When compromising and collaborating are considered, a lot of the studies are done in order to try answering the question of who is more skillful, women or men. Gender difference issue is more and more neglected nowadays, and this difference is not so clear and important when we talk about social skills. All that matters, when we talk about compromising and collaborating, is someone’s nature and personality. Gender equality is more and more stressed. But, there are certain beliefs and situations that prove women maybe solve some problems a little bit more masterly.
Men and their masculinity
Compromising and collaborating are not really the characteristics of men. When dealing with a problematic situation, they usually want to compete with each other in order to prove themselves and their masculinity. They think it’s important to prove that you are stronger and more dominant than other men. Another male characteristic is stubbornness. They don’t always choose to compromise, they rather choose to prove their point, no matter they are right or wrong.
Women function as a group
According to some recent studies, women collaborate more than men and they are focused on reaching the goal and their way toward it. They work together and share their ideas because they believe in teamwork rather than individuality. Unlike men, women don’t need to stress their femininity and fight with other women. They are usually supportive of one another and they rather focus on enjoying the victory gained by collaboration and compromise.
What are the results of the studies?
PISA conducted a study in 2015 which showed that boys perform better in problem-solving situations when they work on their own, whereas girls are better when collaborating with other girls. Girls usually care about other people’s opinion and they want to share their ideas with others, while boys function not caring about relationships with other people so much.
One more study conducted by Hristina Nikolova and Cait Lamberton, published in Journal of Consumer Research, named Men and the Middle: Gender Differences in Dyadic Compromise Effects, showed that a female working with another female makes choices in a more collaborative way than male working with another male. This study also showed that a mixed pair (consisting of a man and a woman) is somewhere in the middle considering the intensity of successful collaboration. This is because men need to focus on their masculinity, whereas women have different norms and they focus on relationships with other people.
This research also showed that men are not fond of compromising. They criticize other men if they do so, while women dearly accept to make a compromise.
Who needs good compromising and collaborating skills?
When education is concerned, kids know that their individual work is more appreciated and valued than the teamwork, but later in life, when they get jobs, they are told that collaborating with other people becomes more important. The business world needs and values workers who are skillful in solving problems by compromising and collaborating. Workshops and lectures on how to become able to collaborate with different kinds of people are organized by large companies to help their employees improve these skills and contribute to the company’s growth.
Conclusion
All the things considered, it can’t be generalized and said that either women or men are better at compromising and collaborating. Working together, they are the best combination. It always depends on the situation, point of view and a specific person how someone will react and solve an issue. Sometimes women carry the day and sometimes men are the winners.
