Americans still prefer a male boss — especially women

Americans still prefer a male boss — especially women
(Image credit: Gallup)

A growing plurality of American workers don't care if their boss is a man or a woman, according to a Gallup poll released this week, but among those who do care, male bosses win, 33 percent to 20 percent. That's much closer than when Gallup started asking the question in 1953:

But perhaps the most intriguing finding in the survey is that women have much stronger preferences about the gender of their boss than men — 58 percent of men say they don't care, versus 34 percent of women — and that among women who do care, a significantly higher percentage would prefer a male boss. In fact, more women say they would prefer a male boss (39 percent) than men (26 percent).

Gallup finds a silver lining: "Workers who currently have a female boss are more likely than those who have a male boss to prefer a female boss in the future. This could mean that as more women enter management, preference for female bosses could continue to rise." Gallup editor-in-chief Frank Newport explains below. --Peter Weber

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Peter Weber

Peter Weber is a senior editor at TheWeek.com, and has handled the editorial night shift since the website launched in 2008. A graduate of Northwestern University, Peter has worked at Facts on File and The New York Times Magazine. He speaks Spanish and Italian and plays bass and rhythm cello in an Austin rock band. Follow him on Twitter.