Who Make Better Bosses: Women or Men?

In The Devil Wears Prada, uber-editrix Miranda Priestly famously tormented her lowly assistants. The character made for a great read and a juicy film role for Meryl Streep, but for some people, it was a reflection of their everyday work experiences.

"Fortunately, I have only suffered through two Devil Wears Prada types," says Micki LeCronier, chief writer for Parr Media Group in Fort Myers. "These are women who believe they have something to prove and heights to reach, and they’ll leave bloody stiletto prints on anyone who gets in their way. These ladies are amusing as gal pals but nightmares to work for. I have watched ‘friends’ of this type track co-workers like prey and get them canned for sport."

Watching Miranda Priestly in action or Donald Trump rip into the contestants on The Apprentice might make for great entertainment, but in real life, no one wants to be on the receiving end of those kinds of tirades. We want a boss who is kind, intelligent, trustworthy, understanding, capable, inspiring … well, the list goes on and on.

Most people who have been in the business world for awhile have had at least one good boss, and most have their share of horror stories, too. Those experiences have led to lots of opinions about what makes a good boss—and whether gender plays a role.

Do men make better bosses than women? Or do employees favor women’s leadership styles? How do personal preferences, preconceptions and stereotypes affect the boss-employee relationship? We posed these questions to some local workers and business experts and found out that while gender really shouldn’t make a difference, it sometimes does.