Queen Bee Syndrome

Queen bee syndrome is a social phenomenon in which women in positions of authority or power treat subordinate women worse than they treat men, based purely on gender, first defined by the researchers Graham Staines, Carol Tavris and Toby E. Jayaratne in 1973. Women described by the term are often seen as having taken on traditionally masculine traits and distanced themselves from other women in the workplace in order to succeed, sometimes judging female subordinates more critically or declining to help other women advance as a form of self-preservation. The phenomenon remains a subject of debate: some researchers argue it is largely a myth that perpetuates outdated gender stereotypes, and Tavris herself has expressed regret at coining what she called a catchy name for a complex pattern of behavior that she says has since been misinterpreted, though other studies, including work from the University of Toronto, have documented that women report finding it more stressful to work for female managers than male ones, with no comparable difference found for male workers.