Male or Female? Which Do You Prefer
 

Today I was sitting at orientation with my new school and I was reflecting on my last 2 principals (both women) and my new one (man). I am eager to work with a male principal to see the differences in style. While I know there is more than just gender that makes a boss, I am curious to know your preferences in bosses.

In your professional experiences, have you preferred working for men or women? Which have generally treated you and your co-workers better?


What do you think makes a good employer?

I prefer males...
 

Even though I have worked for males and females, I typically prefer males. In my experience, I just get along better with male bosses than females. Any conflict I have ever had with a supervisor has always been with females. Too much estrogen on both sides I believe.;)

Men.

Sorry if this is not PC, but from my experience, women tend to overcompensate due to their gender role. They act as if they have to abuse their power to show that they are equal to men. I can't stand it. Not ALL women mind you, because I am a woman and have been a boss. :D Just the ones that always assume that people are underestimating them or not taking them seriously BECAUSE they are women.

I've worked for a lot more men than women, but I've never had a problem with a female boss, only the male ones.

I think I work better with male administrators. My current principal is female and tough. She wrecked shop last year (her first year with us) She seems to like my teaching style--but if you are on her bad side she makes sure you won't be back the next year.

Some of my co-workers have been teaching 20+ years (at this same school) and several of them called it quits after one year with her!!!!:eek:

Since beginning my career (after undergrad and grad schools), I have worked with all female bosses except for one. Now that I think back, even when I worked at the numerous fast food stores during my younger days (my bosses then were mostly male), I have found it much easier to work with...FEMALES. My current boss (supervisor) is wonderful and I consider her to be a good friend. I've found my female bosses to be more receptive in understanding my personality, what I stand for, and what I expect from them as people in authority. I've also found them to have a better appreciation for my contributions to my profession and to the agencys for which I have (and continue) to work for. And with being in the fields of social work and counseling, a boss' ability to display these qualities has been crucial and vital in successful productivity of employees.

Now this is NOT to say that I would not be able to find these qualities in MALE bosses. However, I've not yet had the opportunity to encounter one. I guess that my opinion is kinda biased in that the majority of my bosses have been female. But that's the great thing about OPINIONS...they can always be changed, right? ;) ;)

I actually prefer working for female bosses. They tend to be mentors for me, and I learn a lot about managing effectively in male-dominated forums. I've been able to model a lot of my actions and organizational skills from the women I've worked for.

I've worked for males as well, and while a few were great, the majority wanted to relegate female employees to an almost secretarial status. To assert yourself made you seem like a (well, you know).

Diva E

I must say..
 

though I've worked with/for both males and females, my best working experience was with BOTH!!

I have a WONDERFUL Female director who truly has my best interest in mind. She's been the one to really get my moving, motivated and she's even helping me find a home to buy.

But the male befor her, man..he was going to cause me to commit murder. Talk about anal-retentive.

In my current role I report to a female VP and I hate it! I definetly prefer men over women. I'm in corporate america and surprisingly enough I get more support from white men, then white women. The white men in my company have all the power and the white women who are at VP level positions are just happy to be there and aren't even thinking about helping this black sista get to their level. The white men don't seem to be as threatened, probably because they know they rule the company. However, I do have some women as mentors, but I struggle when reporting to them.

Lawd help me to be nice!

I prefer MEN. When I first started, my principal and assistant prinicpal were male. There were not any problems. They were laid back. Their only concern was for you to do your job. If you were right, they were going to support you, if you were wrong, they had your back while they corrected you. :cool: Then, when it was time to party...EVERYONE was game. The faculty/staff was like a family...

THEN.... DRAMA!

For the last few years, I have a female head and female (male) lol assistant head. Ya'llllllllll this has been the worst. Females tend to be more catty and vindictive. Lawd help ya if you do not "swing their way"... ;) :rolleyes: (only the asst. person) If you're a man..FORGET IT!

Everytime I see my former (male) "boss" I always joke and tell him his leaving is the reason our school is in the situations it's in now. We went from the cream of the crop in the parish under his tenure to the laughing stock of the parish under her tenure. :rolleyes:

I like working for men better than women. Although my boss now is female and is wonderful to work for, all of the other women that I have worked for have been total binches. It has been my experience that a lot of women in positions of power tend to abuse that power to let you know that they have it. I guess that they figure being nice is a sign of weakness. :rolleyes:

The men that I have worked for only wanted me to do my job well. They were willing to help out where they could if it would enable me to do my job better. Some of the women that I have worked for could have more concerned with my work and less concerned with my personal life. I have no problem with having a more personal relationship with co-workers whom I consider to be friends. But, for a supervisor who I barely know to be asking me questions about my relationships and sex life is a little too personal for me. I had to check her and tell her to mind her business.

And one woman that I worked for was a total binch to me from the moment that I walked through the door. I was the only other female working there and I honestly think she was jealous of me. She was throwing herself at our boss left and right and he wasn't receptive. When she saw him helping me out and being nice to me, she got mad. She would go out of her way to make rude comments to and about me and really tried to have me fired.

I'm sorry, I just prefer men. There's less drama and you don't really have to worry about them having another agenda. My experiences working with men have been way more professional and rewarding.

You've Read My Mind!
 

I agree. I prefer females...I learn a lot from them, esp. how to be successful in a male-dominated society...

Re: Male or Female? Which Do You Prefer
 

I have had both men and women bosses and I tend to prefer working with women. Although I have never been mistreated by a male employer, I find that female employers can relate better. Currently I have both a man and a woman as my employer and I work well with both. However, I have noticed that my female employer will take the time to explain things more thoroughly than my male employer.

I think a good employer is one who is firm in the job policies, yet knows when to relax. A good employer should know how to straddle the fence well.

Males it is!!
 

I've had male and female bosses. The company that I work for now is probably 90% female. So as you can imagine there is a lot of estrogen floating around. I like working for men better. They seem to be able to let things roll off their backs easier than women can.

You took the words right out of my mouth. I personally don't have a problem with my prinicipal, we have her and three assistant principals all men, if you are doing your job they mind their own business! However if our princiapal does not like you it is on! Men seem to be way more laid back in my opinion, I notice that with my professors in college as well. Our school district is in the process of "excessing" teachers to other schools and her list was pure personal, not who should leave but who she wanted gone.

Right now I have 2 male supervisors and all of our mentors are male. We get along great. In fact my current supervisor is my old supervisor from my old contract. I adore him. He's filling in for my sup who's been out on maternity leave. I can't stand the sup that's out on maternity leave. I turned cartwheels her last day. She doesn't have real good people skills and tends talk down to us.

From past work experiences, I've had better luck with MALE supervisors. They were pretty much laid back and didn't bother anyone as long as the work was being done. The FEMALE supervisors, well I guess it's that whole overcompensation thingie going on there.

However, I currently have a FEMALE supervisor and life at work is wonderful. She is down to earth, has a wonderful sense of humor, and knows how to socialize outside of the work environment.

(On a side note, the Ladies of Delta Sigma Theta on GC should be proud to know that she is also a member of the Sorority and is a hard worker too. :) )

I definitely prefer male supervisors!!
 

I have experienced some sneaky, cutthroat, and utterly unnecessary BS from female supervisors. I don't know if it is because they feel like they have something to prove or what.

The weirdest thing that happened with one female supervisor was that she saw a group of us talking and laughing together and said "Are you talking about me? I know you don't like me. You're talking about me, right?"
Well, we were after that!

Hmm...
 

Well, after reading the above posts, it seems that it depends on what type of job it is as well as individual preferences.

Personally, I have never had a female boss - only males. I have never had any issues with any of them. In college I was a desk assistant, Division of Housing Help Desk Coordinator (for ethernet questions and installation), and the other jobs were in the IT field.

Always had a male boss....I find that interesting. If I had to guess, I would say that I prefer working with a male boss over a female boss.

New job. . .new bosses.

I prefer men. :D

In the past, most of my female bosses were either to laid back and I ended up having one of those "TRAIN MYSELF AND LEARN AS I GO" jobs, or they were too uptight and I ended up having one of those "MY BOSS DOESN'T HAVE A LIFE, SO SHE INSISTS ON DISRUPTING MINE" jobs. There were a few female bosses sprinkled in there that were ok, but I usually don't have these problems with men.

So I guess, I would have to say I prefer male bosses. You tend to know where you stand up front and you don't have to figure out do's and don'ts along the way.

i worked with mostly women and most of them have been so opinionated.

the men that i have work with have been very sensitive and understanding.

toss up
 

When there is a female in the top seat I can garner more experience. When there is a man in the top seat, I general get demoted.

but I think it has more do with age and ethnic background than sex.

My first magazine job was with a female a few years older than me. I had alot of fun and alot of experience.

Now that my boss is jewish older gentleman, I have been demoted from assistant editor to sales assistant. I wouldn't mind if I was getting paid extra.

I like male bosses more because it is a lot easier to trip with them, and easier to get things accomplished. In my limited experience with women it seems that women have some internal thing that allows them to talk to each other and pretty much know what they want out of something whereas a male boss wouldn't care so much as long as the job got done. Guess i'm just lazy:D

Its been 50/50 for me. Although I've noticed that with men, they are either laid back (ie you do your work and see me if you have problems) or a micro-manager. Women, if they are not laid back, and catty and silly as all get out (and then its over the dumbest ish like the fact that you carry and Fendi and they don't.).

But if i had to pick, I'd probably pick a man.

My first two jobs out of college had male managers and they were totally insensitive and sexist. When I announced I was getting married, my general manager told me to at least work a little longer before I started getting pregnant so he doesn't have to find someone to replace me for maternity leave.

My experience with females in their 30s/40s has been better than male managers of any age range.

Overall I find that I like working for women better than men. My industry is very male dominated because women don't like the long hours it takes so there are very few women who are in charge. I like to work with women who are not trying to prove themselves to the male managers. Those women who are confident in their abilibites and don't have to prove themselves are alot easier to work with.

Personally, it depends on the individual, not the gender per se. I've had some great male and female bosses, and some horrible ones. I can't really discern who is better, but I can tell you it's more of a personality issue.

I've had good experiences working with both so I'm not sure I have a preference. However, I do think the males have been more laidback than the females.

It doesn't matter to me.

hijack/

Is it that women don't like the long hours or it contrasts with their family responsibilities? The generic employee model in this society is based on the male standard--someone with minimal to no family responsibilities who can work long hours and not need to take any leave. Because they either don't have families or their wives are at home taking care of the families (usually in addition to working fulltime jobs themselves).

Can you blame women for having to prove themselves? It has never just been about being confident in your abilities for women and racial/ethnic minorities. In a society where most of the higher level and higher paying jobs are white male dominated, women have to prove that they can display "masculine traits." Traits such as being rational instead of emotional and hardnose instead of compassionate have been what gets the job done. Meanwhile, men are allowed to be compassionate, emotional, and catty but society either overlooks it or calls it "being a good employer who sees the needs of employees" or "being no holds barred competitive."

/hijack