Women exemplify more effective leadership style, study finds.(Knight Ridder Newspapers)

Byline: Bonnie Miller Rubin

CHICAGO _ Women make the better bosses, according to a new and exhaustive study certain to sway absolutely nobody who has an opinion on which sex is the superior supervisor.

Some might observe that the fact that women are better managers will come as news only to about half the population.

Though the difference in each category the researchers examined was small, women indeed scored better almost across the board. Men still dominate the executive suite, but it is women who exemplify a more effective leadership style, according to a new, far-reaching study.

While the "who makes the better boss" debate has simmered for some time _ both in scientific journals as well in intra-office e-mails _ the latest entry from academia gives women the higher marks, according to Alice Eagly, a professor of psychology at Northwestern University, and two colleagues. The researchers …