Survey of How Men Think In the Workplace

Question 1:

Stop and think for a moment about your view of working life and personal life. Which statement best describes your view? {Choose One Answer}

* Tallied percentage is believed to be an even more realistic assessment, based on survey-takers answers to ‘real-life scenario’ question. (See Endnotes at conclusion of survey.)

Question 2:

When you are considering a work decision, should you change the decision, based on consideration of emotional or personal factors—such as the possibility that someone’s feelings will be hurt if you go a particular direction? {Choose One Answer}

Question 3:

Wherever a hypothesis was tested but not borne out in the survey, those subjects were dropped from further research for now. Those questions therefore are not included in this presentation of the survey. Any skipped questions are not missing but rather relate to the dropped subjects.

Question 4:

Suppose you’re in the middle of working on something and a colleague comes into your office. She mentions some family problems, and you sense she needs to talk for a while. Regardless of how you actually respond, are you likely to have the following feeling? “I should discuss it with her, to show that I care…but privately, I’d really rather not because I fear I’ll get sucked into a personal conversation, and I just don’t have time for that here.” {Choose One Answer}

Note: Due to rounding, some totals slightly exceed 100%

Question 5:

Now suppose that a work associate approaches you and starts talking about a work issue, but doesn’t first tell you the point of the question or the matter at hand. In general, is it harder to listen and follow what they are saying, if they don’t state the point up front? {Choose One Answer}

Question 6:

Below are several quotes from various successful businessmen about how they privately feel at times. Do you sometimes find yourself instinctively feeling this way? (When answering, please consider how you actually feel, regardless of whether you think it is logical or whether you “should” feel that way.) {Choose One Answer For Each Statement}

Note: Due to rounding, some totals slightly exceed 100%

Question 7:

Note: Several questions were worded only slightly differently for the female control group and those questions are not included here.

The relevant questions that were substantively different or were only asked of female survey takers (and thus discussed in the book) are appended at the end of this presentation of the survey.

Question 11:

Imagine you are in a business meeting, and a woman with a great body stands up to give a presentation. She is all business, but she is wearing a suit and blouse that shows off her figure in some way (for example, a low-cut blouse or tight skirt). Which answer below most closely describes the likely impact of that on your ability to concentrate on her presentation? {Choose One Answer}

Question 12:

When you see a woman dress in a way that shows off her figure, which (if any) of the following thoughts might you have about why she is dressing that way? {Choose One Answer On Each Row}

Note: The answers for each row above were ‘I might think that’ and ‘I would not think that’. This is only the percent of men who answered ‘I might think that way’ for each answer.

Question 13:

Thinking about the working women you see during the course of the workweek, how often do you encounter, or see, a woman wearing clothes that you consider distracting for showing off her figure in some way? This includes presumed ‘unintentional’ cases, such as a button-up shirt that isn’t buttoned up as high as usual, and so on. Which choice below comes closest to describing how often you see a woman dressed in that way, in the working environment? {Choose One Answer}

* 9% of male survey takers said they work with very few women or have a uniform.

Question 17:

Which statement about trust and respect do you agree with most? If you agree with both, which is most important to you, to be able to instinctively trust and respect someone in the workplace? {Choose One Answer}

Question 18:

Consider times in your working life when you have seen two co-workers have a work-related conflict and then begin to express annoyance with each other over time. Did you have any of the following perceptions about the situation and those co-workers? {Choose One Answer On Each Row Below}

Note: The answers for each row above were ‘I did think that’ and ‘I did not think that’. This is only the percent of men who answered ‘I did think that’ for each answer.

Question 19:

In the previous situation, what do you think they should have done, from the moment the annoyance began? {Choose One Answer}

Note: Due to rounding, some totals slightly exceed 100%

Question 20:

Now, this is a sensitive question, but your anonymous input will be helpful. In the type of scenario you recollected for the question at the top of this page, in your experience what is more likely to be the gender of those expressing annoyance? {Choose One Answer}

Question 23:

Suppose you are in an important meeting that you know you and your team will need to evaluate afterwards. One of your female colleagues contributes well to the discussion, but also gets quite emotional and upset about some criticism of your team’s project. Which of the following feelings are you most likely to have? {Choose One Answer}

Question 24:

Now, suppose that you are leaving the meeting in which your female colleague was emotional and upset. As you prepare to review the meeting, what thought is most likely to be your first reaction? {Choose One Answer}

Question 25:

Suppose for the past year you have been part of a 10-person team working on a big project. Everyone contributed well to the end result. During the year, for family reasons, two team members arranged to work from home on Fridays. And during intense deadlines they couldn’t stay at the office late or on weekends with the rest of the team, but made an effort to work from home. All team members were supportive and agreed that those two individuals had great value, even if they couldn’t put in as many hours or be available at the same times. When it comes time to be individually evaluated, compensated and promoted, however, how do you feel about your contribution versus theirs? {Choose One Answer}

Question 26:

Now, suppose the two team members who worked a different schedule did, in fact, receive somewhat lower bonuses, and they protest not being equally compensated with the rest of the team. Management explains that they simply didn’t work as many hours as the others, and weren’t always available at the same times, but the two workers tell you and the others that it still wasn’t fair. How is that most likely to impact your view of those two team members, if at all? {Choose One Answer}

Note: Due to rounding, some totals may slightly be less than 100%

Question 27:

In which of the following areas, if any, do you sometimes feel less than confident, or question how others view you? {Choose All Correct Answers}

Question 29:

Suppose you’re making a proposal in a group meeting, and a female colleague begins asking you “why” questions (for example, “Why did you choose that approach?” or “Why is your project structured that way?”). What is your most likely first, gut-level reaction? {Choose One Answer}

Question 30:

In your opinion, are there certain things that even skilled and talented women sometimes unintentionally do that undermines their effectiveness with men, simply because they don’t realize how they are being perceived by the men they work with? {Choose One Answer}

Question 31:

Please provide an example of something that even a skilled woman might unintentionally do that undermines her effectiveness or perception with men.

Author’s Note: The men’s verbatim answers to this question, from both the professional survey and the follow-up survey, can be found here.

Question 33:

Finally, if you could give one piece of advice to women in the workplace, what is the one most important thing you would say to them?

Author’s Note: The men’s verbatim answers to this question, from both the professional survey and the follow-up survey, can be found here.

Question 8:

How often would you say that you wear work outfits that emphasize or allow sight of your figure? This would include, for example, as low-cut shirt that shows some cleavage or a tight skirt. Only women answered this question. {Choose One Answer}

Question 9:

When you wear those outfits, which (if any) of the following thoughts might be going through your mind? {Choose One Answer For Each Row}

Note: The answers for each row above were ‘I might think that’ and ‘I would not think that’. This is only the percent of women who answered ‘I might think that way’ for each answer.

Question 10:

Imagine you are in a business meeting, and a woman stands up to give a presentation. She is all business, but she is wearing a suit and blouse that emphasizes her figure in some way (for example, a low-cut blouse or tight skirt). Which answer below most closely describes the likely impact of that (if any) on your ability to concentrate on her presentation? {Choose One Answer}

Question 20:

Now, this is a sensitive question, but your anonymous input will be helpful. In the type of scenario you recollected for the question at the top of this page, in your experience what is more likely to be the gender of those expressing annoyance? {Choose One Answer}