Should I go to an overnight team-building session if I am the only woman there?

[cristyd]

I am the only woman on a team of ten men. The boss is organizing a overnight team-building session in a secluded cabin in the mountains and he is asking me why I don’t want to go. But the idea of being the only woman there, and staying there alone with ten men is not very appealing to me or to my husband. Can you tell me if I should refuse them and what should I tell them?

 

[Michelle_Arnold]

Whether or not you “should go” is a decision only you can make, based on the circumstances involved. Personally, I share your misgivings about being the only female at a remote cabin with ten men. If you decide not to go, one way of explaining your decision to your boss might be, “If the session was taking place at a hotel during work hours, after which we could either go home or to private rooms, there would not be a problem. Instead, the event is taking place at a remote cabin, and requires an overnight stay in close quarters among people who are good colleagues but are not personal friends.”