It’s Not Just Mike Pence. Americans Are Wary of Being Alone With the Opposite Sex.
“Organizations are so concerned with their legal liabilities,
but nobody’s really focused on how to reduce harassment and at the same time teach men and women to have working relationships with the opposite sex,” said Kim Elsesser, author of “Sex and the Office: Women, Men and the Sex Partition That’s Dividing the Workplace.”
People who follow the practice in their social lives described separate spheres after couplehood.
Fewer than two-thirds of respondents said a work meeting alone with a member of the opposite sex was appropriate; 16 percent of women
and 18 percent of men with postgraduate degrees said it was inappropriate.
“If I couldn’t meet with my boss one on one, I don’t get
that face time to show what I can do to get that next promotion,” said Shannon Healy, 31, a property manager in Houghton, Mich.
Republican, more religious and less educated men were somewhat more likely to say such meetings were inappropriate.
If they were above 65, Republican or very religious, respondents were slightly more likely
to say people should take extra precaution around members of the opposite sex at work.