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]janterry
(4,429 posts)or niche career choices .
I suppose one way to think about it - is that some of these women were trailblazers and developed skills that were less people oriented - and more about how to break through the mini-glass ceilings that were ALL over the place during your work life.
For some women, being tougher - and demanding more - was one way to break through.
Another hypothesis is that women didn't always have a way to model being in power. I know as a kid, even games where one person was the leader - well, they weren't as accessible for young girls. So, until more recently, we hadn't - as a sex - had the same opportunities to develop 'boss' skills.
Or you could have just had poor luck. That happens.
Or some combination of all three (or two) or some of this and lots of other things I have no idea about.
I had two horrible bosses who were women, and a few that were okay. Also some men that were terrible (OMG) and a few that were.....just okay. But I keep in mind that my observations were skewed by the places I have worked (psych. hospitals, prisons, juvenile detention). I never worked in really progressive, thoughtful places. Most of my jobs have included some element of danger - and some were really abusive. If you work in those kinds of facilities, it's likely that it will attract marginal workers and....yelp! some will 'rise' and........supervise me.