Evaluating the Relationship Between Gender and Ratings of Bosses
Wanda Siqueira
Co-Presenters: Individual Presentation
College: College of Liberal Arts
Major: Psychology
Faculty Research Mentor: Shai Tabib
Abstract:
A strong relationship between a supervisor and their workers is an essential dynamic within the workplace and can influence work satisfaction and productivity. However, the condition of this dynamic can be influenced by factors such as gender bias or gender preference in the workplace, which has sparked controversy. Previous studies have explored the contrasting leadership styles varying by gender, but none have investigated whether the staff is more satisfied with male or female supervisors in a nationally representative sample. This study aimed to address this gap by utilizing archival data from Pew Research Center’s American Trends Panel Wave 131, where 2,635 participants took a survey in which they identified the gender of their current supervisor following their rating of them as someone to work for. From the Likert scale, values for the positive ratings were grouped together as were the values for the negative ratings in order to construct a satisfied and unsatisfied category. A Chi-Square Test for Independence was conducted in order to test for a relationship between the gender of the supervisors or managers, and the ratings of satisfaction or dissatisfaction of their staff. No significant relationship was found between the two variables. These results suggest that researchers interested in the differential experiences of male and female supervisors should investigate specific staff perceptions of them, such as competence, or fairness, rather than overall satisfaction.