Using data from the Survey on Support for Work–Life Balance conducted in Japan, this study investigates the role of female managers in enhancing their male and female subordinates’ access to family-friendly measures in the workplace. Research on organisational gender inequality has proposed two contrasting perspectives regarding the impact of female managers on gender inequality, describing female managers as either ‘change agents’ or ‘cogs in the machine’. However, previous research has rarely investigated whether female managers address men’s limited access to family-friendly measures, which is often the hidden side of the coin of gender imbalance in male-dominated organisations. Results indicate that female managers were more likely to have subordinates who take parental leave and to exhibit stronger support for male subordinates’ family-related requests than male managers, although, like male managers, they reported feeling that managing their sections during these absences is a challenge. The implications of the findings are discussed.

本研究使用日本开展的“支持工作与生活平衡的调查”的数据，调查了女性管理者在增强其男性和女性下属获得工作场所家庭友好措施方面的作用。关于组织性别不平等的研究提出了关于女性管理者对性别不平等影响的两种截然不同的观点，将女性管理者描述为“变革推动者”或“机器中的齿轮”。但是，以前的研究很少研究女性管理者是否解决男性在获得家庭友善措施方面受到限制的问题，而这往往是男性主导的组织中性别失衡的隐性一面。结果表明，与男性管理者相比，女性管理者更可能有下属休育儿假并为男性下属的家庭相关请求提供更强有力的支持，尽管他们报告说，与男性管理者一样，在缺勤期间管理部门是一种挑战。讨论的结果的含义。