But male bosses still remain more popular than female bosses.
UK employees want their organisations to employ
more female managers, according to research by Randstad, the world’s second
largest recruitment and HR services company.
Randstad’s quarterly Workmonitor report of over 400 UK workers showed that
over a third of them (36%) think that the performance of their organisation would
improve if it had more female senior managers.1
However, when there are equally suitable candidates for manager positions, 34%
of respondents believe their employer tends to choose a man, regardless of the
current male/female ratio.
Forty three per cent of respondents felt that working part time is definitely
possible in a management position. However, when thinking about themselves,
many respondents, in particular men, were concerned that if they went part time
it would hinder their career.
In spite of the respondents indicating that the number of female managers in
their organisation needed to increase, the research showed that 15% more
workers said they personally would rather have a man as their immediate boss
than a woman.
Interestingly, only 27% of female respondents (compared with 39% of men) said
they preferred to work with other women.
Mark Bull, CEO of Randstad UK and Middle East, said: “Our survey shows just
how complex gender dynamics in the workplace can be. On the one hand people
are eager to see more senior female figureheads and believe that this would
make a key difference to company performance. Yet on a day-to-day level, the
old stereotypes about preferring to work for a man seem to be holding sway.
“It’s also worrying to see that part time working is a concern for many male
workers keen to progress their career. Whilst the battle of acceptability amongst
female employees is starting to be won, it seems UK plc has overlooked the fact
that some men in particular feel there is a stigma attached to their desire for
flexible work patterns.”
