Sexual Harassment of Women Leaders

Sexual harassment is more prevalent for women supervisors than for women employees. This pattern holds in the three countries we studied – the United States, Japan, and Sweden – where women supervisors are between 30 to 100 percent more likely to have been sexually harassed in the last twelve months. Among supervisors, the risk is larger in lower- and mid-level positions of leadership and when subordinates are mostly male. We also find that harassment of women supervisors happens despite their greater likelihood of taking action against the abuser, and that supervisors face more professional and social retaliation after their harassment experience. We conclude that sexual harassment is a workplace hazard that raises the costs for women to pursue leadership ambitions and, in turn, reinforces gender gaps in income, status, and voice.

Does Having a Woman Manager Affect Managerial Women's Work and Career Experiences?

This study compared the work and career experiences of Filipino professional and managerial women with men and women supervisors. Data were collected from 200 women working in banking and financial services and the fashion and cosmetics sectors. Sex of supervisor was not associated with Filipino women's work and career experiences.

Sex of Supervisor, Sex of Subordinate, and Subordinate Job Satisfaction

It was hypothesized in the present research that there would be significant differences in the job satisfaction of subordinates depending upon the interaction between their sex and the sex of their supervisors. Using job satisfaction data from 139 employees, it was found that: (a) female subordinates supervised by male supervisors were less satisfied with supervision than those supervised by women, (b) females working under males reported a lower level of satisfaction with their co-workers than females supervised by females or males supervised by males, and (c) women who had female supervisors indicated a higher level of satisfaction with their work than men with male supervisors. Contrary to traditional stereotypes of women supervisors, the results suggested that these stereotypes might not be important in long-term, real-world situations.