Experts claim that men are genetically programmed to heed the old saying 'fortune favours the brave,' at work, making them twice as adventurous and carefree as female colleagues.
By contrast, British psychologists found many women really were 'Cautious Carols,' in the office, with results showing that they were twice as likely to be wary or prudent as men.
They said the gap between men and women when it came to risk-taking was 'unexpected in its magnitude.'
Study author Geoff Trickey claimed that the gulf between men and women was genetically shaped by evolution and ensured 'the survival of our ancestors.'
Early men had to take risks to fulfill their role as hunter-gatherer to put food on the table, while a woman's cautious approach would have helped hold their families together.
Psychologists from the British Psychological Society surveyed 2,000 men and women working in 20 different field of work worldwide.
And Mr Trickey, whose findings were presented at the British Psychological Society's annual conference, called for employers to seek a healthy balance of daring men and prudent women to help their businesses thrive.
He said: "The implication of our gender difference findings is that male/female Risk Type differences are genetic; having achieved a balance shaped by evolution which would have been critical to survival of our species.
"It's easy to see how the balance between prudent, cautious long term decision-making of females would have married up very effectively with the impulsive, carefree, adventurous approach of males.
"The magnitude of the difference in risk taking between men and women was unexpected.
"Females were more than twice as likely to be wary and almost twice as likely to be prudent whilst males were more than twice as likely to be adventurous and almost twice as likely to be carefree.
"From the scale of these findings we concluded that risk taking must be a distinctive feature of gender."
Commenting on how employers can exploit this, Mr Trickey added: "Risk Taking is necessary and desirable, but we need to reinstate the balance that ensured the survival of our ancestors.
"Whether this is best done by gender selection manipulation is arguable, but the aim should be to achieve a balance of risk types."
