Thank you to Frances and Kylie at The 100 Percent Project for inviting me to their Sydney research launch on Friday of Men At Work: What they want and why it matters for women.  The key take aways for me are that men largely want what most women want too, when it comes to workplace culture and flexibility.  And that women are paying a price for the inability of men to get it.

What the study found is that:

• Men want to spend time and energy on their family life:  75% of men expect to devote significant time and energy to rearing their children
• And family is more important to them than their career: 68% of men are willing to accept costs to other areas of their life so they can be involved in the day-to-day care of their children
• They want a rewarding career – but won’t sacrifice everything for it:  83% of men expect to devote significant time to building their career – but only 29% of men expect to make as many sacrifices as necessary to advance their career.
• Men want work-life balance – and say their life as a whole is better if they get it:  62% of men who are satisfied with their life as a whole agree that their work-life balance is right for their current situation. Only 14% of men who are not satisfed with their life think that their work-life balance is right.
• Men don’t ask for greater work-life balance, even if they have children, because they think asking will harm their career:  Only 39% of men have asked for greater work-life balance at some time in their career, due mainly to a belief that such a request would have negative effects on their career and that employers look negatively on employees who take advantage of work-life balance initiatives.

See a summary of the research report here, or click here for the full version.