In my long and varied (read: distinctly surreal) work experience, it’s howlingly stupid, not to mention futile, to characterize good vs. bad coworkers by gender. It just doesn’t break down that way. Some generalizations about overall style, approach, etc. might apply, but even those don’t hold up under close, fair scrutiny. IME, at least.
Everybody has anecdotes.
I work among a lot of cranky, menopausal women right now. Some of 'em have worked together for donkey’s years, and they’ve settled into a literal work ‘family’, with all that implies. They can and do idly snipe and gritch at one another, purely out of habit, but they also instantly and unquestionly provide real, tangible support anyone who hits a rough spot. They remind me of dolphins who butt, whistle at and generally torment around others but also willingly carry hurt members until they can swim on their own again. The process can be maddeningly fluid but the results are real. They don’t relate wrongly, just differently.
FWIW, anecdotally, the absolute worst, hardcore goldbrickers I ever worked with have been male. They made an art and mission of playing whatever systems were available to them. That doesn’t remotely mean that the men–collectively–in my work experience have been remotely less responsible than women, just the few, stray parasites didn’t show responsibilty or conscience the same way. Though there are always those exceptions. It’s a draw–IME–when it comes to human remora.
Often my male counterparts are a breath of refreshing air, but that doesn’t make them less complicated. Mostly I relish their pure differentness–they’re a breath of fresh air–but that doesn’t make them qualitatively more trustworthy or honorable. A few of the most flagrant, conscienceless users-of-others in my work life have been women. But there have plenty of men in that category too.
Humans mess can and often do mess up under pressure, boredom, opportunity or plain cussedness. People crack along their individual fault lines. Gender, sex, whatever, has nothing to do with underlying human stress failures. As for how those failures manifest themselves…keeps life interesting, doesn’t it? IMO anyone who settles for a blanket catch-all formula flunked the test as soon as it was passed out.
Veb