Scientific study reveals that women are better leaders than men

The proportion of women declines at every stage of an executive career path, yet a new study has just revealed that women are more suited to leadership than men.

The study was led by Professor Øyvind L. Martinsen, head of Leadership and Organisational Behaviour at the BI Norwegian Business School, and assessed the personality and characteristics of nearly 3,000 managers. In nearly every area it was concluded that women were more successful leaders than their counterparts.

In four out of the five categories that were assessed women surpassed men: initiative and clear communication; openness and ability to innovate; sociability and supportiveness; and methodical management and goal-setting.

The only category that men were more successful at was dealing with work-related stress and they also demonstrated higher levels of emotional stability.

Professor Martinsen said: “Businesses must always seek to attract customers and clients and to increase productivity and profits. Our results indicate that women naturally rank higher, in general, than men in their abilities to innovate and lead with clarity and impact. These findings pose a legitimate question about the construction of management hierarchy and the current dispensation of women in these roles”.

Despite these results, the number of women in workplace leadership has continued to dip. It’s hoped that this study will begin to challenge workplace gender norms.

Professor Martinsen’s study co-author, Professor Lars Glasø stated: “The survey suggests that female leaders may falter through their stronger tendency to worry – or lower emotional stability. However, this does not negate the fact that they are decidedly more suited to management positions than their male counterparts. If decision-makers ignore this truth, they could effectively be employing less qualified leaders and impairing productivity”.