5 reasons women make top team-first collaborators in tech

“Women tend to release more oxytocin than men, thus they directly contribute more empathy, cooperation, and trust in interpersonal interactions,” says psychologist Kenneth Nowack. “These hormonal differences might help explain the observed tendency for women to deploy more participative leadership behaviors relative to their male counterparts, and naturally use transformational practices that emphasize teamwork, cooperation, networking, and interpersonal support.”

5. A community-oriented approach

Another noteworthy aspect of women driving team-first collaboration is they tend to be more community-focused in the first place. But studies highlight how this can sometimes have negative consequences, where women take on a disproportionate amount of work compared to their male peers.

When applied in leadership, however, this community-driven mindset can have a powerful impact on collaboration. Decision-making becomes less of an authoritative mandate and more cooperative, helping to uncover new insights and ideas that lead to better solutions.