Acceptance of Female Bosses Grows in Two Key Sectors, the Rest Prefer Male Bosses: TimesJobs Survey

NEW DELHI, May 22, 2015 /PRNewswire/ --

Two Key Sectors are Breaking Gender Stereotypes in India With a Growing Preference for Female Bosses, Even as a Larger Chunk of Employees are Still Inclined Towards Male Bosses, Finds a Survey by TimesJobs.com 

The preference for a female boss is high in the media & entertainment industry, with nearly 67 per cent respondents preferring to work under a woman leader. Respondents from consumer durables/FMCG companies also showed equal preference for male and female bosses, reveals the survey.

Female bosses are also believed to be more considerate. About 69 per cent respondents feel that female bosses are more 'considerate and understanding', 19 per cent believe they are 'fun and flexible' and 12 per cent rate them as 'practical'.

Even as organizations are promoting more women leaders in the workplace, the survey shows the preference of employees, both male and female, is still skewed towards male bosses. While the survey reinforced some facts, it also broke some perceptions.

Majority vote for male bosses 

Of all the respondents who took part in the TimesJobs.com survey, 66 per cent said they preferred working with a male boss and the rest, 34 per cent, voted for female bosses.

"One of the reasons the preference is skewed towards male bosses is because of the dearth of women leaders in companies. This pattern is not specific to India but is seen globally. Also, in many industries, employees may not have worked with a female boss at all. Hence the preference for a male boss," explains TimesJobs.com COO Vivek Madhukar.

More women prefer male bosses 

In the survey, 79 per cent female respondents say they will prefer a male boss as compared to boss of their gender.

In the case of male respondents, the figure was lower. Sixty-six per cent say they will prefer a male boss. The rest, 34 per cent, said they would like to work under a woman boss.

Of all the male respondents, 79 per cent currently work with a male boss. Of all the female respondents, 54 per cent currently work under a male boss.

When given a choice, those who currently work with a female boss say they will prefer a male boss while those working with male bosses don't feel a need to switch. As is also evident in the fact that 56 per cent of those who currently work with a female boss would like to have a male boss and 71 per cent of those who currently work with a male boss prefer continuing.

Reasons for preference 

Of all the respondents who prefer a male boss, about 44 per cent feel they are more 'considerate and understanding', 30 per cent believe they are 'practical', 17 per cent rate them as 'fun and flexible' and remaining 9 per cent say they are 'unbiased', reveals the TimesJobs.com survey.

Of all the respondents who prefer a female boss, about 69 per cent feel they are more 'considerate and understanding', 19 per cent believe they are 'fun and flexible' and 12 per cent rate them as 'practical'. But none rated them as being unbiased in the TimesJobs.com survey.

Preferences change with experience, industry and location 

Interestingly, there's more preference for a female boss with an increase in the years of experience. While junior, entry and middle-level employees say they prefer male bosses, senior professionals, especially with over 20 years of experience, prefer having a female boss, reveals the TimesJobs.com survey.

Nearly 56 per cent respondents from mid-size organizations said they prefer a female boss, finds the survey.

About 70 per cent of the respondents from metros and 90 per cent from tier I cities/state capitals prefer a male boss. The gap between preferring a male and a female boss is comparatively lesser in tier II cities with 58 per cent respondents choosing a male boss.

The preference for a female boss is high in the media & entertainment industry, with 67 per cent respondents preferring to work with a female boss, reveals the survey. The male to female respondent ratio is 50:50 in this industry.

In IT/telecom, 92 per cent respondents prefer a male boss while those in consumer durables/FMCG companies have equal preference for male and female bosses, finds the TimesJobs.com survey.

54 per cent of the respondents to TimesJobs survey were male and 46 per cent were female professionals. Also, 69 per cent of the respondents said they currently work for a male boss while 31 per cent said they have a female boss.

About TimesJobs.com: 

TimesJobs.com, India's leading career and recruitment portal, is one of the best-selling online ventures of the Times of India Group. Conceived and launched in 2004, TimesJobs.com currently has a candidate database of more than 20 million registered job-seekers across levels and functions who clock-in over 40 million page views a month.

TimesJobs.com is positioning itself as an engagement platform and knowledge resource for insights, information, analysis and opinions on the recruitment market. Well-known for its product innovations and unmatched deliverables, TimesJobs.com has pioneered the platforms of:

- JobBuzz.in for candidate engagement with company reviews and ratings

- TechGig.com as India's leading IT network for careers, coding and competitions

- StepAhead for career assessment and enhancement services

- RecruiteX as the definitive demand and supply recruitment index

- The TJinsite knowledge series and a lot more.

TimesJobs.com serves a corporate customer base of more than 25,000 clients from across the globe. It has been serving clients like HCL, IBM, Yamaha, Godrej, HSBC, Mahindra, Bajaj Allianz, TCS and Thomson Reuters to name a few.

Media Contact
Aseem Seth
Head of Corporate Communications
Times Business Solutions - A Division of Times Internet Limited
E-mail: [email protected]
twitter: @aseems
Tel: +91-120-6636338, +91-9910273367