The Workplace Bullying Institute has found that up to 80% of women that are bullied in the workplace are bullied by other women.

Other recent studies have shown that women who report to women experience a greater frequency of bullying, so much so that a new term, 'Queen Bee Syndrome', has been coined.

HR and Employment Law expert Caroline Reidy says that the statistics are "a big eye-opener" that show "there's a lot more to do".

She told Newstalk Breakfast that Ireland has done well in implementing the new workplace code of practice that tackles sexual harassment.

"I also think we've really done a lot of encouragement around [speaking] up if you're not getting what we consider to be dignity and respect in the work environment", she said.

"But I think these statistics make us realise there's a lot more to do."

Male-dominated industries

Lucy Gernon, an executive coach for Women in Leadership, says that tension between women is more common in male-dominated industries.

"It's an unspoken narrative that there's this competition at times in the workplace between women and I definitely see it with women in leadership", she said.

"In particular in male-dominated industries where there may be only a couple of women on boards or who are high up organizations, and there are a lot of men. So instead of sticking together, being allies and supporting each other, they actually see each other as competition."

"But what that does is it actually just drives a wedge between them. It creates hostility. It creates conflict."

Sheryl Sandberg, former Chief Operating Officer of Facebook. Photo by Pat Benic/UPI

'Rolemodelling'

Rolemodelling is a key factor in the high number of bullies being women, according to Ms Reidy.

"You might have seen a previous boss and that was the bahaviour... they were tougher", she said.

"I think it's sometimes a case of setting the expectation that maybe this is the bahaviour I need to get ahead — which is not the case ."

But being "more ruthless" is not the key to a woman's career success, she says.

"That's not how we manage people, that's not how we retain people, and I think it's something that's outdated in the current HR and employment context", she said.

"People join organisations and leave managers [and that] has never been truer."

"We've seen the Sheryl Sandberg and lots more, where they're encouraging the female power of personality is actually an added advantage around the boardroom table rather than it being seen as something that is weaker", Ms Reidy added.

Companies are now more inclined to recognise and appreciate diversity as it "adds value" and women should therefore not be afraid of appearing "softer" by just being themselves.

While Ms Reidy found the figures concerning, she said that the majority of companies are learning to promote more positive workplace relations between minorities.