I'd like to draw attention to the work of Laura Hale who is seeking women who are interested in sports for her Wiki Academies in Australia & New Zealand.

There is more information at http://en.wikiversity.org/wiki/UCNISS/Sport_Social_Media_Academy and at her own site http://ozziesport.com

If you are interested please contact Laura by email (laura at fanhistory.com) or Twitter @ozziesport

Happy Internationl Women's Day everyone!

regards
Rosie

"According to Gallup polls female aversion to a female boss is concentrated among older women from ages 35 and up. A University of Toronto Study (2008) reported that women working for a female supervisor experience more stress symptoms (emotional and physical) than women working for a male. A British study reveals that one out of six women experience underlying tensions with a female boss. “Men make better bosses because they are easy-to-read. You are on a more stable playing field.”

http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art67608.asp

And all this time we have been told that men are evil, and oppress women in the home and in the workplace.

What should I be told now, and what should I think?

Rosie a good article thank you.

The only point of difference I'd make is with the sentiment around "laid down for us by men"

That seems to carry an assumption that women have not been part and parcel of laying down the cultural context. Given that women have done most of the early childhood stuff in our society for a long time there does seem to be an elephant in the room when men get all the credit/blame for shaping society. We've all been in it together.

R0bert

"Women may indeed be acting within the patriarchal culture laid down for us by men and abusing other women as a result of our own fears for ourselves within it eg competing with other women for men, excluding women we feel threaten our dependency on (male/patriachal) social capital, gossiping about women's perceived morality, etc."

The author spends the time to state that women are responsible for their own actions and then this statement is made. It looks like the author is saying that women can do this stuff but it is men who are ultimately responsible. How predictable!

How about we say that both men AND women are responsible for how the world works, that they both carry the blame and the opportunity to change and leave it at that. I would also point out that women are not the only ones who experience pressure to conform, men are also moulded and pressured into a way of acting from birth, by both women and men. Anyone who believes that a boy is born knowing how to 'wolf whistle', as it were, and is somehow trained out of it is blinded by their own arrogance.

Gail Kelly CEO of Westpac was asked on Q&A last night if she had ever experienced sexism in the workplace. Naturally being a girl of the 70s she said as she rose up the ladder many of her male colleagues advised her to 'toughen up' and set yourself apart from the staff, which was not in her nature. She believes in a more inclusive and accessible approach to management. I think it is up to women, as Gail Kelly stated to find their own way and stay true to who they are and their principles. Naturally this goes for men too - each of us having to stay true to ourselves.

Many of the old management styles have gone the way of the dinosaur. The culture of the time was dictated probably more on old notions of class than gender - maybe a mix of the two.

In my experience I have had many great male and female bosses and only a handful of horrid ones of both sexes. It really comes down to ability and confidence. Managers that are not confident of their abilities, who are incompetent, or who fear scrutiny often use bullying tactics to mask that insecurity.

This is not an exclusively male attribute but a people attribute.

Pelican,

Here is the latest study, hot off the press

"The findings revealed that women working under a lone female supervisor reported more distress and physical symptoms than did women working for a male supervisor. Women who reported to a mixed-gender pair of supervisors indicated a higher level of distress and physical symptoms than their counterparts with one male manager.

The researchers also found that men working under a single supervisor had similar levels of distress regardless of their boss’ gender. When supervised by two managers, one male and one female, men reported lower distress levels and fewer physical symptoms than men who worked for a lone male supervisor."

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/09/080908125150.htm

Personally I have found it similar.

I would much prefer a male department head, and a male assistant department head.

I guess I'm not that different to the majority of female workers.