According to a study conducted in Spain, female managers are less likely than men to promote women into supervisory positions. These managers rationalized their decisions by claiming that the female candidate might be more "controlling" in her management style, while the male candidate would assume a more laissez-faire role. They also tended to view female candidates as less qualified. Older managers exhibited a similar prejudice against female candidates, while younger managers were more open-minded in regard to gender. Some female commentators have attributed this bias to the internalization of sexist attitudes, while others blame a "queen-bee" phenomenon, whereby female managers consider other ambitious females a threat and feel more secure surrounded by male colleagues.

Having observed many, often implacable rivalries among female managers in my own work life, the results of this study ring true. However, the fact that the study was conducted in Spain suggest that the findings may have been influenced by cultural factors that are not present to the same degree in the United States. For more detail, consult the link below.

"Office queen bees hold back women's careers" from The London Times