The present study of 60,470 women and men examined evaluations of participants' current managers as well as their preferences for male and female managers, in general. A cross-sex bias emerged in the ratings of one's current boss, where men judged their female bosses more favorably and women judged male bosses more favorably. The quality of relationships between subordinates and managers were the same for competent male and female managers. A small majority (54%) of participants claimed to have no preference for the gender of their boss, but the remaining participants reported preferring male over female bosses by more than a 2:1 ratio. Qualitative analysis of the participants' justifications for this preference are presented, and results are discussed within the framework of role congruity theory.

This study explores cross-sex friendships within the professional workplace and examined the impact of the workplace environment and heightened awareness of sexual harassment on cross-sex friendship formation. Results from interviews with 41 professionals suggest the existence of obstacles to developing cross-sex friendships at work. Specifically, these professionals worried that their cross-sex friends would misinterpret their friendliness as romantic or sexual interest, that their co-workers would misinterpret their friendliness to a cross-sex friend, and that their humor and conversational topics might be perceived by a cross-sex friend as sexual harassment. Barriers to cross-sex friendship at work were labeled the ‘glass partition,’ and the potential impact of this glass partition on women's and men's careers is discussed.

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