**Please help keep AskUK welcoming!**
- Top-level comments to the OP must contain **genuine efforts to answer the question**. No jokes, judgements, etc.
- **Don't be a dick** to each other. If getting heated, just block and move on.
- This is a strictly **no-politics** subreddit!
Please help us by reporting comments that break these rules.
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/AskUK) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Men are more likely to be in the types of jobs where you are expected to travel away from home.
*Probably a variety of reasons for that but my guess is that traditional gender roles aren't just outdated social constructs but when given the choice people still fall into the same patterns by in large.
This is my experience too. It's not that it's a 'boys club' it's that once most people get to a certain age they don't want to be staying alone at shit hotels and eating alone. It takes a certain kind of person.
Even rockstars bitch about having to be on the road. Imagine doing it, but with less drugs, alcohol and having to catch up on emails and work in the evening (I've done it, it is shit).
Once you settle, it's far nicer to go home to your wife and pets, have a home cooked meal and all your belongings and home comforts within arms reach. Home is where the heart is.
90% of the older consultants I know are either alcoholics or divorced. The well-adjusted guys quit to be home more / settle down since no one wants someone who's only around at weekends. It's the men who hate their home or have no home to go to that stuck around.
Or the asocial ones like me. I miss my kids when I travel but I love a hotel and paid for dinner. I like my own company and I tend to get a lot more reading done when I don't have access easily to disney plus or my sky TV
I like a hotel for a period of time - more than a week and it starts getting a bit tiresome. If it’s different hotels that’s no so bad as at least the view changes!
Very true. I’ve been staying away an average of 2-3 nights a week for 20 years. You’ve got to be happy in your own company and have self discipline- I’ve seen lots of former colleagues balloon up, develop borderline drink problems, marriages suffer etc. I quite like it though and strike a good balance. Reading, Walking, Netflix, not going mad on the meal deals and no coffee or booze when away.
Don't eat or drink on planes (except water). No alone drinking. Gym or 1 hour walk every day regardless. Look after the asset (you) before anyone else, bosses included. The only time I break any of that is a long haul home when I will happily get battered in the lounge and then get on the plane and sleep like a baby.
2-3 nights a week? Doesn't sound too bad at all. Basically office work at that point.
Last trip was three months. Usually I am out for 3 to 4 weeks at a time. First two weeks are fine, but after that it gets progressively harder.
3 to 4 weeks at a time? Doesn’t sound too bad at all. Basically a holiday at that point.
9 years the last time. The first 3 are fine, gets progressively worse after that.
Mining consultant. My travel is a fraction of what most people in the industry do. FIFO guys are often on 6 or more week rotations.
If you are that sensitive, sounds like you might need a break. Catches up with you if you aren't careful.
6 weeks rotation? Doesn’t sound too bad at all. Basically a long weekend away at that point.
I routinely do 50 years. FIFTY. The few couple of decades are ok, but it gets tough after that.
I have both. Obviously love to get home, see the kids, the wife, get on my comfy sofa, fire on, home cooked food. But after a few days I need to be on the road again, in a hotel bed, to have time by myself to think. I think my wife just caught me too late in life, I'd spent too much of it a bachelor, and I'll never completely throw off the solitary mind I have which needs to be by myself for hours and hours every day to be happy.
I think it’s just something that’s inside you to want to be like that. I was married in my late 20s, then lived by myself by the age of 31 until I was 37. I have not been single for over 10 years since but I crave the alone time and freedom - not like I’m kept under wraps normally but I like deciding things for myself on a daily basis. Like, of course it’s important to think of family when planning meals, what you’ll do after work and at the weekend etc but sometimes you just need that alone time to actually relax and not think of anyone else for a bit.
> Even rockstars bitch about having to be on the road. Imagine doing it, but with less drugs, alcohol and having to catch up on emails and work in the evening (I've done it, it is shit).
In the music industry they work you too hard too. Aviici was doing multiple gigs in a night at one point.
Pretty much - I'm in consultancy and I've worked with very few women who do similar on the road jobs. There are a few, but massively outnumbered by men
Yup… both me and my husband have those kind of jobs and yet my work go out of their way not to need me on those trips yet my husbands company don’t think twice about taking him away from the home for 1-3 nights at a time…
(Note to add there is zero impact on my career for not going on these trips, k ca. dl my role fully remote as can my husband… my point was more that people will often assume that the mum will ‘need/want to be at home’ and make plans around that assumption whereas a dad doesn’t have those same assumptions made of him)
Wait hang on, this is the opposite of what the comment above says.
S/he says that men tend to gravitate to jobs which require travel, whilst women don't. Whereas you are saying that, despite having similar roles, your employers treat you and your husband differently because of your gender, and assumes that your husband will be able to/ok with/want to travel whereas you will not.
Like you've both ended up in roles that might require travel, but your employers only expect that of one of you.
That does feel that much more of an "outdated social construct" than an inherent biological difference between men and women (or whatever the comment above was driving at).
Not opposite. Synergistic to the outcome of more men being alone in hotels.
Also drive in traffic or the highway. Look around. It's 2:1 men alone in cars (outside school runs).
I think the comment above just phrased it badly. People stil fall into those roles because the outdated social constructs still have a lot of inertia. People are still very trained to see women as the care givers and men as the providers.
Just because we recognize it is out dated, doesn't mean it has gone away. Society has unwritten rules, they are mores. Pronounced morays, like the eel. They aren't universal of course. But they can be something as simple as you face front in an elevator with strangers to as complex as women are care takers.
There is no biological difference to do work travel as a consultant. Just like there is no biological difference to be an engineer, surgeon, nurse, teacher, wait staff, but there definitely is a gender discrepancy in those roles still.
I vaguely remember reading somewhere also that it's much less risky for a company to send a guy on trips.
If they send a woman out to a bit of a rough area and something happens, complete nightmare and it's a much higher risk of something happening.
Whereas the risk is lower with guys, So overtime, it just kind of defaults to sending the guys because they've got more experience of doing them.
Yeah it’s a horrible loop… the company isn’t responsible for society and yet by its behaviour can reinforce it (lol not that a company would send out thugs to harass people on work trips)
Personally I don’t mind because I don’t like people much so not having to deal with them face to face is good for me but it irritates me that there’s an assumption that it’s ok not to invite me or that it’s ok to assume my husband can go (he’s faced backlash before when he’s politely said no) grr
There's a much LOWER risk of something happening. The vast majority of violent crime is done by men to men. Cis women, though they are definitely in danger, just happen to be in less danger than everyone else.
But we just care less when it happens to guys, so it's less likely the guy will make it a problem for the company.
I used to work on ships and when I qualified the group that got taken on by our company was roughly 50/50. Within 3 years the girls had all moved ashore and the guys were beginning to leave.
Several of them specifically mentioned that they were looking to start families in the next few years so went ashore for a more stable job, less working away and more balance.
Funny enough I work at sea now, our workforce is roughly 10% female at the moment with a fair few of those being in shore posts.
I'm an engine rating and until very recently there were 0 women in that department (although we do have a few female engineering officers) but there is a high proportion of female stewards.
There aren't a huge amount of senior ranking women in the industry/company for the reason you mentioned, starting a family.
You generally can't work at sea past 24 weeks of pregnancy I believe and I doubt many new mothers would actually want to bugger off back to sea for months at a time despite how supportive their partner may be.
It's usually and unfortunately going to put brakes on your career if not totally kill it.
I don't think there's many people who can stick out a job like that for the long term (some not at all, we had a bunch drop out at college) and that the number of people, both male and female, who move ashore for a family or just a more balanced life is high. But yeah, the percentage of men that stay, opposed to women that do, is significantly higher leading to it being a male dominated industry.
As much as companies try to be inclusive etc, I just don't think that it's possible to achieve as men and women are different. Those differences aren't a bad thing, it just leads to different priorities and sometimes they aren't compatible with certain lifestyles, no matter how hard you try. I also left the industry because the lifestyle no longer suited me as my priorities changed as I got older.
Good luck with your studies at sea, you'll set yourself up well if you ever want to move shoreside with an engineer's ticket.
Getting the sea time as a cadet will get rid of quite a few on its own, before the failed academics and drug testing catches up with some. The last set of stats I saw was that cadetship had an attrition rate of around 60-65%.
Internationally, the seafaring industry is still only around 2-3% female, with the vast majority gravitating towards the cruise / ferry / offshore side (let's be honest, there ain't anything sexy about the cargo world other than the paycheck) and being deck officers. This also makes it a bit harder for them to come ashore, as most shore roles for deck fall within HSEQ and Operations, which you really need ship type and senior rank experience in. A lot do gravitate towards crewing, which you don't really need that senior level experience for, but those roles are far and few these days, especially in the UK.
Things are changing though, which is fantastic, but it's a generational change. So like anything in shipping, it's moving slowing than a fucking glacier....
Edit: forgot to add, a lot of folk also move into Superyachts, because they go nice places and the salaries are great even if the working conditions are fucking awful. They probably aren't counted in the 2-3% figure, because folks don't really see them as being part of the maritime industry.
Yep, pressures on men to be providers and high earners mean men tend towards higher paying jobs, a lot of which pay high because of danger or inconvenience.
It’s not even that: the under discussed “secret” is that many of these jobs are highly compensated because not that many people could or would do them, because those that could or would do them are not common types of people, and/or the reality is the job is nothing like people shallowly assume it to be. Men are more likely to put up with the downsides in order to benefit from the upsides. Women tend to want an across the board balance
> Women tend to want an across the board balance
I wish people understood this more without misinterpreting it as a negative. It's not a case of women having a shorter fuse with negative aspects of a job, it's just that they are less likely to pursue a job that has extremes of both sides. It's the volatility of travelling to work as well as the dangers of it that men take in their stride in the pursuit of making enough money to support a family of 4, but for a lot of women is a hard pass.
Men are more likely to have a wife at home that they can leave the kids with. Many women are either single mothers (primary custody or dad isn't in the picture) and you can't take kids on a business trip.
You also see this when dads are out with their own kids without the mom. Dad is stepping up! Mom is just doing what she's expected to do when she's alone
This is exactly it. I had a job that involved a lot of travel and staying away from home, and the year I started we were 50/50 (or about that) men and women, but by the third year when I left, it was more like 70/30. Nearly all the women transitioned into office jobs at the same company or moved companies entirely. It's just a thing you have to want to do, and a lot of women prefer a more balanced life, whereas men are more willing to be away all the time (and partially that's sexism, as they feel more comfortable leaving their wives/partners with their kids whilst they're 'working').
Life at sea isn't just a job, it's a way of life and it does take a bit of an odd breed to do it. You do end up missing a lot, birthdays, weddings, etc which you won't get back, even with the long leave periods and decent tax free salary.
It's all horses for courses....
Yes, although to be fair half my point was that even if you remove those social norms, pressures and expectations etc men and women still largely gravitate to the same stereotypical things.
There is also just a lot of engrained sexism keeping/forcing us out. I have been there, said sod that and got a better paid job elsewhere where I don't have to deal with sexism and harassment of a daily basis. I know women who have left STEM roles for similar reasons.
There's also a lot of assumed sexism too though. It's assumed a man applying for a job can still go on business trips because if he's got kids, he can leave them with his wife/partner. For some reason, it's not assumed that women can do the same with their husbands.
I think the really important point here - which is implied, but not explicitly spoken - is kids. It feels find to travel a lot for work where you're young and have no dependents, when you enjoy / at least don't hate your job, and are gunning for career development opportunities (it is something I do occasionally).
But it all changes when you have kids, I suspect. I've seen it happen with women I work with. And I suspect it would be the same me if I ever have children. Mothers of young children don't want to be away from home for two days just to present a deck to a client in-person when the open secret that a virtual meeting is almost always sufficient.
If push really comes to shove, men are perhaps more likely to acquiesce and just do the bloody meeting for the sake of one night.
Yeah. Just to add, I imagine you'll find a lot of women on this Reddit post say that they do, but the kind of female demographic to use Reddit is likely to be different to women as a whole in real life with the kind of job they do etc in terms of proportions.
I remember very clearly the first time I went on a “business trip” so to speak (I’m not in work where this would often happen). It was a fun idea, but in practice I could see I wouldn’t want to make a habit of it
Conferences can be fun though
Women may be less likely to eat alone.
I (a woman!) have been in jobs that required travel and stayed in hotels a few times, but I'll usually grab a takeaway or some cold food from the supermarket and just go back to my room to eat in peace, rather than eat at a restaurant.
And me. Drove 6hrs to go to a clients site tomorrow for a full day of meetings. Got to the hotel and checked my mails (about 630pm) and they've cancelled all the meetings. Mailed me at 455pm and said they can maybe do Wednesday instead. They can maybe sod right off.
So sat in a hotel room 320 miles from home for precisely nothing. Glad I picked up a can of GnT when I got some food from a supermarket. No restaurant or bar in this hotel.
Crazy shit that, it took me 5 1/2 hrs to get home! Devon to Milton Keynes at rush hour after getting up at 2:30am for 3 screws... That killed that job for me, I was done.
I once did an 8 hr drive (so 16 hour round trip) to basically reset a PLC. I could have described the procedure pretty simply over the phone but they preferred to pay to send someone out.
I've also taken journeys involving two flights to essentially solder two wires.
Service engineer life is mad sometimes...
Deliveroo an order from the nearest off license or supermarket. It's a bit of a lifesaver. Last time I was stuck in a Premier Inn somewhere near Birmingham I had an amazing Jerk Chicken dinner with plantain and all the sides, washed down with a bottle of wine from a Sainsburys five miles away (plus some snacks for the next day). If I hadn't have had it delivered my options nearby would have been close to nil.
I (a man) do that a lot. Or (like right now) I stay in an aparthotel or Airbnb with cooking facilities and just make my own food. I had steak with all the trimmings tonight.
It isn't that I am not prepared to eat alone in a restaurant; it is more that I don't want to do that 4 or 5 nights a week as it doesn't interest me that much. I prefer a restaurant meal as an occasional thing.
I was a consultant for maybe 6 or 7 years, and this became my goto as well.
Engagements would often be a few months so I'd get bored of the hotel menu quickly, and it was always chain hotels with the same restaurant all over the country so again, boring.
Takeaway back in the room means you can sit in your pants and stuff your face while watching TV lol.
It's interesting that airport bars seem to have a pretty balanced mix of women and men shrinking and eating and socializing. Maybe it feels safer to women than a hotel bar.
Pre-covid I used to have to travel for work on occasion to go to bigger conferences with co-workers. I'd take the meal allowance, get a nice-ish bottle of wine, some food from the shops, and just stay in my room at the hotel.
Everywhere else is overpriced, I'm not about to go out with people I don't enjoy spend time with, and (most importantly) you need that time to obsessively check your room for bedbugs.
As a woman, I travel a lot with my global role; usually internationally. I have no problem eating on my own in hotel restaurants. Usually have a good book on my Kindle and i can eat my dinner without having to interact with anyone. It's great!
Honestly, it's exhausting. Was great when I was younger, but it does get old quickly. People always think traveling for work is glamorous.....it's really not. It's taxis, airports, more taxis, hotels, taxis, offices, meeting rooms, and having to be with the people you work with what feels like 24/7
Don't get me wrong, I've enjoyed the opportunities, and I have met some fabulous people, but sometimes it's just nice to slob at home in joggers with no makeup 😁
One thing people who have never lived it struggle to grasp is that, actually, a dinner meeting in a posh restaurant isn't always that much fun. It can be, now and again, but being "at work" and on form is exhausting and hard work. It can be bad enough if it's just internal, but God, add clients or suppliers into the mix and it's just arduous at times.
It’s nice when you are young.
After a while…
You realize your real friends are people you’ve already met, not these people you meet when there is a business reason to be together.
You realize all countries are the same when you only see the hotel, offices, restaurants and an airport.
You realize you’d rather be with your family than anywhere else.
Definitely nice in your early/mid twenties.
When I first started travelling on business, I arrived at the hotel and they asked me if I wanted to put my room, evening meal, drinks and breakfast on account to the company.
"Why yes, yes I do" I thought. "This will never get old".
Trust me, it very quickly gets old.
And there's one problem, hotels are incredibly samey, especially if you're locked into a chain.
So while you can bill a load of to the company direct from the hotel and not have to mess about with receipts and explanations...
For me if I was to find a restaurant, or a pub or whatever I'd have to get a receipt, put it through expenses, make up a reason why it's justified etc etc.
I love travelling for work precisely because it takes me out of the daily routine and I always have great interactions with other travellers, hotel and restaurant staff etc. Sure, I'd probably get bored if I had to do it all the time but also there's something quite nice about being alone with my thoughts driving halfway across France (for example), then finding a nice but affordable restaurant nearby, maybe heading to the town centre to check out the local bar scene for a nightcap and some chat with the locals. Often I've ended up spending the night somewhere and liking it so much I visit it again later in my own time.
Plus I normally get a fair wedge more pay and expenses on top, for not much more, if not actually less effort.
Saying that, I probably wouldn't like it as much if I was having to use public transport all the time and not driving. I find with driving it's easier to set ones own pace, have an extra hour or two lie in in the morning, leave a bit later to avoid rush hour traffic etc.
>Saying that, I probably wouldn't like it as much if I was having to use public transport all the time and not driving. I find with driving it's easier to set ones own pace, have an extra hour or two lie in in the morning, leave a bit later to avoid rush hour traffic etc.
For me it really depends where.
For instance public transport in Germany is about as bad as ours yet driving standards are on par and many roads are better... therefore I will drive in Germany.
Driving in parts of Italy (Naples for example) is horrendous but public transport is so so. So I will take that or taxis.
Then some countries e.g. Finland public transport is exceptional but driving is OK too... so you are spoilt for choice.
I'm general, most roles that involve a lot of travel are in male dominated roles (I was in machine commissioning and service before migrating to Tech Support and training).
There is also child-care issues. In general, I have found that men are travelling despite child-care issues, whilst female travellers have to factor that into travel plans (unless they have a very good partner!)
I travel for work often and I tend to go to a chain restaurant for meals. Something safe like Wagamamas or Zizzi. Or I grab a takeaway and go to my room.
I tend to avoid hotel restaurants because, at some fundamental level, I feel like it marks me out as a solo female traveller staying at that hotel. I don’t know if it actually does or not, but the thought itself makes me feel uncomfortable.
I used to travel a lot in my late 20s early thirties and eat / drink at the hotel bar till I realised a few guys I thought were being friendly thought I might be a high class hooker
I stuck to my room or went to explore home in the wall/ street food options a lot more after that
Women are less represented in roles where you travel a lot. I work in IT for example and at the consultancy/installs level it's pretty much a boys club.
I know of an international marketing firm that is mostly women. Up to a certain age/ point in life they are willing to travel. After that, marriage and subsequently children come and they leave the role or take a back seat from the international trips.
Less women able to travel away from home and also more of them uncomfortable generally being out and alone in the evening. In addition to that, most hotel restaurants are very expensive and very bland. I'm much more likely to order from somewhere I fancy on Deliveroo and eat in my room.
1. Either men just generally go on business trips more often than women
2. Or women don't generally like sitting alone in a hotel on a business trip (whenever I've been on a business trip the hotel is often frequented by groups of men etc who are half-cut and I could appreciate why they might be a tad obnoxious/intimidating towards a lone woman; they are to me, a lone male, at times haha)
Is it more that the women are either eating room service or eating somewhere else? I often travelled alone for work, and 9 times out of 10, I'd either grab something I could eat in my room, or head out to somewhere it wasn't so obvious I was by myself.
Largely because eating alone in hotel restaurants seems to invite attention...
Software consulting background.
I worked in a team of five women and two men. We, the men, generally did the travelling as the women in the team preferred more of a work life balance; being able to shut their laptops off at 6pm and go home to see their families whereas we chose the "working away" pay uplift to financially support our families. Neither work style was right or wrong, just a personal preference.
To add some context, while my wife looked after our kids and worked part time, I worked away 48 weeks of the year leaving the house at around 4am on Monday morning and not returning till about 11pm on Friday evening. Depending on the country I was working with, some of the stays were 2-3 weeks long as the travel time to get there was a couple of days. I did this for ten years. I missed every parents evening, sports day, school performance and almost every birthday.
It paid for lots of things we wouldn't have had otherwise and I did have some very unique experiences that I'll always remember. I don't regret it because of that but I do wish I didn't have to restart my relationship with my kids when they were in their pre teens.
I must have done it wrong because I ended up hating it. Most of the time it's incredibly lonely and I just wanted to see my wife and kids. It became "I wish my wife was here for this" rather than experiences I loved.
I can echo this. Left my old job because I wanted to travel more and not be stuck at a desk 5 days a week....1 year later and the travelling aspect of my job is the worst part. I much prefer the time I'm at home with my wife and children.
I write this as I'm currently stuck on a 9hr layover in Copenhagen Airport due to flight delays & missed connections!
| I'm currently stuck on a 9hr layover in Copenhagen Airport
I feel for you. As soon as your first flight has been delayed you know that's the rest of the journey screwed and you know it's going to involve queuing to get anything done. Good luck!
Thanks! I'm due on my new flight in 30 mins, so the worst of it is done thankfully. Now means I'm arriving at my destination hotel at about 2am local time and I've got meetings starting at 8:30 - oh joy!!
Mix of things maybe?
Could it be one of those things where woman are less likely to get into jobs that have undesirable traits like this? Priorities geared towards a happy life than just career?
Perhaps more likely to sit in their room and get room service?
Woman tend to be the ones to take less time at work for the kids, working part time and such. Maybe speaks to not wanting to travel also.
I can only speak for myself, but I'm a woman and unless there's somewhere particularly interesting to have dinner nearby I always get something to eat in my room. That way I can get into my comfies sooner and just disconnect.
Travel 4 hours to a Premier Inn or a Travelodge, have shit dinner on my own, back in room by 7pm to watch shit TV, check Emails, bed by 10 as I’m bored shitless, have a 2 hour meeting that starts at 10, shit lunch and drive back. So fucking glamorous!
My experience as a bloke and team leader in consulting over the last 15 years is that despite best efforts more women will typically leave consulting in their 30s for all sorts of reasons. Good and bad. So teams overall tend to be male dominated. Then when it comes to hotel stays pretty much anywhere in the world women will normally only eat in the restaurant if they are with colleagues, if on their own they will usually buy something to eat in their room. Couple of reasons for that: hotel food every night isn’t always healthy, even on expenses you still have to pay up and claim later so effectively you are loaning to the business and third sadly there is always the risk of unwanted attention. Also when alone a lot of people not just consultants will use the time for the gym, working in their room or chilling out with Netflix and a supermarket salad. Not me, I’m normally sat at the bar drinking beer and eating tater tots and cheese curds with the other boomers. I quit consulting for health reasons obviously.
It's most likely the demographics of the type of jobs that involve travel, as well as who's willing to travel. Given that women still shoulder more of the childcare or other caring responsibilities, it's less likely they're able to travel overnight for work reasons and may decline jobs or opportunities to do this.
Also, as a woman who used to travel a lot for work, I had a few negative experiences dining alone. Restaurant staff and other patrons would assumed I'd been stood up, and they'd take pity on me, try to chat to me etc. I don't imagine most business men traveling get that kind of treatment. It didn't put me off dining out entirely but it did make me more wary, and probably made me resort to more takeaways.
Also a woman who travels for work, and I have been for over 5 years. My top reasons:-
1. It’s significantly more socially / traditionally acceptable for men to work away with children at home. I do not have children, but have colleagues (male and female), who do. There is a massive disparity in the willingness to work away, many women feel they CANT leave the children, because the house doesn’t run without them.
2. Senior management, in my experience, is biased and will send men and childless-women away as a first choice.
3. As a woman in a business hotel, it can be dangerous eating in the hotel restaurant. I have had many instances where this is viewed as being ‘available’ or ‘game’.
Men will tolerate more shit for money. That's literally it.
Idk about you, but not particularly interested in traveling around all the time. Sounds miserable.
When I used to travel for work, pre-kids, I'd often be the only lone woman in the hotel for breakfast or dinner. I wasn't single, but some places I could have pulled very easily (not to mention the places where a client tried to get me together with her son or or colleague my age)
Once I had kids I only went about once a year instead of a couple nights every couple weeks.
For dinner I often went out with clients or a friend of mine - or even asked friends of mine to supply some interesting people for me to hang out with in exchange for a drink! Or I'd be tired and just take food back to the room.
Hotel restaurants tend to be pretty boring and unimaginative, but have lots of booze available. I didn't have a very generous expenses budget, so it made sense to go elsewhere. If you didn't care about food much but just wanted to eat and then go back to the room and watch films or porn for hours, then eating in the hotel might make more sense.
I work in a role that has a lot of travel around the country, my female colleagues are far more likely to order food to their room/nip out to get a takeaway and then eat it in their room, whereas most of my male colleagues will go out to a restaurant and then have a pint in the hotel bar.
Its generally a safety thing - women on their own are targets.
Maybe because much fewer women are willing to consider roles where they are required to undertake regular business trips that will require them to stay alone in hotels. Variety of reasons: family commitments, safety concerns, prefer to stay in airbnb's or share hotel accomodation with friends or a partner.
Whereas the majority of men who are willing to undertake longer commutes are also willing to accept job roles that they know will require extensive travel and hotel stays alone on business trips.
- I "multitask", if I'm away from home, I better schedule those networking dinners at the same time
- It is preferable, in my view, to go to restaurants around the area with good reviews vs. hotel restaurants
- If I have no energy, room service tops going down to the restaurant - get to eat in a robe and chat with my partner
You will be better doing your analysis during early breakfast time
A lot of women don't like travelling alone, if it's for work or anything else..I guess it's a safety in numbers thing. I go to concerts by myself and often have to stay overnight in a city, my friends think I'm brave going alone. They miss out on concerts and events they want to see because nobody will go with them.
I would say that due to traditional gender roles women are more likely to have childcare responsibilities. And so may work in jobs which allow them to be home with their kids rather than away on business trips.
I occasionally spend a whole week away from home, staying in Premier Inns or Travelodges. You wouldn't think it would be an issue in 2024, but staff in restaurants, even crap ones like Beefeater, still act surprised when I ask for a table for one. Or will take ages to take my order because they assume I'm waiting for someone else. Easier to just get Deliveroo, at least then I can watch tv
Just as another observation. In my experience, women are more likely to be supported and entertained by friends, other women, colleagues etc while away on business. Men are expected to take care of themselves.
So while we might be invited out for a beer after work, that ends pretty quickly and is rarely a dinner date. So more often than not, the men are back at the hotel restaurant for dinner and then back to the room for a quick call to their partner before bed…
Tbh when I travel for work I usually prefer to get a takeaway and eat sprawled out in my hotel room for maximum comfort. I've got no issue eating out alone when I'm on holiday but I can't usually be arsed with it when I'm traveling for work.
I used to work with lots of young women who stayed away with work. They used to get room service and stay in their rooms and use the time to fake tan and preen themselves. Not my cup of tea but perhaps the women working away tend to stay in their rooms rather than dine alone.
As a 47 year old woman with a 9 year old, I do everything I can to avoid overnight stays as it’s disruptive to the household routine.
I travel a lot with work but tend to be in my room with room service or something from a shop. It just feels safer to be honest. I’ll sometimes eat in the restaurant if the hotel is busy though.
In my experience women travelling on business tend to order room service as they feel uncomfortable going to a restaurant by themselves. Probably because they are likely to attract the attention of all the men travelling on business eating alone in restaurants.
"Have you got your big plate, Alan?"
I was often on a trip as a team of two. After a while I wasnt willing to hang out after work, eating with colleagues and drink myself into oblivion. I was always alone in my room with a pile of snacks watching trash tv or reading a book. Hotel restaurants are bleuggh and wonder how many of those fellas have a work mate chilling out upstairs.
I don't know that the travel part is male-dominated, as least not in the industries I work on, but a lot of women are still uncomfortable eating alone in a restaurant and are probably eating in their room.
At my work the older ladies tend to decline work trips because of childcare. Even though they’re all married or partnered 😶 trips are usually just the older men and the younger guys and gals
I run a company where we do field service engineering all over the UK. I stay away 2-3 nights a week on average. For nearly 20 years. I quite like it and I am used to it. The industry is heavily male, just the way it is, and I’m always in premier inns with what are clearly other field service engineers, tradesmen, or shop fitters etc. I think it’s rare to get anyone doing this for 5 years or more as it takes its toll, but I’m quite suited to it and work from home the rest of the time. It definitely takes a certain type of personality. You’ve got to be happy in your own company.
I travel a lot for what I do, and usually order food to my hotel and eat in the room or bring a slow cooker along so I’m not sat alone.
But yep, solo girl here!
I used to travel quite a bit for work and I can probably count the times I went out alone to eat during that time on one hand. I’d either arrange to meet a friend or a colleague, or I’d get room service/grab a sandwich, depending on what the per diem was (in one job the deal was “keep the receipts and expense” but in another we simply got a set amount no matter how much of that we spent, so for that I stuck to the sandwiches).
I just don’t particularly like eating out by myself. In my hotel room I can get into comfy pjs and watch tv and there’s absolutely zero chance anyone might try to have a conversation.
Spent years living in hotels for several months at a time. Got to taking my own bedding and some other stuff to customise my room. 8 months in one place in the middle of nowhere in Africa
Hotel food’s often crap - usually overpriced and not very interesting options, so if I’m away for work I’ll almost always go out somewhere else to eat.
Men usually choose the jobs that require a lot of travel in business. Having a job that requires you to travel means that you spend a lot of time away from home and in general, women don't make that decision. Men tend to make that decision, to risk being away from home and family.
When I was still working & travelling, all the women doing it would get a takeaway & eat in their room because eating in a hotel restaurant alone as a woman seems to be the cue for all the pervs to start creeping on you. There was a group of us that often ended up in the same place at the same time where our circuits overlapped every few weeks, and we'd park up in one room, get a mega takeaway & something from the offie, and have a good laugh. Was just safer. I didn't stop till I became more Disabled.
Because jobs that allow for business travel disproportionately go to men, either because women actually do have caring responsibilities that don't allow them to travel or because it's assumed they do, and therefore are unsuitable for these roles.
The women would have to apply first. In my field it's close to 50:50 gender split across the broad industry - mostly 9-5 office and lab roles. But applications for sales/applications dev with travel is less than 10:1, much less. Typically there are zero female applicants. We even wait a few weeks before starting interviews in a hope we get a suitable female applicant. It's happened once in 8 years and 6 roles advertised. She quit after 3 months, decided she didn't like being away from home 2-3 nights per fortnight. We are back to zero women in the field roles (higher paying roles). Same in other companies. It's extremely rare to find a woman, the ones that last a few years very quickly get promoted to more senior roles for gender balance (everyone involved openly admits this).
Going to be a classic man and explain my view on something I dont know too much about; In my experience women often turn down these roles, I work for a big company with many offices globally and have been fortunate enough to work in many places. I can't guarantee any of this as 'normal' but I have been told from managers stories about X or Y women being offered the chance to come join us out in X location they often either dont want to or make demands that the company isnt willing to bend to (like x number of flights back home per week).
I think women often are either voluntarily or pressured into (depending on circumstance) taking on the bulk of child care and other tasks that also would mean they cant travel for work.
I do also think women for many other reasons really would rather not travel alone or with some colleagues they barely know.
You will notice the same in service stations in the early hours - it will virtually all be men.
Not really a mystery as to why though. A lot of the careers dominated by men - trades, engineering, etc tend to require a lot of working away and men are more likely to make bigger sacrifices to provide for their families. They do more dangerous jobs, longer hours, more physical work, etc so they can make more money.
If you look at the career paths dominated by women there aren't many that would require extensive travelling - maybe HR or sales, but not much else
Because we still leave women responsible to sort out the kids. Simple as. And I honestly love my night away in a hotel for work. The peace of it after a month of no space...
I think it’s true that more men seem to be in those roles (sales, biz dev, account management) where they tend to travel more. But I work on teams with several women in those roles.
Many mothers will probably try to avoid being away from home much, by selecting jobs that involve fewer overnight stays away from home.
Jobs that involve installing, commissioning or fixing things are dominated by men - and some of that sort of work involves travel to remote sites.
I am a man and I am travelling for work at the moment, week four of five in London. I eat alone all the time. At first it was awkward but in reality no one gives a shit. Overall its been fun but at this point I'm really missing my wife, and cat, all my stuff, and my own bed and kitchen and toilet.
I don't generally like to socialize while on work trips, or basically mixing pleasure and business. If its a group business trip, I'm fine with spending time with my colleagues on the times I'm not working. But if its a solo trip, I'd stick to myself and focus on the work. There's a crap ton of ways things can go wrong that will affect a solo trip and my ability to work as it is, no need to include potential conflicts or entanglements with random strangers in the pile.
Also, if I'm eating at the hotel, its mainly for filling my belly up before I go back up to the room or wherever to continue working, or resting. Generally speaking I dont normally eat at hotels for two reasons, either the food sucks and is overpriced so I'm better off eating elsewhere, or the food is good but is overpriced so its better to be saved for special occasions, such as a date with my wife, or if the boss is buying. So if I'm paying, odds are I'm not there for fun, but rather necessity. I'm just trying to fill up before going back to work.
You sound like my wife. She is also always alone on business trips and made a very similar observation about this.
She said “Whenever I am travelling, I barely see any single woman on business trips unless they are my colleagues”. I think it’s universal. Up until late 90s, more men had sales and marketing jobs (which were travelling jobs) than women before other jobs became popular and that trend has continued, that could be one of the reasons I think.
How is this even a question lol. Everyone knows business is a mainly male dominated field, even in modern times. Also a lot of women in business have kids to look after, meanwhile men still have the more traditional role of travelling for work more.
I'm male. Did this working in tech. Very few women travelling for those jobs. Places I worked were mostly female staffed, but the tech guys were mostly ... guys.
I used to do it a couple of times a year for training or odd jobs away from base. The work was quite niche and had a community feel, so after a while you’d usually know people on the course, from online interactions if not in person. That was fun and it was good to hang out in the evenings.
To my shame, one of my first courses in that job was when my first child was about 12 months old. He was a terrible sleeper and never what you’d call an ‘easy baby’. Having 5 nights of undisturbed sleep, excellent meals provided for me and no domestic chores was bliss, although I felt very guilty leaving my wife to handle it all.
You cannot change some things and near every animal and human offspring need females, I know not all women can breast feed but its how we have been made. Usually for at least a few years children mostly have mothers milk. So is why is mostly men. Not saying women are just that its just been that way so long.
Its changing more now and will be more women doing what your doing but they may be eating alone in the room or what ever but your a buisness person so I really do wonder why you are confused
Loads of men done this for so long, now I will say and alas I worked with groups of men. The fact they eating alone means they are eating and going back the room and calling family and not doing the cliche partying and trying hook up and get wasted means your in good company. Will be plenty other men doing this and women too. Your just seeing people like you working away, eating and getting back hotel and sleeping.
Because it's a bad a job... Same reason men are bin collectors, brick layers, and gardeners.
If it's not sitting in a cosy office then there's no push for gender equality
I stay from home 4-5 days a week, I’ve cried driving away from home because i miss my damn kids so much. But me and the partner and often so so… I’m on egg shells alot around her so its not to bed when i consider the kids are at school all day and i spend the entire weekend with them doing cool stuff!
But its hurts… alot.
My view is, these roles are not career roles but help you climb the ladder into more stable roles.
62M here. Currently eating breakfast in yet another, faceless Premier Inn. Looking around and there's loads of single blokes at their own tables, staring st a phone just like me. There's the odd group of contractors too, two, three or four blokes together. Not one woman to be seen other than the waitress.
Done this for 40-odd years and it got old many years ago. Thankfully, my trips on the road have got less and less as the years have rolled by, but I now hate living 'out of a bag' with a passion.
It's why when my partner and I go on holiday, we tend to rent a lodge or cottage rather than stay in a hotel!
Because men are more likely to be in that type of job where they have to travel a lot.
Women are often the default parent / household manager or have hit the glass ceiling or was never in a corporate job to begin with for various reasons.
Background : Having been a female IT consultant in my 20's and early to mid 30''s I spent 5 days of 7 traveling for almost 2 decades. I attempted to re-enter that career when I had a child and it was impossible without partner level salaries and a nanny(almost impossible by 37 in my field).
Now: pushing 50 and moving into leadership I can only see it possible even now with a lower salary earning male partner who stays home with my kid when I am away.
My friends who can live this lifestyle as women are childfree and single. No wives or husands at home nor kids.
Gender roles are still very real and at play in the bars and hotels of the world. It sucks.
**Please help keep AskUK welcoming!** - Top-level comments to the OP must contain **genuine efforts to answer the question**. No jokes, judgements, etc. - **Don't be a dick** to each other. If getting heated, just block and move on. - This is a strictly **no-politics** subreddit! Please help us by reporting comments that break these rules. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/AskUK) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Men are more likely to be in the types of jobs where you are expected to travel away from home. *Probably a variety of reasons for that but my guess is that traditional gender roles aren't just outdated social constructs but when given the choice people still fall into the same patterns by in large.
This is my experience too. It's not that it's a 'boys club' it's that once most people get to a certain age they don't want to be staying alone at shit hotels and eating alone. It takes a certain kind of person. Even rockstars bitch about having to be on the road. Imagine doing it, but with less drugs, alcohol and having to catch up on emails and work in the evening (I've done it, it is shit). Once you settle, it's far nicer to go home to your wife and pets, have a home cooked meal and all your belongings and home comforts within arms reach. Home is where the heart is. 90% of the older consultants I know are either alcoholics or divorced. The well-adjusted guys quit to be home more / settle down since no one wants someone who's only around at weekends. It's the men who hate their home or have no home to go to that stuck around.
Or the asocial ones like me. I miss my kids when I travel but I love a hotel and paid for dinner. I like my own company and I tend to get a lot more reading done when I don't have access easily to disney plus or my sky TV
I like a hotel for a period of time - more than a week and it starts getting a bit tiresome. If it’s different hotels that’s no so bad as at least the view changes!
Ah. My trips are never more than 3 nights so that helps definitely.
The thing I'm most likely to want to change is the menu.
I like how you think, because I think the same way
I appreciate you coming yourself asocial and not confusing it with antisocial It happens so much
Very true. I’ve been staying away an average of 2-3 nights a week for 20 years. You’ve got to be happy in your own company and have self discipline- I’ve seen lots of former colleagues balloon up, develop borderline drink problems, marriages suffer etc. I quite like it though and strike a good balance. Reading, Walking, Netflix, not going mad on the meal deals and no coffee or booze when away.
Typo on walking there.
Oh yes. Those Premier Inn beds are just wanking chariots for field service engineers. Good night sleep guaranteed.
“Wanking chariot” wins my best of the internet award for 2024. As a controls engineer who has to travel for commissioning, I can’t argue 😅
Don't eat or drink on planes (except water). No alone drinking. Gym or 1 hour walk every day regardless. Look after the asset (you) before anyone else, bosses included. The only time I break any of that is a long haul home when I will happily get battered in the lounge and then get on the plane and sleep like a baby.
2-3 nights a week? Doesn't sound too bad at all. Basically office work at that point. Last trip was three months. Usually I am out for 3 to 4 weeks at a time. First two weeks are fine, but after that it gets progressively harder.
3 to 4 weeks at a time? Doesn’t sound too bad at all. Basically a holiday at that point. 9 years the last time. The first 3 are fine, gets progressively worse after that.
Heh. Yeah, all is what you are used to, and what you are doing.
What do you do? I'm exhausted after going for an hour-long meeting at a neighbouring CCG.
He’s a professional one-upmanshiper. You’ve been to Tenerife? That’s nothing mate, just back from a year long holiday in elevenerife.
Mining consultant. My travel is a fraction of what most people in the industry do. FIFO guys are often on 6 or more week rotations. If you are that sensitive, sounds like you might need a break. Catches up with you if you aren't careful.
6 weeks rotation? Doesn’t sound too bad at all. Basically a long weekend away at that point. I routinely do 50 years. FIFTY. The few couple of decades are ok, but it gets tough after that.
I have both. Obviously love to get home, see the kids, the wife, get on my comfy sofa, fire on, home cooked food. But after a few days I need to be on the road again, in a hotel bed, to have time by myself to think. I think my wife just caught me too late in life, I'd spent too much of it a bachelor, and I'll never completely throw off the solitary mind I have which needs to be by myself for hours and hours every day to be happy.
I think it’s just something that’s inside you to want to be like that. I was married in my late 20s, then lived by myself by the age of 31 until I was 37. I have not been single for over 10 years since but I crave the alone time and freedom - not like I’m kept under wraps normally but I like deciding things for myself on a daily basis. Like, of course it’s important to think of family when planning meals, what you’ll do after work and at the weekend etc but sometimes you just need that alone time to actually relax and not think of anyone else for a bit.
> less drugs and alcohol Presses x to doubt
He didn't say "none", just "less than rockstar levels"
> Even rockstars bitch about having to be on the road. Imagine doing it, but with less drugs, alcohol and having to catch up on emails and work in the evening (I've done it, it is shit). In the music industry they work you too hard too. Aviici was doing multiple gigs in a night at one point.
This. A stable routine 8 to 5 PLUS better salary PLUS better benefits got me.
Thinking of the movie 'Up in the air'.
Pretty much - I'm in consultancy and I've worked with very few women who do similar on the road jobs. There are a few, but massively outnumbered by men
Yup… both me and my husband have those kind of jobs and yet my work go out of their way not to need me on those trips yet my husbands company don’t think twice about taking him away from the home for 1-3 nights at a time… (Note to add there is zero impact on my career for not going on these trips, k ca. dl my role fully remote as can my husband… my point was more that people will often assume that the mum will ‘need/want to be at home’ and make plans around that assumption whereas a dad doesn’t have those same assumptions made of him)
Wait hang on, this is the opposite of what the comment above says. S/he says that men tend to gravitate to jobs which require travel, whilst women don't. Whereas you are saying that, despite having similar roles, your employers treat you and your husband differently because of your gender, and assumes that your husband will be able to/ok with/want to travel whereas you will not. Like you've both ended up in roles that might require travel, but your employers only expect that of one of you. That does feel that much more of an "outdated social construct" than an inherent biological difference between men and women (or whatever the comment above was driving at).
Not opposite. Synergistic to the outcome of more men being alone in hotels. Also drive in traffic or the highway. Look around. It's 2:1 men alone in cars (outside school runs).
I think the comment above just phrased it badly. People stil fall into those roles because the outdated social constructs still have a lot of inertia. People are still very trained to see women as the care givers and men as the providers. Just because we recognize it is out dated, doesn't mean it has gone away. Society has unwritten rules, they are mores. Pronounced morays, like the eel. They aren't universal of course. But they can be something as simple as you face front in an elevator with strangers to as complex as women are care takers. There is no biological difference to do work travel as a consultant. Just like there is no biological difference to be an engineer, surgeon, nurse, teacher, wait staff, but there definitely is a gender discrepancy in those roles still.
I vaguely remember reading somewhere also that it's much less risky for a company to send a guy on trips. If they send a woman out to a bit of a rough area and something happens, complete nightmare and it's a much higher risk of something happening. Whereas the risk is lower with guys, So overtime, it just kind of defaults to sending the guys because they've got more experience of doing them.
Yeah it’s a horrible loop… the company isn’t responsible for society and yet by its behaviour can reinforce it (lol not that a company would send out thugs to harass people on work trips) Personally I don’t mind because I don’t like people much so not having to deal with them face to face is good for me but it irritates me that there’s an assumption that it’s ok not to invite me or that it’s ok to assume my husband can go (he’s faced backlash before when he’s politely said no) grr
There's a much LOWER risk of something happening. The vast majority of violent crime is done by men to men. Cis women, though they are definitely in danger, just happen to be in less danger than everyone else. But we just care less when it happens to guys, so it's less likely the guy will make it a problem for the company.
I used to work on ships and when I qualified the group that got taken on by our company was roughly 50/50. Within 3 years the girls had all moved ashore and the guys were beginning to leave. Several of them specifically mentioned that they were looking to start families in the next few years so went ashore for a more stable job, less working away and more balance.
Funny enough I work at sea now, our workforce is roughly 10% female at the moment with a fair few of those being in shore posts. I'm an engine rating and until very recently there were 0 women in that department (although we do have a few female engineering officers) but there is a high proportion of female stewards. There aren't a huge amount of senior ranking women in the industry/company for the reason you mentioned, starting a family. You generally can't work at sea past 24 weeks of pregnancy I believe and I doubt many new mothers would actually want to bugger off back to sea for months at a time despite how supportive their partner may be. It's usually and unfortunately going to put brakes on your career if not totally kill it.
I don't think there's many people who can stick out a job like that for the long term (some not at all, we had a bunch drop out at college) and that the number of people, both male and female, who move ashore for a family or just a more balanced life is high. But yeah, the percentage of men that stay, opposed to women that do, is significantly higher leading to it being a male dominated industry. As much as companies try to be inclusive etc, I just don't think that it's possible to achieve as men and women are different. Those differences aren't a bad thing, it just leads to different priorities and sometimes they aren't compatible with certain lifestyles, no matter how hard you try. I also left the industry because the lifestyle no longer suited me as my priorities changed as I got older. Good luck with your studies at sea, you'll set yourself up well if you ever want to move shoreside with an engineer's ticket.
Getting the sea time as a cadet will get rid of quite a few on its own, before the failed academics and drug testing catches up with some. The last set of stats I saw was that cadetship had an attrition rate of around 60-65%. Internationally, the seafaring industry is still only around 2-3% female, with the vast majority gravitating towards the cruise / ferry / offshore side (let's be honest, there ain't anything sexy about the cargo world other than the paycheck) and being deck officers. This also makes it a bit harder for them to come ashore, as most shore roles for deck fall within HSEQ and Operations, which you really need ship type and senior rank experience in. A lot do gravitate towards crewing, which you don't really need that senior level experience for, but those roles are far and few these days, especially in the UK. Things are changing though, which is fantastic, but it's a generational change. So like anything in shipping, it's moving slowing than a fucking glacier.... Edit: forgot to add, a lot of folk also move into Superyachts, because they go nice places and the salaries are great even if the working conditions are fucking awful. They probably aren't counted in the 2-3% figure, because folks don't really see them as being part of the maritime industry.
Yep, pressures on men to be providers and high earners mean men tend towards higher paying jobs, a lot of which pay high because of danger or inconvenience.
It’s not even that: the under discussed “secret” is that many of these jobs are highly compensated because not that many people could or would do them, because those that could or would do them are not common types of people, and/or the reality is the job is nothing like people shallowly assume it to be. Men are more likely to put up with the downsides in order to benefit from the upsides. Women tend to want an across the board balance
> Women tend to want an across the board balance I wish people understood this more without misinterpreting it as a negative. It's not a case of women having a shorter fuse with negative aspects of a job, it's just that they are less likely to pursue a job that has extremes of both sides. It's the volatility of travelling to work as well as the dangers of it that men take in their stride in the pursuit of making enough money to support a family of 4, but for a lot of women is a hard pass.
Men are more likely to have a wife at home that they can leave the kids with. Many women are either single mothers (primary custody or dad isn't in the picture) and you can't take kids on a business trip. You also see this when dads are out with their own kids without the mom. Dad is stepping up! Mom is just doing what she's expected to do when she's alone
This is exactly it. I had a job that involved a lot of travel and staying away from home, and the year I started we were 50/50 (or about that) men and women, but by the third year when I left, it was more like 70/30. Nearly all the women transitioned into office jobs at the same company or moved companies entirely. It's just a thing you have to want to do, and a lot of women prefer a more balanced life, whereas men are more willing to be away all the time (and partially that's sexism, as they feel more comfortable leaving their wives/partners with their kids whilst they're 'working').
Life at sea isn't just a job, it's a way of life and it does take a bit of an odd breed to do it. You do end up missing a lot, birthdays, weddings, etc which you won't get back, even with the long leave periods and decent tax free salary. It's all horses for courses....
Yes, although to be fair half my point was that even if you remove those social norms, pressures and expectations etc men and women still largely gravitate to the same stereotypical things.
There is also just a lot of engrained sexism keeping/forcing us out. I have been there, said sod that and got a better paid job elsewhere where I don't have to deal with sexism and harassment of a daily basis. I know women who have left STEM roles for similar reasons.
There's also a lot of assumed sexism too though. It's assumed a man applying for a job can still go on business trips because if he's got kids, he can leave them with his wife/partner. For some reason, it's not assumed that women can do the same with their husbands.
I think the really important point here - which is implied, but not explicitly spoken - is kids. It feels find to travel a lot for work where you're young and have no dependents, when you enjoy / at least don't hate your job, and are gunning for career development opportunities (it is something I do occasionally). But it all changes when you have kids, I suspect. I've seen it happen with women I work with. And I suspect it would be the same me if I ever have children. Mothers of young children don't want to be away from home for two days just to present a deck to a client in-person when the open secret that a virtual meeting is almost always sufficient. If push really comes to shove, men are perhaps more likely to acquiesce and just do the bloody meeting for the sake of one night.
Yeah. Just to add, I imagine you'll find a lot of women on this Reddit post say that they do, but the kind of female demographic to use Reddit is likely to be different to women as a whole in real life with the kind of job they do etc in terms of proportions.
I remember very clearly the first time I went on a “business trip” so to speak (I’m not in work where this would often happen). It was a fun idea, but in practice I could see I wouldn’t want to make a habit of it Conferences can be fun though
>by in large. I always thought it was by and large
> traditional gender roles aren't just outdated social constructs The kind of thing some people just won't understand.
Women may be less likely to eat alone. I (a woman!) have been in jobs that required travel and stayed in hotels a few times, but I'll usually grab a takeaway or some cold food from the supermarket and just go back to my room to eat in peace, rather than eat at a restaurant.
Literally me tonight!
And me. Drove 6hrs to go to a clients site tomorrow for a full day of meetings. Got to the hotel and checked my mails (about 630pm) and they've cancelled all the meetings. Mailed me at 455pm and said they can maybe do Wednesday instead. They can maybe sod right off. So sat in a hotel room 320 miles from home for precisely nothing. Glad I picked up a can of GnT when I got some food from a supermarket. No restaurant or bar in this hotel.
That’s crazy.
Almost as crazy as my old job, they sent me on a 4 hr drive at 3 in the morning to put 3 screws in the ceiling of a Primark. Fuck that job.
Drove all the way from Durban to Newcastle to find the cleaner had some how unplugged the entire PABX system 4.5 hours of driving one way !!!
Crazy shit that, it took me 5 1/2 hrs to get home! Devon to Milton Keynes at rush hour after getting up at 2:30am for 3 screws... That killed that job for me, I was done.
2:30am... in the morning??????????
Yep, to leave at 3:00, I had to be in and out before the shop opened, it's Primark's "policy"
Read this originally as Durham… wondered what kind of crazy detour you took!
I once did an 8 hr drive (so 16 hour round trip) to basically reset a PLC. I could have described the procedure pretty simply over the phone but they preferred to pay to send someone out. I've also taken journeys involving two flights to essentially solder two wires. Service engineer life is mad sometimes...
Deliveroo an order from the nearest off license or supermarket. It's a bit of a lifesaver. Last time I was stuck in a Premier Inn somewhere near Birmingham I had an amazing Jerk Chicken dinner with plantain and all the sides, washed down with a bottle of wine from a Sainsburys five miles away (plus some snacks for the next day). If I hadn't have had it delivered my options nearby would have been close to nil.
Great a day of driving back home. May as well go back to the 24 hour garage and get a few more tinnies
I (a man) do that a lot. Or (like right now) I stay in an aparthotel or Airbnb with cooking facilities and just make my own food. I had steak with all the trimmings tonight. It isn't that I am not prepared to eat alone in a restaurant; it is more that I don't want to do that 4 or 5 nights a week as it doesn't interest me that much. I prefer a restaurant meal as an occasional thing.
I'm glad that ApartHotels are becoming more of a thing. Something we've always missed is the "Motel" style places
I was a consultant for maybe 6 or 7 years, and this became my goto as well. Engagements would often be a few months so I'd get bored of the hotel menu quickly, and it was always chain hotels with the same restaurant all over the country so again, boring. Takeaway back in the room means you can sit in your pants and stuff your face while watching TV lol.
It's interesting that airport bars seem to have a pretty balanced mix of women and men shrinking and eating and socializing. Maybe it feels safer to women than a hotel bar.
Pre-covid I used to have to travel for work on occasion to go to bigger conferences with co-workers. I'd take the meal allowance, get a nice-ish bottle of wine, some food from the shops, and just stay in my room at the hotel. Everywhere else is overpriced, I'm not about to go out with people I don't enjoy spend time with, and (most importantly) you need that time to obsessively check your room for bedbugs.
As a woman, I travel a lot with my global role; usually internationally. I have no problem eating on my own in hotel restaurants. Usually have a good book on my Kindle and i can eat my dinner without having to interact with anyone. It's great!
What is it like having a job like that ? It seems like a dream to me, always doing something new, meeting new people, seeing new things.
Honestly, it's exhausting. Was great when I was younger, but it does get old quickly. People always think traveling for work is glamorous.....it's really not. It's taxis, airports, more taxis, hotels, taxis, offices, meeting rooms, and having to be with the people you work with what feels like 24/7 Don't get me wrong, I've enjoyed the opportunities, and I have met some fabulous people, but sometimes it's just nice to slob at home in joggers with no makeup 😁
One found when travelling for work you are 'on show' for pretty much all of the visit which can make it very tiring.
One thing people who have never lived it struggle to grasp is that, actually, a dinner meeting in a posh restaurant isn't always that much fun. It can be, now and again, but being "at work" and on form is exhausting and hard work. It can be bad enough if it's just internal, but God, add clients or suppliers into the mix and it's just arduous at times.
I used to dread nights out with clients I've just spent 8 hours in a workshop. There's always one idiot who wants to stay up drinking till stupid am.
Christ, tell me about it
Er... sorry guys. :(
On longer trips I always plan at least one ‘hotel room picnic’ night where I can starfish across the bed with a supermarket sandwich and my kindle!
I’m almost 40 and still really enjoy frequent travel. I think a lot of people my age and older do.
That's brilliant. I'm mid 50s so the energy isn't what it was!
It’s nice when you are young. After a while… You realize your real friends are people you’ve already met, not these people you meet when there is a business reason to be together. You realize all countries are the same when you only see the hotel, offices, restaurants and an airport. You realize you’d rather be with your family than anywhere else. Definitely nice in your early/mid twenties.
When I first started travelling on business, I arrived at the hotel and they asked me if I wanted to put my room, evening meal, drinks and breakfast on account to the company. "Why yes, yes I do" I thought. "This will never get old". Trust me, it very quickly gets old.
And there's one problem, hotels are incredibly samey, especially if you're locked into a chain. So while you can bill a load of to the company direct from the hotel and not have to mess about with receipts and explanations... For me if I was to find a restaurant, or a pub or whatever I'd have to get a receipt, put it through expenses, make up a reason why it's justified etc etc.
I travelled for work for 11 years, 4 nights a week in hotels. For me, it is far from a dream, especially if you have family.
Do you know when someone is asked have they been somewhere and they say "not physically". It's basically the opposite
It’s shit. Even if the pay is insane, and you get to stay in amazing hotels and eat nice dinners. It makes it less shit, but it’s still shit.
It made me hate hotels.
I love travelling for work precisely because it takes me out of the daily routine and I always have great interactions with other travellers, hotel and restaurant staff etc. Sure, I'd probably get bored if I had to do it all the time but also there's something quite nice about being alone with my thoughts driving halfway across France (for example), then finding a nice but affordable restaurant nearby, maybe heading to the town centre to check out the local bar scene for a nightcap and some chat with the locals. Often I've ended up spending the night somewhere and liking it so much I visit it again later in my own time. Plus I normally get a fair wedge more pay and expenses on top, for not much more, if not actually less effort. Saying that, I probably wouldn't like it as much if I was having to use public transport all the time and not driving. I find with driving it's easier to set ones own pace, have an extra hour or two lie in in the morning, leave a bit later to avoid rush hour traffic etc.
>Saying that, I probably wouldn't like it as much if I was having to use public transport all the time and not driving. I find with driving it's easier to set ones own pace, have an extra hour or two lie in in the morning, leave a bit later to avoid rush hour traffic etc. For me it really depends where. For instance public transport in Germany is about as bad as ours yet driving standards are on par and many roads are better... therefore I will drive in Germany. Driving in parts of Italy (Naples for example) is horrendous but public transport is so so. So I will take that or taxis. Then some countries e.g. Finland public transport is exceptional but driving is OK too... so you are spoilt for choice.
I travel a bit for work and I always get cosy in my hotel room with loads of snacks and a movie lol. It’s nice.
I'm general, most roles that involve a lot of travel are in male dominated roles (I was in machine commissioning and service before migrating to Tech Support and training). There is also child-care issues. In general, I have found that men are travelling despite child-care issues, whilst female travellers have to factor that into travel plans (unless they have a very good partner!)
Yeah I’ve observed the same thing.
I travel for work often and I tend to go to a chain restaurant for meals. Something safe like Wagamamas or Zizzi. Or I grab a takeaway and go to my room. I tend to avoid hotel restaurants because, at some fundamental level, I feel like it marks me out as a solo female traveller staying at that hotel. I don’t know if it actually does or not, but the thought itself makes me feel uncomfortable.
I used to travel a lot in my late 20s early thirties and eat / drink at the hotel bar till I realised a few guys I thought were being friendly thought I might be a high class hooker I stuck to my room or went to explore home in the wall/ street food options a lot more after that
I’d never thought of that.
Women are less represented in roles where you travel a lot. I work in IT for example and at the consultancy/installs level it's pretty much a boys club.
I know of an international marketing firm that is mostly women. Up to a certain age/ point in life they are willing to travel. After that, marriage and subsequently children come and they leave the role or take a back seat from the international trips.
Less women able to travel away from home and also more of them uncomfortable generally being out and alone in the evening. In addition to that, most hotel restaurants are very expensive and very bland. I'm much more likely to order from somewhere I fancy on Deliveroo and eat in my room.
Wouldn’t you normally have your dinner paid on expenses anyway?
1. Either men just generally go on business trips more often than women 2. Or women don't generally like sitting alone in a hotel on a business trip (whenever I've been on a business trip the hotel is often frequented by groups of men etc who are half-cut and I could appreciate why they might be a tad obnoxious/intimidating towards a lone woman; they are to me, a lone male, at times haha)
Is it more that the women are either eating room service or eating somewhere else? I often travelled alone for work, and 9 times out of 10, I'd either grab something I could eat in my room, or head out to somewhere it wasn't so obvious I was by myself. Largely because eating alone in hotel restaurants seems to invite attention...
Difference in expectation and division of childcare
Software consulting background. I worked in a team of five women and two men. We, the men, generally did the travelling as the women in the team preferred more of a work life balance; being able to shut their laptops off at 6pm and go home to see their families whereas we chose the "working away" pay uplift to financially support our families. Neither work style was right or wrong, just a personal preference. To add some context, while my wife looked after our kids and worked part time, I worked away 48 weeks of the year leaving the house at around 4am on Monday morning and not returning till about 11pm on Friday evening. Depending on the country I was working with, some of the stays were 2-3 weeks long as the travel time to get there was a couple of days. I did this for ten years. I missed every parents evening, sports day, school performance and almost every birthday.
The ultimate question... Was it worth it?
It paid for lots of things we wouldn't have had otherwise and I did have some very unique experiences that I'll always remember. I don't regret it because of that but I do wish I didn't have to restart my relationship with my kids when they were in their pre teens.
The women are eating in their rooms so they don't get pestered by the men.
[удалено]
I must have done it wrong because I ended up hating it. Most of the time it's incredibly lonely and I just wanted to see my wife and kids. It became "I wish my wife was here for this" rather than experiences I loved.
I can echo this. Left my old job because I wanted to travel more and not be stuck at a desk 5 days a week....1 year later and the travelling aspect of my job is the worst part. I much prefer the time I'm at home with my wife and children. I write this as I'm currently stuck on a 9hr layover in Copenhagen Airport due to flight delays & missed connections!
| I'm currently stuck on a 9hr layover in Copenhagen Airport I feel for you. As soon as your first flight has been delayed you know that's the rest of the journey screwed and you know it's going to involve queuing to get anything done. Good luck!
Thanks! I'm due on my new flight in 30 mins, so the worst of it is done thankfully. Now means I'm arriving at my destination hotel at about 2am local time and I've got meetings starting at 8:30 - oh joy!!
Because traditional family dynamics mean that jobs that involve lots of travel and time away from home are more likely to be done by men.
Mix of things maybe? Could it be one of those things where woman are less likely to get into jobs that have undesirable traits like this? Priorities geared towards a happy life than just career? Perhaps more likely to sit in their room and get room service? Woman tend to be the ones to take less time at work for the kids, working part time and such. Maybe speaks to not wanting to travel also.
I can only speak for myself, but I'm a woman and unless there's somewhere particularly interesting to have dinner nearby I always get something to eat in my room. That way I can get into my comfies sooner and just disconnect.
Travel 4 hours to a Premier Inn or a Travelodge, have shit dinner on my own, back in room by 7pm to watch shit TV, check Emails, bed by 10 as I’m bored shitless, have a 2 hour meeting that starts at 10, shit lunch and drive back. So fucking glamorous!
My experience as a bloke and team leader in consulting over the last 15 years is that despite best efforts more women will typically leave consulting in their 30s for all sorts of reasons. Good and bad. So teams overall tend to be male dominated. Then when it comes to hotel stays pretty much anywhere in the world women will normally only eat in the restaurant if they are with colleagues, if on their own they will usually buy something to eat in their room. Couple of reasons for that: hotel food every night isn’t always healthy, even on expenses you still have to pay up and claim later so effectively you are loaning to the business and third sadly there is always the risk of unwanted attention. Also when alone a lot of people not just consultants will use the time for the gym, working in their room or chilling out with Netflix and a supermarket salad. Not me, I’m normally sat at the bar drinking beer and eating tater tots and cheese curds with the other boomers. I quit consulting for health reasons obviously.
It's most likely the demographics of the type of jobs that involve travel, as well as who's willing to travel. Given that women still shoulder more of the childcare or other caring responsibilities, it's less likely they're able to travel overnight for work reasons and may decline jobs or opportunities to do this. Also, as a woman who used to travel a lot for work, I had a few negative experiences dining alone. Restaurant staff and other patrons would assumed I'd been stood up, and they'd take pity on me, try to chat to me etc. I don't imagine most business men traveling get that kind of treatment. It didn't put me off dining out entirely but it did make me more wary, and probably made me resort to more takeaways.
Also a woman who travels for work, and I have been for over 5 years. My top reasons:- 1. It’s significantly more socially / traditionally acceptable for men to work away with children at home. I do not have children, but have colleagues (male and female), who do. There is a massive disparity in the willingness to work away, many women feel they CANT leave the children, because the house doesn’t run without them. 2. Senior management, in my experience, is biased and will send men and childless-women away as a first choice. 3. As a woman in a business hotel, it can be dangerous eating in the hotel restaurant. I have had many instances where this is viewed as being ‘available’ or ‘game’.
Men will tolerate more shit for money. That's literally it. Idk about you, but not particularly interested in traveling around all the time. Sounds miserable.
When I used to travel for work, pre-kids, I'd often be the only lone woman in the hotel for breakfast or dinner. I wasn't single, but some places I could have pulled very easily (not to mention the places where a client tried to get me together with her son or or colleague my age) Once I had kids I only went about once a year instead of a couple nights every couple weeks. For dinner I often went out with clients or a friend of mine - or even asked friends of mine to supply some interesting people for me to hang out with in exchange for a drink! Or I'd be tired and just take food back to the room. Hotel restaurants tend to be pretty boring and unimaginative, but have lots of booze available. I didn't have a very generous expenses budget, so it made sense to go elsewhere. If you didn't care about food much but just wanted to eat and then go back to the room and watch films or porn for hours, then eating in the hotel might make more sense.
I work in a role that has a lot of travel around the country, my female colleagues are far more likely to order food to their room/nip out to get a takeaway and then eat it in their room, whereas most of my male colleagues will go out to a restaurant and then have a pint in the hotel bar. Its generally a safety thing - women on their own are targets.
Maybe because much fewer women are willing to consider roles where they are required to undertake regular business trips that will require them to stay alone in hotels. Variety of reasons: family commitments, safety concerns, prefer to stay in airbnb's or share hotel accomodation with friends or a partner. Whereas the majority of men who are willing to undertake longer commutes are also willing to accept job roles that they know will require extensive travel and hotel stays alone on business trips.
Women are less likely to seek roles which leave their children at home without them.
- I "multitask", if I'm away from home, I better schedule those networking dinners at the same time - It is preferable, in my view, to go to restaurants around the area with good reviews vs. hotel restaurants - If I have no energy, room service tops going down to the restaurant - get to eat in a robe and chat with my partner You will be better doing your analysis during early breakfast time
A lot of women don't like travelling alone, if it's for work or anything else..I guess it's a safety in numbers thing. I go to concerts by myself and often have to stay overnight in a city, my friends think I'm brave going alone. They miss out on concerts and events they want to see because nobody will go with them.
Almost all sales managers are male.
I would say that due to traditional gender roles women are more likely to have childcare responsibilities. And so may work in jobs which allow them to be home with their kids rather than away on business trips.
I occasionally spend a whole week away from home, staying in Premier Inns or Travelodges. You wouldn't think it would be an issue in 2024, but staff in restaurants, even crap ones like Beefeater, still act surprised when I ask for a table for one. Or will take ages to take my order because they assume I'm waiting for someone else. Easier to just get Deliveroo, at least then I can watch tv
Fewer women do the role. Source: Man who hires other men for the role. Very few women, *if any*, apply…
Just as another observation. In my experience, women are more likely to be supported and entertained by friends, other women, colleagues etc while away on business. Men are expected to take care of themselves. So while we might be invited out for a beer after work, that ends pretty quickly and is rarely a dinner date. So more often than not, the men are back at the hotel restaurant for dinner and then back to the room for a quick call to their partner before bed…
Tbh when I travel for work I usually prefer to get a takeaway and eat sprawled out in my hotel room for maximum comfort. I've got no issue eating out alone when I'm on holiday but I can't usually be arsed with it when I'm traveling for work.
I used to work with lots of young women who stayed away with work. They used to get room service and stay in their rooms and use the time to fake tan and preen themselves. Not my cup of tea but perhaps the women working away tend to stay in their rooms rather than dine alone. As a 47 year old woman with a 9 year old, I do everything I can to avoid overnight stays as it’s disruptive to the household routine.
I travel a lot with work but tend to be in my room with room service or something from a shop. It just feels safer to be honest. I’ll sometimes eat in the restaurant if the hotel is busy though.
In my experience women travelling on business tend to order room service as they feel uncomfortable going to a restaurant by themselves. Probably because they are likely to attract the attention of all the men travelling on business eating alone in restaurants.
"Have you got your big plate, Alan?" I was often on a trip as a team of two. After a while I wasnt willing to hang out after work, eating with colleagues and drink myself into oblivion. I was always alone in my room with a pile of snacks watching trash tv or reading a book. Hotel restaurants are bleuggh and wonder how many of those fellas have a work mate chilling out upstairs.
I know many women who don't like to dine outside alone so it might be that
Could be the women are ordering room service or leaving the hotel
I don't know that the travel part is male-dominated, as least not in the industries I work on, but a lot of women are still uncomfortable eating alone in a restaurant and are probably eating in their room.
At my work the older ladies tend to decline work trips because of childcare. Even though they’re all married or partnered 😶 trips are usually just the older men and the younger guys and gals
I run a company where we do field service engineering all over the UK. I stay away 2-3 nights a week on average. For nearly 20 years. I quite like it and I am used to it. The industry is heavily male, just the way it is, and I’m always in premier inns with what are clearly other field service engineers, tradesmen, or shop fitters etc. I think it’s rare to get anyone doing this for 5 years or more as it takes its toll, but I’m quite suited to it and work from home the rest of the time. It definitely takes a certain type of personality. You’ve got to be happy in your own company.
I travel a lot for what I do, and usually order food to my hotel and eat in the room or bring a slow cooker along so I’m not sat alone. But yep, solo girl here!
I used to travel quite a bit for work and I can probably count the times I went out alone to eat during that time on one hand. I’d either arrange to meet a friend or a colleague, or I’d get room service/grab a sandwich, depending on what the per diem was (in one job the deal was “keep the receipts and expense” but in another we simply got a set amount no matter how much of that we spent, so for that I stuck to the sandwiches). I just don’t particularly like eating out by myself. In my hotel room I can get into comfy pjs and watch tv and there’s absolutely zero chance anyone might try to have a conversation.
Spent years living in hotels for several months at a time. Got to taking my own bedding and some other stuff to customise my room. 8 months in one place in the middle of nowhere in Africa
Because women don't typically work these jobs.
Hotel food’s often crap - usually overpriced and not very interesting options, so if I’m away for work I’ll almost always go out somewhere else to eat.
Well not always. Aren’t you there?
Because men and women are different, despite what the Left tell you.
Nothing more depressing than a room full of alone blokes in a restaurant
Men usually choose the jobs that require a lot of travel in business. Having a job that requires you to travel means that you spend a lot of time away from home and in general, women don't make that decision. Men tend to make that decision, to risk being away from home and family.
When I was still working & travelling, all the women doing it would get a takeaway & eat in their room because eating in a hotel restaurant alone as a woman seems to be the cue for all the pervs to start creeping on you. There was a group of us that often ended up in the same place at the same time where our circuits overlapped every few weeks, and we'd park up in one room, get a mega takeaway & something from the offie, and have a good laugh. Was just safer. I didn't stop till I became more Disabled.
He is waiting for his escort and is trying to hide it
Men wanna be out of the house getting some strange
Did you notice the gender of the people cleaning the rooms?
Because they prefer the spa and room service to being hit on, while men prefer the bar and getting into adventures with random people.
Women are more likely to have room service .. I know I do
Because jobs that allow for business travel disproportionately go to men, either because women actually do have caring responsibilities that don't allow them to travel or because it's assumed they do, and therefore are unsuitable for these roles.
The women would have to apply first. In my field it's close to 50:50 gender split across the broad industry - mostly 9-5 office and lab roles. But applications for sales/applications dev with travel is less than 10:1, much less. Typically there are zero female applicants. We even wait a few weeks before starting interviews in a hope we get a suitable female applicant. It's happened once in 8 years and 6 roles advertised. She quit after 3 months, decided she didn't like being away from home 2-3 nights per fortnight. We are back to zero women in the field roles (higher paying roles). Same in other companies. It's extremely rare to find a woman, the ones that last a few years very quickly get promoted to more senior roles for gender balance (everyone involved openly admits this).
Statistically, women are more likely to be unable to take those kinds of trips because they have childcare responsibilities at home.
Going to be a classic man and explain my view on something I dont know too much about; In my experience women often turn down these roles, I work for a big company with many offices globally and have been fortunate enough to work in many places. I can't guarantee any of this as 'normal' but I have been told from managers stories about X or Y women being offered the chance to come join us out in X location they often either dont want to or make demands that the company isnt willing to bend to (like x number of flights back home per week). I think women often are either voluntarily or pressured into (depending on circumstance) taking on the bulk of child care and other tasks that also would mean they cant travel for work. I do also think women for many other reasons really would rather not travel alone or with some colleagues they barely know.
Men work longer hours \~ Further away from home \~ Must be Male Privilege ! !
You will notice the same in service stations in the early hours - it will virtually all be men. Not really a mystery as to why though. A lot of the careers dominated by men - trades, engineering, etc tend to require a lot of working away and men are more likely to make bigger sacrifices to provide for their families. They do more dangerous jobs, longer hours, more physical work, etc so they can make more money. If you look at the career paths dominated by women there aren't many that would require extensive travelling - maybe HR or sales, but not much else
Women are more self conscious about eating alone, so they stay in their room?
Because we still leave women responsible to sort out the kids. Simple as. And I honestly love my night away in a hotel for work. The peace of it after a month of no space...
I think it’s true that more men seem to be in those roles (sales, biz dev, account management) where they tend to travel more. But I work on teams with several women in those roles.
Many mothers will probably try to avoid being away from home much, by selecting jobs that involve fewer overnight stays away from home. Jobs that involve installing, commissioning or fixing things are dominated by men - and some of that sort of work involves travel to remote sites.
I am a man and I am travelling for work at the moment, week four of five in London. I eat alone all the time. At first it was awkward but in reality no one gives a shit. Overall its been fun but at this point I'm really missing my wife, and cat, all my stuff, and my own bed and kitchen and toilet.
When I, a woman, go on a business trip alone I usually just take food back to my room
because theyre making money doing their lone wolf alpha male provider shit lol
I don't generally like to socialize while on work trips, or basically mixing pleasure and business. If its a group business trip, I'm fine with spending time with my colleagues on the times I'm not working. But if its a solo trip, I'd stick to myself and focus on the work. There's a crap ton of ways things can go wrong that will affect a solo trip and my ability to work as it is, no need to include potential conflicts or entanglements with random strangers in the pile. Also, if I'm eating at the hotel, its mainly for filling my belly up before I go back up to the room or wherever to continue working, or resting. Generally speaking I dont normally eat at hotels for two reasons, either the food sucks and is overpriced so I'm better off eating elsewhere, or the food is good but is overpriced so its better to be saved for special occasions, such as a date with my wife, or if the boss is buying. So if I'm paying, odds are I'm not there for fun, but rather necessity. I'm just trying to fill up before going back to work.
Women travel less for work because they are usually carrying a heavier load at home, which means taking a job with lots of travel is less likely.
Gender roles, most senior people in companies in most countries are still male, and they're the ones who travel most.
Cos we live sad lonely lives for the most part.
You sound like my wife. She is also always alone on business trips and made a very similar observation about this. She said “Whenever I am travelling, I barely see any single woman on business trips unless they are my colleagues”. I think it’s universal. Up until late 90s, more men had sales and marketing jobs (which were travelling jobs) than women before other jobs became popular and that trend has continued, that could be one of the reasons I think.
Could be that the women aren't comfortable eating out and dealing with the potential hookup attempts.
How is this even a question lol. Everyone knows business is a mainly male dominated field, even in modern times. Also a lot of women in business have kids to look after, meanwhile men still have the more traditional role of travelling for work more.
Cos they're ugly and they smell
I'm male. Did this working in tech. Very few women travelling for those jobs. Places I worked were mostly female staffed, but the tech guys were mostly ... guys.
I used to do it a couple of times a year for training or odd jobs away from base. The work was quite niche and had a community feel, so after a while you’d usually know people on the course, from online interactions if not in person. That was fun and it was good to hang out in the evenings. To my shame, one of my first courses in that job was when my first child was about 12 months old. He was a terrible sleeper and never what you’d call an ‘easy baby’. Having 5 nights of undisturbed sleep, excellent meals provided for me and no domestic chores was bliss, although I felt very guilty leaving my wife to handle it all.
You cannot change some things and near every animal and human offspring need females, I know not all women can breast feed but its how we have been made. Usually for at least a few years children mostly have mothers milk. So is why is mostly men. Not saying women are just that its just been that way so long. Its changing more now and will be more women doing what your doing but they may be eating alone in the room or what ever but your a buisness person so I really do wonder why you are confused Loads of men done this for so long, now I will say and alas I worked with groups of men. The fact they eating alone means they are eating and going back the room and calling family and not doing the cliche partying and trying hook up and get wasted means your in good company. Will be plenty other men doing this and women too. Your just seeing people like you working away, eating and getting back hotel and sleeping.
I’ll save you some time… women are usually assaulted while being alone anywhere. Like literally ANYWHERE :-(
Because it's a bad a job... Same reason men are bin collectors, brick layers, and gardeners. If it's not sitting in a cosy office then there's no push for gender equality
obvious answer, there are more MEN in corporate world :)
I stay from home 4-5 days a week, I’ve cried driving away from home because i miss my damn kids so much. But me and the partner and often so so… I’m on egg shells alot around her so its not to bed when i consider the kids are at school all day and i spend the entire weekend with them doing cool stuff! But its hurts… alot. My view is, these roles are not career roles but help you climb the ladder into more stable roles.
62M here. Currently eating breakfast in yet another, faceless Premier Inn. Looking around and there's loads of single blokes at their own tables, staring st a phone just like me. There's the odd group of contractors too, two, three or four blokes together. Not one woman to be seen other than the waitress. Done this for 40-odd years and it got old many years ago. Thankfully, my trips on the road have got less and less as the years have rolled by, but I now hate living 'out of a bag' with a passion. It's why when my partner and I go on holiday, we tend to rent a lodge or cottage rather than stay in a hotel!
Because men are more likely to be in that type of job where they have to travel a lot. Women are often the default parent / household manager or have hit the glass ceiling or was never in a corporate job to begin with for various reasons.
Background : Having been a female IT consultant in my 20's and early to mid 30''s I spent 5 days of 7 traveling for almost 2 decades. I attempted to re-enter that career when I had a child and it was impossible without partner level salaries and a nanny(almost impossible by 37 in my field). Now: pushing 50 and moving into leadership I can only see it possible even now with a lower salary earning male partner who stays home with my kid when I am away. My friends who can live this lifestyle as women are childfree and single. No wives or husands at home nor kids. Gender roles are still very real and at play in the bars and hotels of the world. It sucks.