Female Supremacy Articles

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In today's less hierarchical work environments where teamwork and interpersonal relations are becoming increasingly important, women exhibit qualities that make them better leaders than men. "Women are better at individual consideration, they're better at working with their subordinates, assessing his or her needs and helping them develop," she said. "We know that in these flat, non-hierarchical, team-oriented organizations of today, these are the type of behaviors that are important for effectiveness."

Still, being better bosses isn't translating into more success for women, as they are still largely under represented in management positions. For the past several years Catalyst Canada, a research and advisory organization, has been tracking women in management positions.

As part of their 2001 census, Catalyst looked at women as board members of the Financial Post 500 companies in Canada. "Last year (2001), women made up 9.8 per cent -- which is not a great number," explained vice-president Susan Black. "But the good news is that it's up from 1998 when it was 6.7 per cent. The movement is in the right direction, but there's still a lot of room for improvement."

It's the same story in the United Kingdom, where men comprise 90 per cent of management positions, Ms. Alimo-Metcalfe said. "We've got to somehow crack this. It's not a glass ceiling, it's nuclear or concrete,"she said.