By, Ashley Crimaldi
In a recent New York Times article, senior vice president and chief brand officer for the Elle Group, Carol Smith, argues that No Doubts: Women Are Better Managers. She goes on to explain that women are less bossy, more personable and more detail oriented than men. While Carol Smith may think she is on to something- I don’t think she is.
Yes, it’d be nice to pump our egos and generalize that ALL women are better managers, but its just not possible. Women and a unique, individualized group and we shouldn’t limit ourselves to a generalized stereotype. Not all women are personable, organized or detail oriented, and lots of men are. Each woman has her own personal strengths and weaknesses, just like men do and I think its really counter productive to draw such conclusions.
What Carol Smith should have done, is point out that she is speaking from her own unique experience. From her experience this generalization may be true, but in all honesty I find all this ‘which gender is better at what’ binary competition exhausting and completely detrimental to women in general because it perpetuates stereotypes that all women act the same.
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Ashley, So nice to hear someone emphasize the importance of “experiential knowledge”… As a teacher I make sure to keep this in mind, for no child comes to school with the same experiences… even from the same family. Speaking of family, think of how many different “types” can come out of ONE family! Gender aside, it is important to remember that it is the innate personality and the life experiences that truly impact the kind of “manager” they become.