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Do women prefer female bosses?

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  • Artz, Benjamin
  • Taengnoi, Sarinda

Abstract

The participation of women in the labor force has grown significantly over the past 50 years, and with this, women are increasingly holding managerial and supervisory positions. Yet little is known about how female supervisors impact employee well-being. Using two distinct datasets of US workers, we provide previously undocumented evidence that women are less satisfied with their jobs when they have a female boss. Male job satisfaction, by contrast, is unaffected. Crucially our study is able to control for individual worker fixed effects and to identify the impact of a change in supervisor gender on worker well-being without other alterations in the worker's job.

Suggested Citation

  • Artz, Benjamin & Taengnoi, Sarinda, 2016. "Do women prefer female bosses?," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 194-202.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:labeco:v:42:y:2016:i:c:p:194-202
    DOI: 10.1016/j.labeco.2016.09.003
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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    2. Sule Alan & Corekcioglu & Mustafa Kaba & Matthias Sutter, 2023. "Female Leadership and Workplace Climate," Discussion Paper Series of the Max Planck Institute for Research on Collective Goods 2023_09, Max Planck Institute for Research on Collective Goods.
    3. Lössbroek, Jelle & Radl, Jonas, 2019. "Teaching older workers new tricks: workplace practices and gender training differences in nine European countries," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 39(10), pages 2170-2193.
    4. Vera Rocha & Mirjam van Praag, 2020. "Mind the gap: The role of gender in entrepreneurial career choice and social influence by founders," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 41(5), pages 841-866, May.
    5. Benjamin M. Artz & Amanda H. Goodall & Andrew J. Oswald, 2017. "Boss Competence and Worker Well-Being," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 70(2), pages 419-450, March.
    6. Kuroda, Sachiko & Yamamoto, Isamu, 2018. "Good boss, bad boss, workers’ mental health and productivity: Evidence from Japan," Japan and the World Economy, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 106-118.
    7. Vera Rocha & Mirjam van Praag, 2016. "How do Entrepreneurial Bosses influence their Employees' Future Entrepreneurship Choices?," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 16-110/VII, Tinbergen Institute.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Supervisor; Boss; Job satisfaction; Well-being; Gender;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J28 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Safety; Job Satisfaction; Related Public Policy

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