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Saturday, January 5, 2013

NPR Poll: Women are more intelligent, competent and compassionate than men


I googled the following post when today's "Morning Edition" (1-5-13) mentioned a poll in which women were considered more "intelligent, competent and compassionate" than men.

Lamentably, this same post attaches few references to alleged "research findings."

Even so, given widespread gender assumptions (like those triggered by the photograph above), the essay, "Women Are Better Leaders Than Men," is a useful "point of departure" for any discussion about men and women's relative abilities as politicians.


Aspoestertjie
November 18th, 2008, 11:21 AM
Debate Motion: Women are better leaders than men.

The Instigator: Aspoestertjie
The Contender: Allocutus
__________________________________________________ _______

My Position - http://www.onlinedebate.net/forums/archive/index.php/t-16770.html

Women, if given opportunity, support and endorsement by society, can be better leaders than men.

Background, Research and Motivation

Traditionally women have been viewed as not to be leadership material. Many misconceptions about women and their leadership abilities have been indoctrinated into society. Children are raised to think that women are there to give birth, clean the house and to prepare food. Many men still refer jokingly that a woman’s place is to be barefoot and pregnant in the kitchen, with one child clinging to her leg and another on her hip while stirring the pot on the stove.

However, recent studies have showed that women play a very dominant and pertinent role in the success of many high ranking businesses and industries. Their level of expertise as well as their contributions has been underestimated, undervalued and unrewarded for quite some time.

Research studies conducted showed that women are better leaders than men for the following reasons:-


Women think decisions through more thoroughly than men.
Women are more collaborative.
Women seek less personal glory.
They have less self-interest and are better team players.
They generally are more stable and are less turf-conscious than men.
They produce high-quality work on a continues basis.
They recognise trends quickly.
They are more creative and generate new ideas more easily as well as act on them.
Women generally tend to over communicate, which is better in the business environment.
They have better people skills.
They lead more actively by providing not only an example to follow but by mentoring more effectively than men.


These studies showed that women in executive positions scored higher than their male counterparts on a wide variety of skills measured.

The biggest reason for women not being in top positions today is due to the fact that they are unrewarded. They are being put into middle management or low management positions and get stuck with little to no possibility of climbing the corporate ladder.

Many Americans also believe that women possess excellent skills that make them good political leaders. Politics traditionally have been seen as a world where men rule. This however is a tendency that may change over the years to come.

According to a recent Pew Research Center Social and Demographics trend survey the following leadership traits were listed as the most important by the public.

1. Honesty.
2. Intelligence.
3. Hardworking.
4. Decisive.
5. Ambitious.
6. Compassionate.
7. Outgoing.
8. Creative.

http://i250.photobucket.com/albums/gg265/RissiePit/womenbetterleaders.gif

The above graph clearly shows that women were elected as being superior in most of these traits.

Hardworking and being ambitious were equal and the only trait men did better was that they are viewed as being more decisive.

The following traits have been identified as being the most important in public office:-

Performance Skills:

1. Working out compromises.
2. Keeping government honest.
3. Representing your interests.
4. Standing up for what they believe.

Policy matters:

1. Dealing with social issues.
2. Dealing with crime and public safety.
3. Dealing with national security and defense.

Women scored better in all these traits except for dealing with matters of crime and national security. The reason for scoring lower is because people have a tendency to think women don’t have the power to provide adequate leadership in these traits, but they were never given the opportunity to prove themselves as being worthy to begin with.

Reasons why women are not viewed as being good leaders include:-


Gender discrimination.
Resistance to change or transformation.
The miss conception that the world of politics and business is a man’s world.
Wrong perceptions about the role women play in society.
Society not accepting the reality that women does have what it takes to be the best leaders.
Women are inferior to men.


Men or Women, who is the better leader (http://pewresearch.org/pubs/932/men-or-women-whos-the-better-leader)

As Leaders, Women Rule (http://www.businessweek.com:/2000/00_47/b3708145.htm)


A comprehensive meta-analysis study showed that on average, women in management positions are better leaders than men in equivalent positions.

This same study showed that women are more likely than men to use leadership styles that have been proved to be more effective. They also tend to be better transformational leaders and serve as better role models. They mentor and empower workers and encourage innovation.

Research also showed that higher standards are often imposed on women to attain leadership roles and to retain them. (Alan: Women have to perform twice as well as men to be considered half as good.)

Women most effective leaders for today's world (http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2003-08/nu-wme080403.php)

CONCLUSION

If women are given equal access to high level positions in both the public as well as private sector they will be able to proove they have what it takes to manage effectively.


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