Men think workplace equality has progressed more than women.

A survey has revealed nearly half of men consider women in top jobs to be not unusal and that men and women are equal. However, less than a quarter of women agree.

The figures comes from a survey of 2,000 workers by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) examining views on women in business.

Despite the strong belief of equality progress amongst male respondents, almost a fifth believe women will have had to work harder and longer than men to get to the top in business. Two in five females - nearly twice the level of male responses - believe women have had to work harder and longer to get to the top.

Sarah Churchman, director of diversity at PwC said: "It's no surprise that men think that equality has progressed more than women. Some men don’t realise what it’s like to face a macho male dominated culture in a working environment. The fight to the top gets tougher all the time the more squeeze companies put on learning, promotions, and pay rises. Job insecurity could reverse the progress we’ve made in equality because it breeds presenteeism, people protecting their own work, and a tougher fight to the top for all."

Only 11 percent of men thought women were good leaders and an inspiration, nearly half of what women believed to be the case. 12 percent of all respondents said women had a reputation for being aggressive and controlling, rising to 14 percent amongst London respondents.

Two fifths of male respondents, and 15 percent of female respondents believed men and women should be able to share their maternity/paternity leave with their partner to share the load of childcare and careers. mong those aged under 20, that statistic rose to 28 percent.

Some 16 percent of men, compared with just nine percent of women, said women who went back to work without taking their maximum maternity leave entitled were hard working and deserved respect.