I worked in a field that required collaboration and often escalation out of our dept, and was frequently subject to critical deadlines. (Eg, that rocket can’t go up if the comm lines go down.) I had female bosses whose management skills were so utterly lacking, who had to be convinced first when support was needed, settled for an “I left a message, yesterday,” then went home at 5. So bad that I vowed I wouldn’t work for another woman unless I knew her as a friend first. With one exception, the men were far better mentors and support, had an open view of “team,” knew the goals and got the job done, and were willing to share credit. Young or older, minorities, internationals, highly educated or built their way up. Men. I assumed there was a deeper level of confidence there.
I’ll skip detail, but it really wasn’t just me. And yes, the corporate structure had somehow put those women in place. Maybe that was part of the underlying problem. The women lifted into management were a sort.