Do Women Make Better Bosses?

In the battle of the sexes, it seems women are winning in at least one area: Employees think they're better bosses.

Offices with a high percentage of women managers tend to have more individualized employee feedback, more democratic decision-making and more channels for interpersonal communication, according to a recent study by the Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (UC3M).

"Women managers seem to be more inclined to use these types of practices, individually, as well as promoting them among the rest of the management team,” Eduardo Melero, an economist and business professor at UC3M and the study's author, said in a statement. "And as such, a management team with more women could be more effective.” Melero's study also suggested that if a company wants to increase direct contact between management and employees, it should place women in higher positions.

The study used data from the Workplace Employment Relationships Survey, which was conducted in the United Kingdom. Melero said he realized that that data could be used to explore gender differences "which psychologists had studied extensively but always at the individual level" within the work environment as well.