Are Women Hurting Women in the Workplace?

Women, not men, may be holding women back from achieving upper levels of management. A Gallup survey released this week finds that 39% of women — and only 26% of men — preferred to be led by a man.  This preference for males has held for the past 60 years of polling, says Gallup.

In reporting the survey, BusinessWeek adds that "a growing pile of evidence suggests that women mistrust, and can undermine, one another at work."

• "95% of working women felt they were undercut by another woman at least once during their professional life," according to a 2011 survey.
• A 2010 survey of legal secretaries found that not one preferred to work for a woman partner, although 47% had no preference.
• A 2008 study found that women working for female supervisors experienced more stress than those who had male supervisors.

The data suggest that even the millennial generation "would rather not have a woman in charge:"