1. MEN VS. WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP
STUDENTS:
Preda Alexandra-Gabriela
Sandu Razvan Catalin
Group: 8216
2. Ann Friedman’s piece “Why Female
Politicians Aren’t Always Pro-Women,” in
The Cut this week raises some important
questions about women in public positions.
Friedman touches on the argument that
gender parity in politics is important
because women lead differently from men
— an argument she’s not having.
3. “Personally, I’m uncomfortable with the idea that a
woman is biologically predisposed to govern in a way
that’s discernibly different from a man of the same
political persuasion,” Friedman writes.
I agree with her there — I don’t buy into a “biological
difference” that cannot be scientifically proven. But how
could I reconcile this perspective with the mounds of
research indicating that women do in fact lead
differently?
According to a 2011 study in the American Journal of
Political Science, women are more effective lawmakers
than men despite being underrepresented in all areas of
politics.
4. Female leaders are seen as more accommodating,
more invested in interpersonal dynamics and more
likely to reward good work than male leaders.
Some laboratory studies have reported that female
leaders are less effective, but a 2011 study from
Universidad Carlos III de Madrid concluded that
“women make better bosses.” Researchers found
that female managers were more likely to monitor
employee feedback and development more closely,
promote interpersonal communication, and include
employees in the decision-making process.
5. So, there are differences. But what if these differences are not
due to a biological disposition, but a cultural one?
The report “Girls Just Wanna Not Run,” released last week by
the School of Public Affairs at American University, indicates
that male and female children are socialized and encouraged
very differently when it comes to running for any kind of office.
Is it too much of a step to suggest that, if boys and girls are
encouraged to develop different skills, they act differently —
especially when they reach positions of power?
The question we should be asking here is not “do men and
women lead differently,” but “do we teach men and women to
lead differently?”
We probably do.
6. It’s hard to deny that male and female children are socialized differently —
this point was a big part of Sheryl Sandberg’s thesis in “Lean In.” Take, for
example, aggression. Aggression in girls is seen as problematic, translated
into bitchiness and jealousy. An aggressive girl is a “mean girl;” an aggressive
boy is just a boy.
Friedman claims that “[A]s (presumably) women continue to make gains in all
areas of society, my hunch is that the ‘women govern differently’ theory will
also slowly disappear.”
On this point, I disagree. I don’t think the notion of men and women governing
differently will disappear as more women take up prominent positions — I
think we need a bottom-up transformation of how we teach girls and young
women to think about power.
This doesn’t mean that we should vote women into public positions simply
because they are women — far from it. But we should be teaching young girls
to become leaders the same way we are teaching boys.
