Came across this piece of research in the newsletter mailed to me by Women Mean Business magazine so I'm not going to even attempt to take any credit for the direct lift of content below. It makes for interesting reading.

According to the results of a study by workplace psychologists OPP, women are making career decisions based on more solid information than their male colleagues.
Around a quarter (24&) of men reported they leave their careers to luck compared
to one in five women. The research was undertaken amongst 553 line managers and
1,002 general workers in the UK in May 2009. More than one in four (26%) men even
admit that opportunism is one of the most important factors when making career
decisions, compared to 19% of women.

Women are more likely to base career choices on their core abilities than men
are (47% compared with 41%). Women are also significantly more likely to use
psychometric tests to find out about a variety of factors, such as how to use natural
skills to greater effect (55%,) how personality impacts on colleagues (34%) and
even to identify their ideal vocation (22%).

The OPP study also looked at how line managers make decisions about people and,
revealed a silver lining for men. Women in more senior positions are much more
likely than men to trust their gut instinct when it comes to people decisions (42%
as compared with 36%). The result is a greater number of female line managers regretting the decisions they make. Only 22% of women would make the same people decisions if given a second chance, compared with 34% of men.