the way to back offices just so the women can all see him...
I've had to deal with crap from sexist male colleagues too, but that's not the subject of this thread.
You may be - I have no idea. I don't know you. In most cases, though, the sexist practices of any given culture can only persist if the women in that culture are also complicit. Sometimes it is easier to see when you look at a culture other than your own - in India or China it might be mothers who do everything they can to have a son rather than a daughter. In the Middle East, it might be mothers who insist their daughters wear hijab. In the west, it might be women who are subconsciously harder on their female bosses than their male bosses, or attribute a boss's negative characteristics to her gender rather than the fact that she is human and flawed.
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... There really isn't a better word for it. She would scream on the phone and yell at people all the time. She once belittled a manager in one of our meetings for not shaving (she hated facial hair) and told his boss that if he couldn't come to work with a shaved face, he'd be better off not coming in at all. 
