Queen bee in the office: who gets stung?
June 28, 2011
The queen bee is the female boss who strives to protect her power at all costs. She distances herself from other women at the office, and rather than promote her junior counterparts, she refuses to help them rise through the ranks. But according to a new study by Belle Derks of Leiden University in the Netherlands, such behaviour may not necessarily be her fault. Rather, it is the product of an inherently sexist work environment.
Derks, who has spent a good portion of her career researching how people respond to sexism, says women are often held to a different standard than men; traits that would be seen favourably in men, such as competitiveness, are seen negatively when women exhibit them.
Read the whole story: Financial Times
APS regularly opens certain online articles for discussion on our website. Effective February 2021, you must be a logged-in APS member to post comments. By posting a comment, you agree to our Community Guidelines and the display of your profile information, including your name and affiliation. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations present in article comments are those of the writers and do not necessarily reflect the views of APS or the article’s author. For more information, please see our Community Guidelines.
Please login with your APS account to comment.