Reasons for the Prejudice Against Female Bosses

It seems the world is not yet ready for female bosses. As painful as this might sound, it is true. A lot of people may associate this mindset to illiteracy, but even in the world of academics, women bosses are still discriminated. I believe this prejudice is a global thing because all over the world, women are being encouraged to come out and take up managerial and leadership positions.

The truth is workers, both males and females, are not comfortable working with female bosses. Any time you say your boss is a woman, you will hear comments like, “How are you managing her?” “Nawa, sorry o.” “Hmmm, woman, just be careful” and things like that. In the same vein, people express their displeasure when they learn that they are about to have a female boss. Even children’s movies exhibit female bosses as “horror” to work with.

Maybe there is something female bosses aren’t doing well. Or maybe it is just an unfounded prejudice that emanated from a lifelong culture that sees women as “difficult” and “weak”. Whether they are true or false, the complaints against female bosses need to be looked into.

1. Female bosses are rude.

One man said the problem he had with his female boss was that she talks to him disrespectfully. When I asked him if his male bosses were like that, he said that they (his male bosses) were his fellow men and therefore can’t be rude to him.

It’s true that women easily lose their temper and talk without holding back, but describing female bosses as rude is quite out of line. If you truly notice, people take criticisms from male bosses better than they do from their female counterparts. The reason for this may be difficult to ascertain, unless one attributes it to the male supremacy “theory”.

Kindly note that women also think female bosses are rude. One woman went as far as saying that her female boss was rude to a male subordinate because she barked out orders at him forgetting that “he was a man”. This behaviour wouldn’t have been found offensive if it was done by a man. This clearly shows that the premise that female bosses are rude is unfounded.

However, women need to work on their emotions and manner of approach while addressing colleagues and subordinates. They should not feel that their authorities were being undermined each time their decisions were challenged. They should understand that their managerial positions require lots of negative and positive feedback from their colleagues, subordinates and customers. If they remember all these, they will address people without harsh words.

2. Female bosses are inconsiderate and rigid.

This is the major reason a lot of people don’t want female bosses. And truth be said, female bosses are rigid in the way they manage their offices. Once they say something, they don’t bend it. Their words are rules, and they must be obeyed to the letter.

Honestly, male bosses are more easy-going and flexible than their female counterparts. You can easily walk into the office of a male boss, discuss issues with him, and have it sorted out there and then. But for a female boss, well, you will have to say your prayers before knocking on her door. And if she is not in a welcoming mood, you’ll have to go back and wait for her mood to get better. And by the time you managed to go in, you will spend hours explaining why you needed to go against the stipulated rules. She might still not grant your request by the end of the day.

In a nutshell, female bosses need to relax their holds on the plough. They need to be flexible in carrying out their duties. They should remember that their subordinates are humans and not machines, which means that the law has to be bent every now and then to accommodate some of their challenges and differences.

3. Female bosses are easily biased.

One thing I noticed about female bosses is that if they trust you, they trust you with their lives; and if they don’t trust you, nothing can change their minds towards you. They hardly erase the impressions they have about people.

Another problem here is that they also act based on gossips. If someone tells them something about you, instead of treating it as gossip, they employ it in their decision making.

The consequence of biased bosses is that they treat some people well and treat others badly. They are partial in their treatment of their employees and subordinates. They encourage factions and cliques in offices and they don’t hide their feelings towards their “enemy” groups.

Of course, male bosses are also partial in their dealings with people. So it will be wrong to say that because women easily get biased, they are the only ones guilty of partiality.

4. Female bosses lack knowledge.

I hear this a lot and I can’t help wondering why people think this is true. Maybe why people assume this is because women are always ready to ask questions and seek directions from their colleagues and subordinates. It is improper to assume that because someone asks questions, he or she lacks knowledge.

However, I think it is high time women started sounding assertive while dealing with their subordinates. A lot of women that have learnt this skill are treated as goddess in their offices. But those that “mother” everyone are seen as empty.