In the #MeToo era, an open-office environment might seem like the perfect solution for fixing the sexual harassment that can take place behind closed office doors. If there are glass walls everywhere, and no one has doors or even plastic partitions to reserve any sense of privacy, groping and sexual advances might be harder to get away with. (Remember the famous allegations about NBC host Matt Lauer remotely locking his office door from a button under his desk?)

But that hardly means it’s an office arrangement women love. Research has already shown that women tend to be more sensitive than men to the noise generated in open-plan offices, and take more long sick leaves when they work in them. Now a recently published study of a British government office showed that open-plan offices may be tougher for women in different ways — leaving them feeling more scrutinized for their appearance, subject to staring by male peers and more self-conscious about their status in the organization.

That’s the exact opposite sensation such designs are typically meant to inspire, said Christina Schwabenland, one of the co-authors of the paper, which was published in the journal “Gender, Work and Organizations.”

Read Entire Washington Post Article