
Entry level and junior female employees working for a female supervisor were found to be 20.1 percent less likely to receive a promotion than those with a male superior. (Image: Yonhap)
SEOUL, Jan. 4 (Korea Bizwire) — Female workers suffer more stress when working under female bosses, a study has found.
Based on a Korean Labor Economic Association report looking at the impact a boss’s gender has on female workers’ careers, women in the workplace experience 3.5 percent higher stress levels when their direct superior is of the same gender.

Based on a Korean Labor Economic Association report looking at the impact a boss’s gender has on female workers’ careers, women in the workplace experience 3.5 percent higher stress levels when their direct superior is of the same gender. (Image: Yonhap)
The report’s findings suggest that having more colleagues who are female results in a more stressful working environment for women. Female employees with a woman as their superior working in an office where 50 to 75 percent were women experienced the greatest amounts of stress.
Entry level and junior female employees working for a female supervisor were found to be 20.1 percent less likely to receive a promotion than those with a male superior.
A member of the Korean Labor Economic Association said, “With women in leadership positions either enforcing stringent standards on their female subordinates or interacting with them in a competitive manner, the measured stress coefficient of women in the workplace is high, and their chances of promotion have fallen as they hold low positions.”
Lina Jang (linajang@koreabizwire.com)