Women five times more likely to feel that their gender hinders workplace confidence in them

Women are five times more likely to feel that their gender hinders confidence in them in the workplace. 

A new report among UK managers reveals attitudes towards training and confidence in the workplace. Worryingly, women were five times more likely to feel that their gender hinders confidence in them, with a fifth (20%) of female managers admitting they would rather be managed by a male colleague.

When it comes to confidence in their own abilities, almost half of men (48%) said that they were very confident in their management skills, compared to 30% of women.

The findings also revealed that age played a part in management attitudes, with 68% of young leaders (20-24) saying they felt their age hindered a colleague’s confidence in them as a manager. However, when asked about who they perceive to make them better managers, respondents said it would be the person who was most qualified to do the job (44%).

Despite a clear importance placed on training and qualifications, 18% said they had asked for training and not received it. 83% of managers also said they had heard excuses for a lack of training such as it was too expensive (45%), the company was too busy (42%) and that staff should be paying themselves (19%).

The data, commissioned by AVADO, also found that half of UK managers (50%) feel their workplace doesn’t do enough to invest in digital literacy, a vital skill in modern management.

Amy Crawford, managing director at AVADO said: “From our research, It was disappointing to see the negative impact gender and age had on confidence in management capabilities, but encouraging to see the powerful impact that being qualified can have on employees.”

Worryingly, just under a third (30%) of those concerned admit that their company may not be investing digitally due to widespread digital illiteracy throughout the company, with just under one in ten (7%) even saying they feel their bosses don’t want them to be more literate them they are.