The research (carried out by YouGov on behalf of BT) suggested the reason for this is that female bosses are more sympathetic to flexible working, and trust their staff more than their male counterparts.

In the poll, employees' responses showed that being trusted was the most important thing to them in their working lives.

Managers over 50 also answered that they were far more trusting than younger ones, with just 25% feeling that flexible workers could not be trusted.