Acceptance of female bosses up in media, FMCG sectors: Report

New Delhi, May 19: Two key sectors -- media and consumer durables -- are breaking gender stereotypes in the country with a growing preference for female bosses, even as a larger chunk of employees are still inclined towards male chiefs, says a survey.

According to TimesJobs.com's latest TJinsite Survey, there is a growing acceptance for women bosses in the key sectors of media, entertainment, consumer durables and FMCG. Nearly 67 per cent respondents prefer to work under a woman leader in the media & entertainment industry.

In consumer durables/FMCG companies, employees have equal preference for male and female bosses while in IT/telecom, 92 per cent respondents prefer a male boss. "While there is a lot of ground to cover, and gender equality is still a burning issue, this cultural shift and acceptance is taking place across India," the survey said.

However, majority of respondents still voted for male bosses as 66 per cent said they preferred working with a male boss and the rest, 44 per cent, voted for female bosses. "One of the reasons why the preference is skewed towards male bosses is because of the dearth of women leaders in companies. Also, in many industries, employees may not have worked with a female boss at all.

Hence the preference for a male boss," TimesJobs.com COO Vivek Madhukar said. Interestingly, 79 per cent female respondents say they will prefer a male boss as compared to a boss of their gender. In the case of male respondents, the figure was lower. Sixty-six per cent say they will prefer a male boss. The rest, 34 per cent, said they would like to work under a woman boss.

PTI