The higher women climb up the career ladder, the bigger the gender gap grows. Women still hold just 5 percent of CEO positions and 17 percent of board seats, according to research group Catalyst. One of the biggest obstacles to narrowing the gender gap for female leaders may be the employees who work for them.

According to a recent Gallop poll, employees of both genders prefer male bosses to female bosses. Among the 60 percent of employees who have a preference either way, women (40 percent) actually are more likely to prefer a male boss than men (29 percent).

Yet research from leadership consultancy Zenger Folkman shows that women are actually more effective leaders than men, scoring higher on 12 of 16 leadership attributes, according to Robert Sherwin, chief operating officer at Zenger Folkman.

So why don’t we like them more?

Misguided perceptions and stereotypes about female leaders at all levels of the workplace may be playing at play. People believe that women are less effective leaders.  But women score higher than men on developng others, building relationships and collaboration.

Women also scored higher on leadership traits often attributed to men, such as taking initiative, driving results and being a champion for change.

Another reason for the disconnect between the effectiveness of female leaders and the preference for male bosses simply may be that few employees actually know what it’s like to work for a woman.  One of the few subgroups in Gallup’s poll that did not tilt toward a male leader was the 30 percent of employees who work for a female boss. Those employees were equally split in their preferences—perhaps showing that gender equality among leaders creates gender equality among workers as well.

For workers to see the benefits of working for a female boss firsthand, the number of women leaders must increase.  Female role models help inspire women who are aspiring to leadership positions. But they also help educate men who already are in the executive suite about the strength of female leaders and the ways they can improve a company’s performance and results.

The increased adoption of family-friendly workplace polices such as paid maternity and paternity leave also could help drive the growth of female leaders.