新视野三版读写B2 U7 Text A

Woman at the management level

1 When Monica applied for a job as an administrative assistant in 1971, she was asked whether she would rather work for a male or a female attorney. "I immediately said a man," she says. "I felt that a male-boss/female-employee relationship was more natural, needing no personal accommodation whatsoever." But 20 years later, when she was

asked the same question, she said, "I was pleasantly surprised that female bosses are much more accessible to their employees; they're much more sensitive and intimate with their employees."

2 Female bosses today are stil finding they face subtle resistance. There is

stil a segment of the population, both men and, surprisingly, women who report low tolerance for female bosses. The growing presence of female bosses has also provoked two major questions that revolve around styles: Do men and women manage differently, and, if so, is that a good thing?

3 Monica is disposed to think so, on both counts. Now a 40-year-old mother of four, she is president of a public sector labor union with 45,000

members. "Relations with my employees are probably different from those of male managers preceding me," she says. "I know what it's like to have to cal and say my kid got the mumps so I won't be coming in. I have a more flexible style — not soft, just more understanding." The man who is Monica's assistant agrees, "She tends to delegate more and is always looking for a consensus. People are happy and flourish because they have an input into decisions and they are not mere bystanders; their energies are harnessed. On the other hand, consensus takes longer."

4 So, are the differences symbolic or real? Plausible studies suggest that men are typical y hierarchical, goal-oriented and feel entitled. Women, by contrast, manage diplomatical y, and share power. That point of view is often

chal enged and argued. Some proclaim that men and women of similar backgrounds, experience and aspirations basical y manage in the same

way. This view is echoed by younger women, especial y those who have encountered little gender discrimination. That was certainly the lesson for Nicole. When her father died of a heart attack, she was an employee at

a petroleum products export company. She quit and took over her family's

160-acre fruit farm in St.David's County. On her first day in the field, a worker