Female CEOs make one third of Male CEOs

You know that statistics that women make 77 cents on the equivalent male dollar?  For CEOs, that number is 33 cents. That’s right: women only make 33 cents out of every dollar in comparison to men in the same CEO position.  Women CEOs make one third of their male counterparts.

However, even though they get paid less, women CEOs apparently inspire their workers more.

This study reviews differences between men and women leaders, looking at qualities women have that might make them better managers than men.

Women leaders are more assertive and persuasive, have a stronger need to get things done and are more willing to take risks than male leaders….Women leaders were also found to be more empathetic and flexible, as well as stronger in interpersonal skills than their male counterparts….enabl[ing] them to read situations accurately and take information in from all sides….These women leaders are able to bring others around to their point of view….because they genuinely understand and care about where others are coming from….so that the people they are leading feel more understood, supported and valued.

I posited in a previous post that women make better managers, and now, here’s some concrete evidence to back it up.  The study lists four specific points about leadership qualities in women that make them well suited for management.

1. Women leaders are more persuasive than their male counterparts.
2. When feeling the sting of rejection, women leaders learn from adversity and carry on with an “I’ll show you” attitude.
3. Women leaders demonstrate an inclusive, team-building leadership style of problem solving and decision making.
4. Women leaders are more likely to ignore rules and take risks.

The first three I would agree with.  The fourth one seems less convincing.  The phrase I’ve heard used that would refute the fourth point is “Women ask permission, men ask forgiveness,” mainly for biological reasons; men tend to be more risk-loving than women.  This study on human evolution and workplace equality looks at evolutionary causes to explain this phenomenon; because women have more of a biological investment in their offspring and are thus more nurturing, they tend to be more risk-averse.  Not only that, but multiple studies have shown that women, when making choices about money, invest much more conservatively than men, a phenomenon widely attributed to the positive correlation between testosterone and risk-loving behavior. Those with more testosterone – men – tend to make riskier decisions.

The summary of this study does not include reasons that men would be better managers; I’m certainly not naive enough to believe that women make better managers 100% of the time.  In some situations, specific strengths and tendencies that men have would make them better suited to lead and manage.  I would like to see a more unbiased study on this.

Despite this, it seems like recently, women have been dropping out of high ranking positions at major corporations, at least in Massachusetts.  I wouldn’t doubt that this reflects a wider trend nationally.

The Boston Club study attributes these drops in part to the recession, but also hypothesizes that women might be leaving to start their own companies.  That, at least, is good news.