To make things worse, many companies think they’re doing a much better job on this front than they really are. “On average, our research shows they overestimate employees’ trust levels by roughly 40%,” the study authors wrote.

So, why aren’t these policies working? Is it a case of diversity dishonesty, or perkwashing? “A key reason, we believe, is that the well-intentioned policies that should promote equity between men and women, such as flex time and performance-based compensation, tend not to benefit women as much or in the same ways as they do men,” the researchers posited. In other words, then, the very policies that are brought in to even the playing field are, in fact, playing to men’s strengths instead.

Take flexible working. “A company may offer identical family-leave packages to all employees, but if women are using more of that time than men or if they’re penalised in some way for taking it all at once, this seemingly equitable policy may actually fail to earn women’s trust,” they explained.

Similarly, they suggest, performance-based rewards might be impacted by managers’ implicit biases.

The question of how to solve this glaring workplace trust issue is a knotty one, but first of all, it seems like a good initial step would be for employers to actually listen to the people who work for them rather than patting themselves on the back for their inclusion policies, without waiting to see whether they work or not.

A new study explores why women trust their employers much less than men do