Science says women work better when they’re not freezing — offices don’t care

You know that thing where you’re sitting at your desk, fully unable to think straight, wearing a cardigan over a cardigan, maybe a blanket, definitely side-eyeing the vent directly above your head? Turns out that’s not just a personality quirk. That’s science.

Researchers actually studied this. Like, formally. And what they found is exactly what every woman who has ever worked in an office already knew in her frozen little bones — we do better work when we’re not actively turning into an ice sculpture.

The wild part isn’t the finding. The wild part is that offices have known for years their thermostats aren’t set up for us, and somehow the solution has still not been “turn it up.”

So what does the research actually say?

A study published in PLOS ONE tested around 500 people on math, verbal, and cognitive reflection tasks across a range of experimentally manipulated indoor temperatures. Women performed significantly better on math and verbal tasks at warmer temperatures. Men performed better when it was colder. Not a little difference — a meaningful, consistent pattern across the board.

This isn’t “women are delicate flowers who need cozy conditions.” This is “women’s cognitive output is being suppressed by the thermostat setting.” Those are very different things.

Why are women always colder in the first place?

Here’s where it gets interesting — and also slightly annoying. Men and women actually have roughly the same core body temperature. Some studies put women’s core temp marginally higher than men’s. So the idea that women are cold because their core runs cooler is not really the full story.

What differs is skin temperature. Women tend to have lower skin temperatures than men, largely due to hormones. And your perception of whether a room feels cold? That’s driven more by skin temperature than core temperature. So the same room that feels fine to the guy across from you feels like a meat locker to you, and you are both technically correct.

Why are offices still set to freeze everyone out?

A 2015 paper published in Nature Climate Change found that most office buildings set their thermostats using a thermal comfort model developed in the 1960s — one based almost entirely on the metabolic rate of a 40-year-old, 154-pound man. The paper called these models “intrinsically non-energy-efficient in providing comfort to females.”

The 1960s. We are still using a system designed sixty-plus years ago, built around one very specific body type, in a world where women make up nearly half the workforce. It makes sense because at the time nobody thought to ask — but we’re asking now, and the answer is not great.

Does this actually affect job performance in a real way?

The PLOS ONE data says yes. And honestly, think about what “performing cognitive tasks while cold” actually feels like in practice. You’re distracted. You’re physically uncomfortable. Part of your brain is focused on the fact that your fingers are numb instead of on the spreadsheet in front of you. That’s not weakness — that’s just how bodies work.

If you want the people in your office doing their best work — all of them — the thermostat is genuinely part of that conversation. It’s a boring, unsexy fix, but it’s a real one.

What can you actually do about it right now?

Short of staging a full thermostat revolt — which, honestly, valid — there are a few things worth knowing. A small desk heater makes a real difference if your office allows them. A lap blanket isn’t giving up, it’s problem-solving. Layering specifically for office cold is its own skill set, and if you haven’t mastered it, it makes sense to start.

And if you’re in a position to actually influence your workplace environment, forward the PLOS ONE study to whoever controls the building temperature. Put a number on it. “Women on this team perform measurably worse in cold conditions” is a different conversation than “I’m chilly.”

I’ve been writing about this kind of thing for a while — check out my take on workplace double standards that nobody talks about for more in the same vein. Also, if you want the full breakdown on how your environment affects how you think and work, this piece on organizing your workspace for better focus is worth a read.

The science has been there. The problem has been documented. The fix — turning the heat up a few degrees — is about as low-lift as it gets. And yet here we are, still bringing backup sweaters to work in July.

It’s not a women’s issue. It’s a productivity issue. Frame it that way if you have to. Whatever gets the thermostat moved.

📌 Pin this post