It’s “Mean Girls” in real life.
Some didn’t outgrow bullying from school, they just carried it over into their professional world.
The Workplace Bullying Institute finds almost six in 10 office bullies are women. Ninety percent of cases, women target other women.
Queen Bee Syndrome is when a woman thinks she runs the show, but in reality is just holding other women back.
Career clarity specialist Tracy Timm said there's an epidemic of women not taking care of each other in businesses and organizations.
“Success as a female professional is not a zero sum game. It is not you win or I win. We can both win. A rising tide raises all ships and we can all support each other to be uniquely successful,” said Timm.
She said women should not let their anxieties and insecurities stand in their way of helping other women.
Timm said you might see the Queen Bee Syndrome in more male dominated professions.
“Say in banking and finance or perhaps in consulting, or maybe real estate or sales, that if there’s only a handful of women that are going to make it to the top, then I have to make sure that I’m one of those people,” said Timm.
She said women need to focus that each woman brings different things to the work environment, it doesn't have to be one or the other, every woman can succeed.
Timm said women should be pulling other women up to the top with them, instead of pushing them down. That way, the more you lift people up, the more that positions you as a servant leader and choose who you bring with you to the top.
Tech Women Today founder Cecilia Harvey found:
- 70 percent of women have encountered "workplace bullying or covert undermining by a female boss".
- 33 percent have encountered a female colleague of the same rank or lower refusing to help, holding them back, or undermining their efforts