I'm sure you've all been participating in the same discussions these days as I have -- mulling over John McCain's choice for a vice presidential running mate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, on the heels of Sen. HIllary Clinton's conciliatory speech at the Democratic National Convention; chewing the fat over the news that Palin's 17-year-old daughter is pregnant and unwed; reviewing Palin's stands on abortion, creationism in the schools, and sex education. If you're like me, some of the discussions have been heated enough to fry an egg.

So it was with great interest that I read the results of the Pew Research Center's latest Social and Demographic Trends survey, "Men or Women: Who's the Better Leader," which polled respondents about the leadership characteristics they see in men and women. And when it comes to honesty, intelligence and other character traits that the public values highly in leaders, guess which sex came out on top?

You're right -- the public believes that women overwhelmingly have the character traits that make great leaders, with women rating higher than men in these characteristics:

honesty

intelligence

compassion

the ability to be outgoing

and creativity.

Men and women were rated equally ambitious and hardworking, while men only scored higher than women in the category of decisiveness.

But the survey of 2,250 adults also unveiled a paradox on the subject of gender and leadership.

In spite of scoring higher on all those leadership traits, only 6% of the respondents taking the Pew survey said that, overall, women make better political leaders than men. About 21% said men make the better leaders, while the vast majority (69%) said men and women make equally good leaders.

Why this paradox?

Here's what the Pew Center folks say:

"In an era when women have made sweeping strides in educational attainment and workforce participation, relatively few have made the journey all the way to the highest levels of political or corporate leadership.

Why not? In the survey, the public cites gender discrimination, resistance to change, and a self-serving "old boys club" as reasons for the relative scarcity of women at the top. In somewhat smaller numbers, respondents also say that women's family responsibilities and their shortage of experience hold them back from the upper ranks of politics and business."

When it comes to holding public office, respondents said they believe women are better than men at dealing with social issues such as health care and education, but gave men the edge over women in the way they deal with crime, national security, public safety, and defense.

When it comes to the skills it takes to perform public office duties, women got higher marks than men in all of the measures: standing up for your principles against pressures, working out compromises, keeping government honest, and representing the interests of the average person.

But the fact of the matter is, as the Pew report notes, women make up only 2% of the CEOs of the nation's Fortune 500 companies and 17% of all members of the U.S. House of Representatives.

What accounts for this slow movement toward gender parity in top political positions? The Pew survey asked respondents, and 51% said Americans aren't ready to elect a woman to high office, 43% said women in politics are held back by men, and 38% said women are discriminated against in all sectors of society.

Interestingly, 27% of the survey respondents also cited the time pressure for women, who have to balance work and family, as a reason there aren't more females in public office, while 26% said that the public might not elect more women because they believe females don't have the experience required for higher office.

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