A number of studies have suggested that women in managerial positions are more likely to be participative (involving subordinates in their decision-making) than their male counterparts. The research described here was initially designed to determine whether there are features in the culture of particular organizations (professional firms) that make this gender gap more or less likely to occur. However, the results suggested that the higher scores for participation obtained by women on a well-known instrument (the Vroom-Y etton problem set) may not reflect their actual workplace behavior. Implications of the findings for researchers are discussed.