Are Women Better Proposal Writers Than Men?

I am not writing about women’s rights. I want to help management executives pick the right candidate for proposal writing.

Am I suggesting gender prejudice? Yes, I am. I think women as a whole are better proposal writers, and do suggest to my colleagues that when their candidates have equal capabilities, chose the female instead of the male candidate.

Even in armed conflicts and wars, the world is slowly moving towards giving equal rights to women. Of course, it is obvious that men are physically stronger than women. But so what? We are not in the dark ages now. With the advent of technology, a good soldier can be a man or a woman. I think that barrier has been lifted now. But why am I suggesting that women are better in proposal writing?

For those who believe in positivism: A research done by the University of Pennsylvania in 2013, which involved imaging the brains of nearly 1,000 adolescents, found that male brains had more connections within hemispheres, whereas female brains were more connected between hemispheres. The results, which apply to the population as a whole and not individuals, suggest that male brains may be optimized for motor skills, and female brains may be optimized for combining analytical and intuitive thinking.

And for those who believe in women’s struggle for equality: We must understand that even here in US, many businesses consider women inferior to men, in varying extents. However, this in fact can be the driving force for women to work harder, pay the price, and overcome the male-oriented attitude around them, including in proposal writing.

I do not know how correct any of the above reasons might be, but per my own personal experience, in which I have worked with countless men and women consultants and proposal writers, women on the average excel more than men in proposal writing. They are more structured, more analytical and writing proposals is more intuitive to them. If you are an HR or are an executive looking to hire a proposal manager or writer, give this a thought. And my apologies to all my male counterparts! I admit, I am prejudiced! A psychiatrist friend always told me that admitting to the truth is 51% of the process. I am admitting.