Deborah says that her authority is sometimes undermined by perceptions about her gender. "It stems from the whole social context of traditional roles for men and women, she says." Mom would tell you to do things, but perhaps you wouldn't take as much notice as when Dad told you to do things. Men also have a stronger urge to control," she says.

For female bosses, the great expectation of some female employees is one more obstacle. Junior women assume a female boss will promote them more quickly than a man would. But, they also expect female bosses to be more self-sufficient. 'They ask, 'Why can't you scan your own stuff?' or 'Why can't you do your own filing?'" says one senior female executive.

On the other hand, there is no dispute that a few decades ago they would rarely have had a female boss in the workplace. Nina, a management consultant says she's vaguely optimistic. "I'm looking forward to the day, before I die, when we recognize that the best management styles will be composed of the best that both genders bring to the table ..." Well, she pauses, maybe not before she dies, perhaps in her daughter's lifetime.