Every so often, a headline declares that women make better leaders. A widely cited 2019 Harvard Business Review analysis, for instance, found women outscored men on most leadership competencies.
But if women really do outperform men at the top, what explains the difference? A 2005 review of 46 meta-analyses found relatively few consistent psychological differences between women and men. That doesn’t rule out differences relevant to leadership. But it suggests we should look beyond individual traits and consider the selection process itself.
