It’s well known that office temperatures are mostly set at levels that suit men better than women — temperatures are often based on a historic formula that used men’s metabolism as a guide. You can witness the consequence in offices anywhere: women shivering while men stretch out in T-shirts and shirtsleeves.
It sounds trivial. Yet, says Avivah Wittenberg-Cox, chief executive of gender balance consultancy 20-first, currently a fellow at Harvard, “it’s a powerful metaphor for our organisations. We organise around what suits men and their competitive advantages, and they have no idea it’s masculine. They just think it’s normal.”
Office temperatures are a tiny reflection of a startling larger truth: the minimal imprint women have so far left on the “official” theory and practice of management. And as the technology of work directly affects the daily life of every employed human on the planet, that matters.