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When it comes to attitudes about women in the workplace and having a female boss, Americans have come a long way in the last 60 years — around 40 percent have no preference to the gender of their boss, up from 25 percent in 1953. But for those who have a preference, men are still favored by an 11 point margin, a gap driven by women who don't want a female boss.
According to a poll from Gallup, 40 percent of the women say they prefer a male boss, 27 percent prefer a female one, and 32 percent have no preference. On the other hand, 29 percent of men polled prefer a male boss, 18 percent prefer a female one, and 51 percent had no preference.
The ideal number we all want is 100 percent to say gender doesn't matter. Preference for a female boss is obviously a step up from no one wanting a female boss (in 1953, 66 percent of people polled preferred a male boss), but it's not the ideal. The unavoidable question then becomes: Why don't some women like it when women break the glass ceiling? In fact, there appears to be high demand for articles by women about how terrible it is to work for women. As Elizabeth Spiers wrote of the furious reaction to Sheryl Sandberg and Marissa Mayer, "Everyone applauds when they shatter that glass ceiling. Then they pick up the shards, and start cutting away." It is often women who perpetuate the dumbest stereotypes about working with women.