Male and female meeting planners look at their work experiences though different lenses. This was among the conclusions of a recent survey of 254 European planners by Meeting Professionals International's Women's Leadership Initiative.

Most men felt their companies' policies encouraged women's personal and professional needs; women felt the policies were much more favorable toward men. Women also strongly disagreed with the statement, “Too much attention is given to differences between leadership opportunities for men vs. women.” Far fewer men disputed that statement.

For Cary Broussard, vice president of marketing, Wyndham International, and an MPI Women's Leadership Initiative committee member, the way men and women described leadership was significant. “The women described leaders more in terms of building consensus and providing guidance, while the men tended to describe leaders more in terms of setting standards and directions for a group to follow. This study will help women and men in both Europe and the U.S. to talk about these different perceptions.”

For all the survey results, visit www.mpiweb.org/resources/wli/wli.pdf.