Are Women Better Managers Than Men?
The question “Are women better managers than men?” has sparked countless debates in classrooms, boardrooms, and social media threads. While some believe women bring more empathy, collaboration, and emotional intelligence to leadership, others argue that management success depends on individual competence rather than gender.
In this discussion, let’s explore both perspectives; “why women are better managers than men and why men, too, hold strengths in leadership” with examples, research insights, and workplace realities.
Are Women Better Managers Than Men – Let’s Look at the Researches!
In 2023, a Forbes report gave groundbreaking research from Leadership Circle based on assessments of over 84,000 leaders and 1.5 million raters. The findings were clear: Female leaders demonstrate higher effectiveness across every management level and age group than their male counterparts.
A meta-analysis published in the Leadership Quarterly examined 50 years of research on gender and leadership. The result? Women leaders consistently received higher ratings than men across most effective leadership styles. In fact, women were 9% more likely to be rated as effective leaders when evaluations were linked to concrete business performance results like sales growth, market share, profitability, and product quality.
Other Researches on ‘Women are Better Managers Than Men’:
- McKinsey (2023): Companies with women in leadership are 25% more likely to outperform financially.
- Harvard Business Review: Women rated higher than men on key leadership qualities such as integrity, initiative, and resilience.
- Leadership Circle: Women leaders are 9% more likely to be rated as effective leaders.
As per these researches, the women are able to outscore men in leadership effectiveness is due to certain factors, which are:
- Better communication of goals
- Connecting and relating to others
- Understanding how their actions impact the broader organizational ecosystem
- Natural curiosity about what matters most
Women Are Better Managers Than Men – Let’s Know Why!
When researchers dig deeper into why are women better managers than men and why women score higher on effectiveness, a consistent same pattern is seen: women leaders tend to adopt a transformational leadership style more naturally than men.
Transformational leadership means inspiring and motivating employees through vision, creativity, and intellectual stimulation as opposed to transactional leadership, which is about rewarding good performance and punishing bad one.
Let’s explore deeper to find why are women better managers than men:
1. Empathy and Emotional Intelligence
Research consistently shows that women score higher on emotional intelligence. It’s a critical leadership skill. According to a Harvard Business Review (HBR) study, women outperform men in 12 out of 16 leadership competencies, including empathy, teamwork, communication, and relationship building.
Example: During the COVID-19 crisis, leaders like Jacinda Ardern (New Zealand) and Angela Merkel (Germany) were globally praised for their compassionate yet decisive handling of the pandemic.
2. Collaborative Leadership Style
Women often adopt a participative and inclusive management style. They tend to encourage input, build consensus, and ensure every voice is heard. These qualities in a leader enhance innovation and trust within teams.
Example: At PepsiCo, former CEO Indra Nooyi was known for her people-centric leadership, blending strategic vision with genuine care for employee welfare. Her empathetic management approach not only boosted morale but also profits.
3. Crisis Management and Adaptability
Studies from McKinsey & Company (2022) show that companies with more women in leadership roles tend to perform better during crises due to flexible thinking and risk awareness. Women leaders often manage uncertainty with a balanced mindset while considering both data and human impact.
Example: During global disruptions, women-led startups in India, like Falguni Nayar’s Nykaa, showed resilience and adaptability. It helped her maintain growth while prioritizing employee well-being.
4. Stronger Focus on Work-Life Balance
Women leaders often drive policies around work-life balance and inclusivity because they understand the challenges firsthand.
Their leadership translates into flexible workplaces and better mental health outcomes — factors that directly improve productivity.
5. Building Genuine Rapport Across Teams
A Harvard research analyzed fast-food stores and found something remarkable. When women managed teams with mixed genders, stores experienced three times the sales gains compared to stores where men supervised. Women managers were significantly better at building rapport with both male and female team members.
Male managers managed same-gender employees well but struggled with mixed-gender dynamics. Women, however, adapted effectively to both situations.
6. Prioritizing Employee Welfare
In the same study, when managers and workers shared the same gender, they were 52% more likely to look out for employee welfare. Interestingly, when women managed men, female managers prioritized employee welfare more than men who managed women. This isn’t about being “soft”, it’s about recognizing that employee welfare directly impacts productivity, retention, and organizational performance.
Stereotypes About Women Managers: Top Myths About Female Managers!
Let’s address the most common myths that surface in almost every workplace conversation. These stereotypes not only misrepresent women but also oversimplify what real management looks like today.
Myth 1: Women are too emotional to handle management.
This is probably the oldest and most misleading myth. The truth? Being emotional doesn’t mean instability, it means more awareness of oneself. It’s also about being emotionally intelligent which is a natural trait in most successful women leaders. This trait helps them sense team morale, defuse tension, and build trust.
Example: Indra Nooyi (ex-CEO, PepsiCo) or Jacinda Ardern (former PM of New Zealand), both were known for their calm, empathetic, yet highly strategic leadership.
Myth 2: Women manager can’t make tough decisions.
Toughness isn’t about taking aggressive decisions. It’s about making the right call under pressure. Studies by McKinsey & Company and Harvard Business Review show that women leaders are just as decisive as their male counterparts. But, they take time to analyse the perspectives, gather facts, and choose solutions that balance business results with human impact.
Myth 3: Women can’t fully commit to their careers because of family.
This one reveals more about society than about women. The real issue isn’t women’s ambition, it’s the unequal structures around them. Many women juggle professional excellence alongside family responsibilities, not because they lack dedication, but because families and workplaces are still catching up with the concept of shared caregiving and flexible work.
Example: Across industries, from banking to startups, women like Sudha Murthy (Infosys), Arundhati Bhattacharya (Salesforce India CEO), and Falguni Nayar (Nykaa) have redefined what professional commitment looks like. They didn’t choose only one between career and family, they built both.
Myth 4: Women managers are indecisive.
If indecisiveness means evaluating options and listening before acting then maybe we need to redefine the word. Women managers often seek input and build consensus which marks delayed decisions. But, such delay actually strengthens them. A research found that diverse and inclusive decision-making teams make better decisions 75% of the time.
Example: In global firms, many women leaders have led transformations worth billions not by rushing decisions, but by getting them right.
Key Takeaways
These myths belong to an older corporate era where leadership was measured only by aggression and authority. Today, leadership is about empathy, adaptability, and long-term thinking. Women are effective managers because they bring a balance of strategy and sensitivity, something the modern workplace needs more than ever.
Men Are Also Effective Managers
It’s not about totally dismissing the male leadership qualities. Men have real, measurable advantages in specific contexts, and it’s important to acknowledge them too.
1. Speed Factor
Male leaders, on average, tend to make decisions faster than their female counterparts. In fast-moving industries or crisis situations, this speed can be genuinely valuable. Research on leadership effectiveness shows a clear correlation between decisiveness and leadership impact. Leaders in the top quartile for execution speed had an average leadership effectiveness of 83rd percentile, while those below that had only 40th percentile.
A Stanford study found that men in leadership roles tend to act faster in decision-making, which can benefit fast-moving industries like tech or finance.
2. Networking and Assertive Communication
Men often benefit from traditional business networks and mentorship channels that facilitate faster career growth and influence. Assertiveness, while not exclusive to men, remains a defining factor in leadership roles across industries.
Male leaders also excel at communicating their vision with authority. In hierarchical organizations or highly competitive environments, this assertiveness can be instrumental in driving results.
Example: In global corporations, assertive leaders like Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, and Sundar Pichai demonstrate how strong decision-making and presence can influence large-scale outcomes.
3. Risk-Taking and Innovation
Men are statistically more willing to take risks, which can drive innovation and significant organizational pivots. In startups or innovation-focused teams, this willingness to “go big or go home” can lead to breakthrough products and market entries.
4. Competitive Drive
Competition fuels performance, and many male leaders thrive in environments where they can outperform peers. This competitive energy can inspire teams to achieve ambitious goals, especially in performance-driven cultures.
Also read, How to prepare for CAT GDPI topics
The Middle Ground: Management Is About Skill, Not Gender
The debate of “women vs men managers: who is better?” often misses the point. Management success depends less on gender and more on the whole workforce, productivity, efficiency, shared vision & mission, communication, and adaptability.
Modern workplaces thrive when they embrace diversity in leadership styles. A balance of empathy (traditionally associated with women) and assertiveness (often linked to men) creates well-rounded management teams.
Example: At Microsoft, CEO Satya Nadella transformed company culture by combining empathy with strategic vision proving that “human-first leadership” isn’t gender-specific.
Conclusion:
Women leaders, when given equal opportunities, equal resources, and equal recognition, consistently demonstrate high effectiveness across dimensions that matter most in today’s organizations: building engaged teams, driving innovation through collaboration, adapting to change, and creating environments where people do their best work.
The real issue isn’t whether women are better managers. It’s that we haven’t given them equal opportunity to prove it. When we finally do, when pay equity becomes standard, when discrimination is truly eradicated, we won’t be asking “are women better managers?” We’ll be asking “how do we build such effective leadership teams that bring out the best in everyone?”
