General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: 67 year old woman here..long and varied work history...Most of my female bosses were horrid. [View all]JenniferJuniper
(4,495 posts)No, it's generally in the eye of the beholder. And is very frequently tied to the performance of of the employee.
I've been a "female manager" for 30 years. I've had many 360 reviews, many skip level meetings involving my superiors meeting with my direct staff to discuss my performance as a manager (twice a year now), and everyone that leaves get a an exit interview with HR. There are many eyes on first level managers in my profession.
Invariably the good/middle level performers rank me as excellent, supporter mentor and if they leave it's usually for a better opportunity elsewhere, one that I helped prepare them for. But there are employees who don't like me one bit. Invariably, they are people that simply wouldn't or couldn't do the type of work that is required. It's not easy work and lots of people aren't cut out for it or aren't interested in putting sufficient effort in. And then there are those who disappear for hours every day, or come back from lunch intoxicated, or are abusive to fellow employees (and sometimes me).
I don't fire people very often, but there are often discussions along the lines of "maybe this line of work isn't for you", often with me providing whatever career counseling and alternatives that I can. But relatively few of these employees ever see the problem as being them. It has to be someone else. Usually the manager.
I've had bad bosses too. Who hasn't? But when you make statements like "But female bosses can be objectively horrible", you are perpetuating the myth that women are worse managers than men, simply because they are female. And that is sexist bullshit.