The Difference Between Women’s
and Men’s Brains: Changing the
Perspective of Leadership
Ah, our magnificent brains: that three pound organ that rests between our
ears. It dictates who we are what we do,
how and what we think and we have no idea how it works. To understand the differences in behavior and
leadership styles that men and women exhibit in the workplace, it is necessary
to go to the point of origin – the brain.
When it comes to the brains of
women and men the differences are quite remarkable. The variances between the female and male
brain begin in their development in the uterus.
Before birth, the female brain is flushed with estrogen hormones, while
the male brain is washed with testosterone.
As such, baby girls are more attentive to eye contact with their mothers
while baby boys are more interested in the activity going on around them.
It is important to understand the
workings of the brain in order to comprehend how women and men react
differently in life and in the workplace.
There are actual differences in the brain structure between women and
men. There are key parts of the brain
that are responsible for our ability to function in the working world.
The
Amygdala
The amygdala is a small almond
shaped body located deep in the brain in the temporal lobe – behind each
ear. It has been shown to play a key
role in processing emotions such as fear and pleasure. The amygdala is larger in men’s’ brains than
in women’s’ brains. Also, mens’amygdales
have testosterone receptors that heighten responses. Since the amygdala stimulates
competitiveness, this explains why men are 94 percent more likely than women to
apply for a job with a salary potential that is dependent on out-performing
their colleagues (upstart.bizjournalatwork).
Women and men react differently
to the fear response of the amygdala.
When the signal of fight or flight is triggered, women respond by
gathering in groups – they tend and befriend response. Women are much better at reducing stress and
feeling safe by connecting. Men however,
tend to withdrawal to themselves. To
quote Katherine Crowley and Kathi Elster (Mean Girls at Work), “men are from
the combat zone, women are from the support circle”.
The
Prefrontal Cortex
The prefrontal cortex is located
in the front part of the brain behind the forehead. It is responsible for planning complex
cognitive behavior, personality, expression, decision-making and moderating
social behavior. It is the executive
function system of the brain. The
prefrontal cortex is larger and matures faster in women than in men.
Women have more estrogen and less
testosterone flowing through their brains enabling them to look for solutions
to conflicts. One other distinction is
that estrogen promotes the stress response within the prefrontal cortex. What this means is that when faced with a
deadline, women will complete a project a week ahead of time in order to avoid
the pressure and increased arousal a deadline brings. Men however, will wait until the last minute
so that they have the neurotransmitters dopamine and norepinepherine actually
push them to the finish. With the
combination of brain structure, hormones and neurotransmitters, it implies that
women look for ways to compromise and serve the needs of others while men look
for ways to come out on top.
The
Anterior Cingulate Cortex
This is another part of the
rational decision-making center of the brain.
The anterior cingulated cortex governs thinking and emotion. This is another region of the brain that is
larger in women than in men. The
anterior cingulated cortex has been labeled the ‘worry wart’ part of the brain
in women. Its original function prompted
women to be cautious and to protect their young. However, in today’s workplace this action is
looked at as a lack of confidence by women with no risk-taking skills –
especially by men driven by competitive testosterone.
The
Corpus Callosum
The brain is divided into two hemispheres. The left side takes care of language and
verbal skills and processes information in an orderly, logical way. The right hemisphere deals with visual and
spatial information as well as abstract thinking and emotional responses. The corpus callosum connects both
hemispheres. It is thicker in women
enabling them to use both sides of the brain in a connected way. Because women can be more sensitive to and
affected by harsh words and criticism in the workplace.
Finally
– The Hippocampus
The hippocampus is a horseshoe
shaped structure with one located in the left hemisphere and one located in the
right hemisphere. The structure is
critical to memory formation. It not
only forms new memories but also sends memories to the appropriate area of the
cerebral hemisphere for long-term storage as well retrieving them when
necessary. The hippocampus is larger and
more active in women. It is estrogen
sensitive and acts as a relay station for processing memories into words. Women actually have eleven percent more
neurons than men in the brain center for language and hearing. This bodes well for developing executive
communication styles, and sensitive negotiations. Women use language to develop consensus more
efficiently than men. Men’s’ brains are
more specifically organized to focus intensely and not be distracted by superfluous
information (columbiaconnect.com, 2008).
One more word about the biology
of the brain: in December 2013 a research report was released stating that the
difference between women and men’s’ brains are actually hardwired. The research on brain connectivity was
conducted on 949 individuals – 521 females and 428 males between the ages of 8
– 22. The distinction between the
genders became apparent after adolescence.
The study determined that females had many neural connections running
from side to side between the right and left hemispheres in the prefrontal
cortex areas. The neural connections in
the male brains ran from front to back on the same side of the brain. So what does this mean? Generally it means that women are better at
memory, social cognition tests and intuition.
Men are better at spatial tasks, navigation and muscle control (Science
Daily, Dec. 2013).
The differences between women and
men’s’ brains are anatomical and physiological.
They kept our primitive ancestors alive and perhaps equipping us for the
modern workplace! Now that those
differences have been scientifically validates the behavior of women in the
workplace should not be regarded as weakness but as effective leadership
models. Science has made that decision.
Science has validates that women
are equipped to be successful leaders in any capacity they choose. Then why is there such a gender gap in the
C-Suite in Corporate America and why are there so few female holding top
political offices? To answer these
questions Peter J. Kuhn and Marie Claire Villenal, both economic professors,
studied why women and men perform so differently in the workplace. The study was set up like this:
·
Male and female students from undergraduate
business and engineering schools were recruited to participate. They were to
choose either team-based projects or solo projects. The teams had to be evenly mixed with females
and males
·
First round of the study:
-
Solo-based projects – there was no difference in
the output between females and males
-
Team-based project – performance remained the
same – therefore e no gender gap
-
When evaluated on confidence of team mates
abilities – women showed ‘much higher’ expectations and confidence in their
partners than men did
·
Second round of the study – incentivized output
-
Solo-based project – paid on an individual
basis
-
Team-based: each team would be paid on output
and they would choose their own teammates
-
Women were more likely to choose a team compensated
project than men as soon as payment was s introduced
·
Conclusions:
-
Women’s
more generous belief about their partners’ abilities account for all the gender
gap choices
-
Knowledgeable women simply aren’t as confident
in their own abilities as men are, while
men are too distrusting of their coworkers’ abilities and overconfident of
their own
-
This accounts for an abundance of women in the
nonprofit sector and found sparingly in top financial, economic, or political
positions in modern society. Women stay
away from competitive environments and flock to positions involving
collaboration.
Gender difference in the
workplace: women prefer collaboration, while men distrust their coworkers and
desire to work alone (Medical Daily, Aug. 22, 2013)
Dr. Daniel Amen has a book titled
“Unleash the Power of the Female Brain” where he states that women are wired
for success. He makes a very compelling
statement when he says that “the prefrontal cortex which controls judgment,
organization, impulse control and planning is more active in women”, suggesting
that women are wired to hold positions of power and run the world”. Through his research Dr. Amen has identifies
five particular strengths of women that play a key role in leadership: Empathy,
Collaboration, Intuition, Self Control, and Appropriate Worry. Anatomically
women have the brains it takes to be extraordinary leaders. Neuroscience has revealed more to us about
the brain in the past twenty years than all of history before that. It is important to note that through
neuroplasticity our brains are changing constantly to our environment. If women are continually told they cannot
lead – they will not be leaders. But
knowing that we are equipped for the challenge of leadership, our brains will
positively react to the encouragement of leading. Nature vs., Nurture: Nature has given us what
we need – now we need to nurture female leaders.
References:
Patricia
Faust, MGS
Director Corporate Brain Health
Brain Health Center
www.brainhealthctr.com
