Just like generational differences exist in the workplace, so do gender differences. We’ve talked about women in the workplace before (see here, here and here), but a new study says that working women are happier at work than men, despite working longer hours. 
A study by theFit, “Report on Workplace Culture: Does Gender Matter?” looked at the “hidden truths” behind gender differences in today’s workplace. Here’s what they found:
1. Women work more
Most respondents (91 percent) said they work five days a week, but nearly half (47 percent) work more than eight hours a day. In particular, 54 percent of women work 9 hours or more per day, compared to 41 percent of men.
Additionally, 65% of employees do some amount of work while on vacation, women are more likely to do more work on vacation than men, at 68 percent and 62 percent respectively.
What do these results mean? Simply, women tend to work more, both longer hours and during their vacation time. While the workplace has changed for women in the past decades, women as a group are often at a disadvantage in the workplace, and may work harder to compensate for that.
2. Women perceive their compensation more positively
Half of respondents (49 percent) reported receiving a bonus; interestingly, 40 percent of women said they would use it to either spend a week on the beach or take an around-the-world tour, compared to only 30 percent of men. Also, 53 percent of women report getting a bonus, compared to 45 percent of men.
Women generally perceived their compensation and salaries better than men; only 17 percent of women said their friends would feel bad for them if they knew how much they made, compared to 26 percent of women.
What do these results mean? Since women perceive their compensation and salary more positively than men, they, in general, are happier in the workplace than their male counterparts. More women than men receive bonuses, more women are likely to take these bonuses and spend them on a positive experience, and more women perceive their compensation positively.
3. Honesty rules
While the vast majority (84 percent) of workers are being honest when they call in sick, more men than women tend to lie about their sick days. About 1 in 5 men and 1 in 7 women lied when it came to their most recent sick day, confessing that they were actually playing hooky, taking a mental health day, suffering from a hangover, or interviewing for another job.
What do these results mean? The numbers for men and women are roughly the same here in terms of honesty, with women only slightly in the lead. While most workers are honest with their sick days, sometimes they just simply need a day off. Employers should offer more flexibility to workers so they can balance life and work without being dishonest.
What do you think of these results? Are women happier than men in the workplace?
