Are male managers better than female managers？

Abstract：This essay studies gender differences in leadership from two perspectives： social system and leadership styles. The rising of females superiority on leadership has increasingly been recognized by the society. The discrimination problem and ‘glass ceilingupon females arouse a more human， more mature and more efficient leadership style than male. This study concludes that female leaders are not weaker than male leaders and they have working enthusiasm and abilities just as male. As long as the opportunities are fair provided， female leaders can do even better than male leaders.

Key words：emale leader； leadership； discrimination； glass ceiling

1. Introduction

“After years of analyzing what makes leaders most effective and figuring out whos got the Right Stuff， management gurus now know how to boost the odds of getting a great executive： Hire a female.” （Sharpe， 2000）. According to U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics （1972， 2002）， in 1972 the percentage of women in managerial and administrative positions were eighteen per cent in the United States， but this percentage had gone up to forty-six per cent by 2002.

However， study in gender diversity （Rajneesh and Susan， 2010） showed that， in almost all of the top 100 U.S. firms， male take the majority of the manager titles and female occupy no manager title in twenty firms. According to Debra & Joyce （2000）， in Fortune 500 companies women only consist ten per cent of top officers； no more than four per cent of supreme level of CEO. Most women be strapped in jobs that related to human resources and public relations which not likely to assess to the top managers.

It seems that females have more challenges to take than males in order to enter the top management area. The Wall Street Journal （1986） used the term 'glass ceiling' to describe the invisible barrier that keeping women down into certain level of management level. Does this mean that females are unqualified managers than males？ Or is it possible that world of man have already been changed by the progress of society？

2. Changing social system

Throughout the human history， it is easy to find that labor is usually divided by gender. According to Hartmann （1976）， the hierarchical labor division with men on the top and women on the bottom are the result of capitalism and patriarchy. A system of patriarchal has been long established before capitalism， in which men dominated women and children as labor in the family. In the fifteenth to eighteenth centuries， capitalism arose and threatened patriarchy system. However， even in capitalism， male workers have played a vital status in remaining sexual divisions in the process of labor and this trend are going to continue （Hartmann， 1976）.

When looking back into the history， Mother Teresa of Calcutta， Zetkin Clara， Susan Sontag are all great leaders. Not liking male leadership style， those female leaders changed the world in their feminine way. So， do capitalism and patriarchy really that powerful that keeps female down to certain level of leadership？

According to Cascio （2010）， the situation of men in crucial roles of the economy has been changed in four ways： “（a） changes in the family structure， （b） changes in education， （c） changes in technology， and （d） changes in the economy”.

Increasing of single-parent families and divorces has created the situations of women being the only bread earner in the family （Cascio， 2010）. Rajneesh and Susan （2010） also concluded that womens earning competitiveness has been increased likely in situation of rising divorce.

Today more women began to pursue high education and obtain undergraduate degrees in 57%， master degrees in 61%， and doctorate degrees in 50% （Rajneesh et al.， 2010， as cited in “Women and Work”， 2006）. The rising of female in educational area gradually vanquish the fact that male playing crucial role in the society.

Innovation of home appliances such as washing machines， dish washers and refrigerators have cut down the time of domestic chores that women have to contribute to their family. All these changes have enabled more women to successfully distribute their time in work and family （Rajneesh et al.， 2010）.

Shifting of economic focus from manufacturing industry to service industry and the knowledge-based industry create women's working opportunities and facilitate women's competitiveness in workplace （Rajneesh et al.， 2010）.

All those researches disprove the necessity of male's core role in today's society. With the progress of the world， the system of patriarchy and capitalism might be the root that segregates the job between genders in the past， however， no longer in the future.

3. Male and female leadership styles

Leadership style of male and female have been addressed by many researchers. Men have been found to behave more self-assertive， aggressive than women in their manner and language. Females， on the other hand， tend to be more expressive of compassion and emotion in their behavior. （Chesler， 2001； Simmons， 2002）.

According to above behavior difference between male and female， it might lead to the difference in leadership styles. “The research on male-female leadership styles concludes that women are generally viewed as more nurturing， understanding， helpful， collaborative， empathetic， social sensitive， cooperative， and expressive than their male counterparts； in contrast， men are expected to be more independent ， masterful， assertive， and competent” （Fiona M. Wilson，2010：153）.

Henry， Barbara， Anne & Mary （1996） found that all-female and all-male groups are equally likely to develop power and prestige orders. Alice （2003） gave a more specific argument that women get a little more possibility to manage in ways that are effective “in research on transformational， transactional， and laissez-faire leadership ” which managerial experts consider especially effective than men. Women think through decisions more thoroughly than men because of their feminine characteristics and they also pursue less personal glories than male. （Sharpe， 2000）.

4. Discriminations in reality

The world gradually accepts female leaders and their leadership style rather than against it. However， even in the most developed societies， gender discrimination exists in almost every area. Tons of research （Catalyst， 2007； Adler，1999） have showed that women are still suffering the ‘glass ceiling and find themselves hardly to be promoted into top levels.

Due to the difference in social experience， females have more mature interpersonal skills and better at behavior control than males. Their leadership styles are actually more efficient and more human than male leadership styles （Helgesen，1990）.

Rosener， JB （1990） supported Helgesens view by claiming that women developed a different leadership style and skills from the experience as women. Because of the experience of being discriminated and fighting against the ‘glass ceiling， women become even a better leader after successfully break the barriers. They lead a way of achieving organizational and personal aims at the same time and tend to obtain their leadership from their own personal charm， hard working and work relationship with subordinates rather from the job position itself. It might be said that males are not suffered like women to be leaders which makes them less considerable and also less cherish the leadership than female.

5. Conclusions

This research has compared the male leaders and female leaders from two perspectives： social system and leadership styles. It ended up with the discrimination problem upon females. It can be easily viewed that despite the world are presently dominated by males， the rising of female is inevitable.

Females' superiority on leadership is rising and has been recognized by the society gradually. Females' long absence of leadership does not prove their inability of being good leaders but only show the imperfection of social system. With the perfection of the social system， females are showing their way of leading which is different from males and getting more and more appreciated.

The ‘glass ceiling is likely to be shattered for sure which may offers more opportunities for females to lead in the world. "A new world has opened up to girls， but unless a symmetrical effort is made to help boys find their footing， it may turn out that it's a lonely place to be." Said Michelle Conlin， from Business Week.

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【作者簡介】

林睿睿（1988—），女，浙江奉化人，单位：陕西科技大学镐京学院，硕士学位，主要研究方向：商务管理。