There is some bad news for feminists who support affirmative action for women as a way for women to move up in the office hierarchy. According to an article in the Times of London a female boss is rarely a female worker’s best chance for promotion: 


“Women bosses are significantly more likely than men to discriminate against female employees, research has suggested.


“The study found that when presented with applications for promotion, women were more likely than men to assess the female candidate as less qualified than the male one….”


The findings were based on a recent study with 750 participants:


“‘Female and older participants showed more prejudice against the (idea of a) female leader than did male and younger participants,’ said Rocio Garcia-Retamero, a psychologist at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development in Berlin and lead author of the report.


“Garcia-Retamaro said the findings showed that many people adopted a stereotypical view that leadership was a masculine notion. ‘(This) leads to a bias against a female candidate’s promotion to a leadership post,’ she said.


“Nicola Horlick, the City financier nicknamed ‘Superwoman’ for combining a demanding job with a large family, said some women looked on other women as a threat and preferred to surround themselves with men.


“‘It is called the ‘queen bee syndrome,” she said.”