Employment & Labor Insider

Don't these people look happy?

I shouldn't touch this poll with a 10-foot pole, but I just can't help myself.

According to a study recently reported in the ABA Journal, a large percentage of legal assistants prefer working for men (35 percent for male partners, and 15 percent for male associates), and 47 percent had no preference. For those of you who are math-challenged,

35 + 15 + 47 = 97 percent.

100 - 97 = 3 percent.

Yes, that leaves 3 percent. Only 3 percent preferred working for a woman, and she had to be an associate. No one preferred working for a female partner.

Ouch, baby. Very ouch.

I am sure that none of this applies to me, so I was able to read the comments in a very unemotional, non-detail-oriented, manner -- almost as if I were a guy. According to the assistants who were surveyed, women are too emotional, too detail-oriented, demeaning to clerical employees, have too much to prove, and -- don't need their assistants enough. (That last one cracked me up.)

The professor who conducted the study was quick to point out that the assistants' own sex biases may be playing a role in this. She also noted that male partners are still in charge, and that female lawyers do still sometimes have to "prove" themselves in a way that male lawyers do not.

At the same time, I would not be surprised if some fundamental differences between men and women contributed to (caused?) this result.

OK, I'm shutting up now. What do you think? No need to restrict yourself to the legal profession. Do you think that men and women generally prefer working for men, and why do you think that is?

NOTE TO MY ASSISTANT: If you decide to comment, please be sure to say I am the most awesome boss you ever had, notwithstanding my gender!  :-)