Men face being squeezed out of the best-paying jobs because they cannot compete with the face-to-face confidence of female rivals, a study has found.

It said women were winning the battle for success because they were better at getting on with colleagues and clients.

The study found that over a 20-year period, a lower share of men were appointed to the highest-paid jobs, even though the number of such jobs increased.

Women are winning the battle for success because they were better at getting on with colleagues and clients (stock image)

The research published by the UBS International Centre of Economics in Society said: 'The key driver seems to be growing demand for social skills, such as empathy, communication, emotion recognition and verbal expression, in which evidence from psychological research indicates that women have a comparative advantage.'

Report author Professor Nir Jaimovich, from the University of Zurich, said the advance of technology and automation 'put a premium on the ability to talk to and win over other people'.

Alongside the greater demand for women's ability to cultivate relationships, the report said women's chances of getting the best jobs have been improved by honing their skills, qualifications and productivity faster than men.

Evidence for the squeeze on men, it said, came from US labour market figures which showed that the proportion of male graduates in top-paid jobs fell from 66.2 per cent in 1980 to 63.3 per cent in 2000, while the share of female graduates in jobs at the same level went up from 54.2 per cent to 58.8 per cent.

Report author Professor Nir Jaimovich, from the University of Zurich, said the advance of technology and automation 'put a premium on the ability to talk to and win over other people'

This happened even though the number of well-paid jobs available grew and the number of highly skilled women trying to get them rose.

Professor Jaimovich suggested that schools, universities and job training courses should cover the need for people to be able to speak to and understand each other as well as to meet technical demands.

He said: said: 'A significant fraction of the increase in the share of women in good jobs over the last 40 years can be explained by the rising importance of social skills in these jobs.'