A: Berating, Belittling, Brusque; And Did We Mention Condescending?

Q: “Why Have So Many Women Quit on Mayor de Blasio?”:

Thirty-one high-level officials hired by Mr. de Blasio have left City Hall since he took office in 2014. Of those, 22 were women, more than twice the number of men who left.

The gender imbalance of the departures has raised questions as to why so many women, including many who are black or Hispanic, have jumped ship on a mayor seen as welcoming to women and minorities.

Interviews with a dozen women who either have left City Hall or continue to work there pointed to several factors fueling the departures. Several of the women spoke on the condition of anonymity because they did not want to damage relations with the mayor or other city officials.

One factor mentioned repeatedly was the mayor’s management style. It can be deliberative to the point of plodding, and several people said that it had produced a high level of frustration among top officials. They said that promising projects sometimes go many months awaiting approval or simply languish, drowned in a flood of memos, indecision and political strategizing.

Another factor cited by some who frequently dealt with the mayor involved his personality; he often lectures his staff during meetings in what people describe as a condescending tone, and he is known for berating or belittling subordinates in front of others or shooting off emails criticizing them in brusque terms.

Nearly everyone experiences this, the women said, but they suggested that women may have less patience.

“You’re at a point in your career where, why should you put up with the nonsense,” said one woman who left a senior job at City Hall. “If you came to make a change and to make a difference, your tolerance is going to be a lot lower than if you just came for the title.”

But some found the work environment at City Hall directly hostile to women.

“I just found it to be a totally inhospitable workplace,” said Lindsay Scola, Mr. de Blasio’s former scheduler, who had previously worked with the former first lady, Michelle Obama, and the Energy Department.

Ms. Scola and two other women recounted repeated instances where they felt they were marginalized or talked down to by a male colleague, because they were women. Ms. Scola said she was once told that her “job was to hold time on the Outlook calendar and nothing else, like I was a little girl.”

Ms. Scola said that the mayor was aware of the behavior and “knowingly tolerated it.”