On the Beach or Sweating at Work? Depends on Gender

While August marks a quieter office, an uptick in away messages, and a general summer slowdown at work, not all employees take the same approach to using their vacation leave.

Nine out of 10 employers offer some form of paid annual leave, and the median amount of leave is 15 days, according to Bloomberg data. But women and men are using vacation leave differently, and not because they receive different benefits—they perceive different expectations at work.

Those workplace culture factors can translate into real gender gaps in vacation leave use. Research firm CivicScience found that of all of the respondents ...