Thursday, January 15, 2015 - 17:32 YT&Twebzine

Ready for a woman president? Some are not so sure.

Women are tough enough. They’re smart enough. But they miss promotions because they are held to higher standards – expected to do more than their male counterparts do, according to a new Pew Research Center study.

The center found that 43 percent of those surveyed said women are held back from top executive jobs because they must meet higher standards; 38 percent said the same when asked why women aren’t getting top political jobs. Only 7 percent said women don’t make good managers.
The Pew analysis was based on two surveys involving a total of 2,839 adults in November. Here are five takeaways:

Public readiness may be a problem: In the survey, 43 percent said women are not being promoted because businesses are not ready to hire women leaders. In the political arena, 37 percent said that Americans are not ready to elect women leaders.

There’s no reason why not -- women and men have similar leadership qualities: In the political arena, for example, 55 percent said men and women have the same ability to work out compromise. But among those who believe there is a difference, women hold the advantage -- 34 percent said women are better at working out compromises, while only 9 percent thought men are better. Similarly, 68 percent thought men and women were equally capable of working to improve the quality of life.

Men hold a clear edge when it comes to risk taking: While 58 percent thought men and women were equally willing to take risks, 34 percent said men are more willing than women to take risks. Only 5 percent thought women were more willing to take risks.

Family responsibilities actually aren’t the issue: Just 23 percent said women aren’t getting ahead in business because of family responsibilities, and 17 percent said family responsibilities are holding back women in politics.

Democrats are more likely to say they want a woman in the White House: Among women, 69 percent of Democrats, 20 percent of Republicans and 45 percent of Independents want to see a woman in the White House. Among men, 46 percent of Democrats, 16 percent of Republicans and 32 percent of Independents are hoping for a madam president.

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